watched more of the video on his phone. “The clarity is amazing. I wonder how it will do in a darkened room. Say a nightclub.”
Rocky grinned sheepishly. “We’ll find out tonight.”
“Are you sure we can’t wear jeans?” Felix asked as he cinched his brown leather belt that matched his dress shoes.
“Not if you want to get inside the club.”
Felix glanced over and saw Rocky fastening cufflinks at the wrists of his gray dress shirt.
“Why are you staring at me?” Rocky asked, a smile tugging at his lips.
“Cufflinks? Who are you, really?”
Felix had kept his voice light and teasing, but he was dead serious. He’d learned a lot about Rocky when he’d checked into the man’s background when Royce and Sawyer had recruited Jonah, Rocky, and himself for the clandestine Humphries investigation. The lure of setting a trap to catch the serial rapist and killer was high, but Felix had wanted to be confident he could trust the people on the team. He’d found nothing in Rocky’s background that raised a serious flag. He also hadn’t discovered an explanation for why Rocky owned cufflinks.
His enigmatic friend laughed, then put on his black suit jacket before strolling over to where Felix stood gaping at him. He leaned in and said, “I’m Batman.”
Felix laughed and shook his head. He knew it was Rocky’s way of distracting him from pursuing his original line of questioning. For Rocky, Felix would let it slide. The man was entitled to secrets. “Am I Boy Wonder?”
Rocky’s answering smile was ornery and dazzling. “If you play your cards right. Anything goes at Gentleman Jack’s.”
Felix slid his navy blue jacket on over his crisp white shirt. “So those cufflinks…” The teasing glint dimmed a little in Rocky’s eyes, and Felix wondered again what mysteries the blond man kept buried in his soul. “Do they serve dual purposes? Your eyeglasses take videos? What do those little onyx things do?”
“Black diamonds,” Rocky corrected. “And they open doors.”
Felix knew Rocky wasn’t implying the diamonds would shoot lasers and burn through steel. The fact that he owned them meant Rocky had connections to get him, and now them, into places that were closed to most people. An elite club that catered to illicit appetites, for example. Suddenly, the collar of Felix’s shirt felt too tight, even though it was open at the throat since a tie wasn’t required. He was the misfit kid again who hadn’t owned the right clothes, lived at a respectable address, or hobnobbed with affluent people.
“Are you ready?” Rocky asked.
Felix shook off his inferiority complex and nodded. Rocky’s perceptiveness shouldn’t have surprised him. He was a private investigator, after all. Felix was still stunned when Rocky cupped the back of his neck and pressed a kiss to Felix’s forehead.
“You clean up nice, Fee.”
Rocky had caught the tail end of a phone conversation between Felix and Reanna once. She’d called him Fee before disconnecting, and Rocky’s evil grin warned Felix that he’d whip it out at an opportune time. Felix had expected Rocky to use it during one of their quarrels or during a moment when Rocky wanted to get even with Felix. This was the opposite of those occasions, and the tenderness made Felix’s insides feel like wiggly worms.
“Don’t you start with me, Major,” Felix said, moving to pull away. Rocky tightened his grip, then leaned his forehead against Felix’s.
“You are enough. Always have been, and you always will be.”
Felix opened his mouth to speak, to deflect the intimacy between them with a joke. Nothing came out. Felix registered the acceptance and understanding in Rocky’s eyes and was grateful his big mouth couldn’t ruin the moment with his usual word vomit. Instead, Felix patted Rocky’s smooth cheek and stepped away.
“I miss the stubble,” Felix said, finding his voice. “You’re almost too pretty without it.”
Rocky laughed. “Don’t worry, it will start growing back before we reach the club.”
“Maybe we should’ve booked two rooms instead of a single with two beds,” Felix said when they stepped into the hallway. “You might meet someone tonight and—”
“No.”
Felix wanted to know the story he sensed in his friend’s terse response. Rocky was one of the most flirtatious men he’d ever met, but Felix had never seen him act on it. Felix knew for sure that Rocky had turned down a date with the sexy nephew of a club owner he’d met when they were investigating Earl Ison’s murder for their podcast. Rocky had remarked about the guy’s looks and how nice Drew seemed during the