were closed, his breath ragged. He lifted his head. His pupils were blown wide, his lips beautifully wet and swollen from their kissing. He poked his tongue out and ran it over his bottom lip as if needing one last taste of Gio.
Why was Sacha so determined not to give in to his evident desire? Gio waited, and when Sacha made to get up, Gio slipped a hand around the back of Sacha’s neck, bringing him in for a quick, hungry kiss. Knowing he couldn’t hold on to the wild and beautiful man, he released him.
Swallowing hard, Sacha shook his head ever so slightly. He moved away, and Gio closed his eyes, hearing the soft sound of the door closing behind Sacha as he left. He was gone.
With a heavy sigh, Gio ran a hand through his hair and fell back onto the couch. Fuck. Never had he had such an intense experience in one kiss. A slow smile spread across his lips, and he touched them. Sacha had kissed him. Hope was not lost.
Five
He could do this.
“I mean, how hard can it be, right?” Joker glanced down at Chip, who stared up at him. Chip tipped his head to one side and whined. “Fuck it. Let’s do this.” Pressing the button, Joker waited.
And waited.
And… waited.
Hm.
“What the fuck’s wrong with it? It’s on.” He pointed to the little red light. “See. It’s on.”
Chip looked from him to the machine and back, then whined again.
“Don’t worry. We got this.”
The machine started rumbling on the counter like it was getting ready to take off or explode. Chip bolted.
“Okay, I got this.” Joker shook his head. “You sniff out bombs for a living, but you can’t face a coffee machine? You embarrass me. Shame on you.”
An argumentative bark resounded from the bedroom.
“Don’t you sass me!”
Why wasn’t this working? He removed his phone and did a web search. This was the first time he’d attempted to use the damned thing since he bought it last week. “Right. Let’s see here.” For fuck’s sake. He’d spent years entering hostile territory and rigging countless explosives of varying complexities; he could work a fucking coffee machine. He probably shouldn’t have thrown away the instructions.
Watching a quick online video revealed his mistake. “Oh, right. Water.” In his defense, he’d never made a damned cup of coffee in his life. Someone had always made it for him. He lived in the apartment he was in because it was within walking distance of several cafes and restaurants.
In the mornings, he stumbled out of bed and zombie-walked his way to Las Palmitas Cafe just a few feet away. The owners and regulars were used to seeing him in his pajamas with his hair looking like he’d stuck his finger in an electric socket. They’d have his coffee and a breakfast sandwich ready, and he’d grunt a thanks and shuffle his way back home.
Muttering to himself, he poured the required amount of water in the designated area and tried again. This time, the weird noises led to the smell of coffee and dark liquid trickling into his mug. Grabbing the creamer from the fridge, he poured himself a generous amount and took a sip. Not cafe-quality exactly, but not bad.
He took his coffee into his bedroom and stopped in the doorway, frowning at the clothes and shoes littering the floor. Chip lay on the rumpled bed, head on his paws as he observed Joker.
“It’s kind of a mess, huh?”
Chip wagged his tail as if agreeing but didn’t move from his spot.
“Yeah, okay.” After clearing a space on his dresser to place his coffee cup, Joker started picking up discarded clothes. Jesus, was there anything left in his dresser? “Look at that,” he muttered, removing a mound of dirty work pants and T-shirts. “It’s a laundry basket. I didn’t know we owned one of those.” Now that he thought about it, he remembered Fitz bringing over some stuff a few weeks ago. He narrowed his eyes, and his phone rang. Speak of the well-groomed devil.
“You need to stop sneaking shit into my apartment,” Joker said by way of greeting. He tossed the dirty clothes into his new laundry basket.
Fitz snorted. “Joker, sweetie, I put that basket in your room three weeks ago, and you only just found it? What does that tell us?”
“It tells us I didn’t have a laundry basket because I don’t have a washing machine.”
“I know that because we do, and your laundry is in it. As much as I