Cameron stared, wide-eyed. He nodded, suitably chastised and feeling stupid for his forays into the acerbic. He looked up at Julian. “Do you think Zane would really have shot you?”
“Yes,” Julian said, sounding confident. Ty was nodding in the front seat as he looked out the window.
“I thought he was the nice one,” Cameron said under his breath.
Julian put his lips to Cameron’s ear and whispered, “Next time I’ll dump the coffee on him instead.”
Cameron sighed in exasperation. “You’re deliberately causing trouble.”
Julian shushed him as he glanced toward the front seat. Ty was rolling his eyes and rubbing at his temple. Cameron shifted closer to Julian and tilted his head until they could push their mouths together for a small kiss. Julian whispered against Cameron’s lips, turning his head to hide the movement of his mouth from the mirror. “We have to get away from them before we reach Washington,” he murmured. He kissed Cameron again to mask the words.
The kiss made Cameron’s pulse race, just like Julian’s touch always did. Cameron hummed to let Julian know he understood. He cursed the handcuffs; he wanted to shift himself further into Julian’s arms and wished he could crawl into his lap, Ty watching be damned. He felt Julian smile against his lips. He’d obviously picked up on Cameron’s desire to do so.
“Christ, please stop,” Ty said from the front seat, voice plaintive.
Cameron pulled back and smiled at Julian.
Julian was looking at him in the same adoring way he always did, but he was also smirking. There was a hint of malicious enjoyment in his black eyes. “Do you object to all public displays of affection, Agent Grady? Or is it the fact that we’re both men?” he asked without looking away from Cameron.
Ty answered with the loud slide action of his 9mm service weapon. “If you really must know, I’m of the opinion that it’s rude to make out in a man’s backseat.”
“Well, technically, it’s not your backseat.”
“I’ve been on the road too long and I miss getting laid in my own bed. Don’t push me.”
Julian laughed and kissed Cameron again for good measure. Cameron shook his head afterward and settled down, turning a somewhat apologetic look toward Ty. “I’m sorry you’ve been away from home so long,” he said, sincere. He wouldn’t apologize for the kisses though.
“My own fault,” Ty said, voice curt.
“Why?” Cameron could see Ty’s eyes in the mirror, looking at him evilly.
“I’m too sober for you, Jiminy Cricket,” Ty muttered. He looked out the window again and shook his head.
Julian hummed. “I don’t suppose asking for a separate room would go over well?”
“Probably not,” Ty said.
“I’m fine with two beds,” Cameron said. “Can you see Ty and Zane getting any sleep in a double bed?”
“Ty and Zane will be just fine,” Ty said in a falsely cheerful voice. “Cross will be sleeping in handcuffs on the floor.”
“Kinky,” Julian said, smirking.
“What do you mean?” Cameron asked, sitting up, peering at Ty through narrowed eyes.
Ty held up a third pair of handcuffs that clinked as he waved them.
“Funny,” Cameron said with a frown. So much for a comfortable night.
The passenger door popped open and a cold blast of wind assaulted them. Zane leaned over to peer inside at his partner. “You can just park right here. We’re going in the front and up to the second floor.”
“What took so long?” Ty asked. If Zane was surprised to see Ty sitting there with his gun and his handcuffs in his lap, he didn’t show it. It made Cameron wonder about the sanity of both men.
“It took her ten minutes to decide they didn’t have any connecting rooms available. So, one room,” Zane said as he gathered the bags out of the floorboard.
“Great,” Ty muttered as he pushed open his door and got out of the car.
Julian ducked his head to peer out the window at them. “Luck is with us tonight,” he whispered to Cameron.
“Why is that?”
“With one room it will be easier to disable them and get away.”
“You’re not going to kill them, are you?” Cameron asked, shifting uneasily in the seat. “I mean, they’re just doing their jobs.”
“Not unless they make me,” Julian said as he looked back at Cameron. “The threat from Grady is negligible, but Garrett will kill both of us if he thinks he’s justified. Remember that before you get too attached to them.”
“You always tell me I trust too easily,” Cameron said. “He just seemed like such a… nice guy.” He shivered, though, remembering how Zane’s face had been so cold and blank as he’d shot the asphalt at Julian’s feet.
“He’s not. Neither of them are.”
His words were punctuated by Ty opening the back door and waving at Julian. “Come on, O’Doul.”
That worried Cameron a lot, to think that men in law enforcement could be as bad as the criminals they chased. Not that he thought of himself and Julian as criminals, although technically, he supposed Julian really was. Or used to be. Or might have been.
As he climbed out of the car, he watched Zane, the wind riffling his hair, his gun gripped in a gloved hand. Cameron’s eyes shifted to his lover. Julian and Zane looked similar enough that it was a little eerie in the harsh parking lot lights—tall, broad-shouldered, dark-haired….
When Ty stalked around the car to join his partner, all gruff attitude, hard muscle, and broad shoulders, Cameron barely quashed the urge to cringe away. He and Julian were in more trouble than he wanted to believe, and now he felt really stupid for ever joking around with the two men.
Ty pushed Julian against the car, a hand in the center of his shoulders, and he kept the hand there as he turned to face Zane. Zane stepped closer until they were right in front of each other. Each kept his eyes over the other’s shoulder—Zane watching Julian, Ty watching Cameron and the parking lot—as they spoke. Ty tilted his head so he was murmuring into Zane’s ear. It had an oddly intimate feel as they stood there, and Julian was craning his head to watch them. Cameron wondered if he could make out anything they were saying.
Whatever they’d been discussing was decided, and Ty patted Zane’s belly before stepping away from Julian and moving toward Cameron. “Come on, kid, let’s go,” he said as he held his hand out toward Cameron, waving him forward.