Page 137 of Cold Hard Cash

“See ya later!” Jules said cheerfully, then waved at Jimmy. “Bye, Twig!”

“Bye, Jules,” Jimmy replied through a bite of eggs. “What was that about?”

“They’re both admirers of our dear Madeline Queen,” Cold said, vying for more coffee instead of actually eating. “That’s what they always fight about. And Jerry is very disappointed that Jules was successful where he was not. And a bunch of other things about Jules’ questionable genetics.”

“How many languages do you speak?” Jimmy asked.

“Mmm, four,” Cold replied with a shrug as if it was nothing to be excited about. “English, of course. Italian, French, and some very poor Russian.”

“I always thought French was a very beautiful language,” Jimmy gushed, leaning close. “It doesn’t matter what you’re saying. It just sounds so pretty.”

“Mmm...Je suis ammanchee comme un taureau,” Cold purred delightfully.

“See? No clue what that means, but it sounds beautiful.”

“Je veux te lécher des hanches jusqu’aux pieds,” Cold kept on going, his eyes roaming over Jimmy’s body hungrily.

“Okay, pretty sure that one was dirty,” Jimmy giggled, laughing louder when Cold scooted closer to him.

“Je bande pour toi,” Cold said seductively, waggling his eyebrows playfully and moving in to kiss slowly along Jimmy’s neck.

“That one was totally and definitely dirty,” Jimmy sighed, eyes fluttering closed and gasping as Cold’s hand grabbed his neck.

Cold pressed their foreheads together, kissing Jimmy with a murmured, “Je t’aime...”

“Wh-what does that one mean?”

Cold’s eyes were gentle when Jimmy looked at him, full of light and warmth, his hand softly squeezing his throat as his thumb slid along his jawline. “It means ‘I love you,’ Jimmy.”

Jimmy’s heart stopped, dropping down into his gut. “You... you said...”

“Je t’aime aussi,” Cold said quietly, “is how you say ‘I love you, too.’ In case you were wondering.”

“Juhhhh timmm, oh-seee,” Jimmy replied carefully, trying to imitate Cold’s flawless accent.

Cold leaned in for another kiss, gazing at Jimmy adoringly and chuckling softly. “Close enough.”

The End