Page 7

Chapter 7

Benji Morrison

Fuuuuck.

I made a massive mistake. I caught myself the second the words left my mouth, but by then, it was too late. I couldn’t turn back time, couldn’t put the idiot fucking genie back into the idiot fucking bottle.

Eli cocked his head, a furrow appearing on his forehead as his brows dipped together.

“How do you know about that?” he asked.

Because I’ve been watching you for months.

Because I’ve developed an intense attraction for you.

Because you remind me of someone I lost and thought I’d never have back.

Because I’m fucked-up. I’m sorry.

My body buzzed. My muscles felt loose, my cheeks hot. Flushed not only because of my embarrassment but also because of the alcohol I drank only half an hour earlier.

I knew I shouldn’t have taken those two vodka shots before I left my apartment to come here. Why did I need those? I saw the bottle on the counter, left there after the night before, and figured I could loosen up a bit, even though we hadn’t even crossed the lunch hour yet. I thought it wouldn’t hurt. It wasn’t like I planned on getting blackout drunk for the meeting. Just wanted something to help me relax a bit.

Fucking idiot.

I offered a smile, my brain working on overtime to push past the fog of pure vodka. I could lie to him. Dig my grave a little deeper. Maybe tell him it was a lucky guess? That he seemed like the kind of guy who’d have an artsy and cool sense of style.

“Well…”

He absent-mindedly scratched Lucky’s head. The pup was completely oblivious to the blunder I had made. What a lucky—hah—little creature. All he had to worry about was being cute, getting fed, and going on nice walks. He didn’t have an opportunity to stuff his paw directly in his mouth.

“I watched a little of your stream.” I didn’t want to lie to him. That wasn’t the kind of man I was. Yes, some of my actions crossed a few blurry moral lines, I could own that, but I always believed that the truth had to come before anything else. I wanted Eli to trust me wholeheartedly.

I was hired to help him, after all.

His face cracked with surprise. “Oh… you have? Really?”

To my surprise, his cheeks turned a rosy pink color. Like he was embarrassed by the revelation. Huh. I was expecting a different kind of reaction.

“I have.” I straightened up. Lucky lay down at my feet. “Can’t say I wasn’t tempted after I found out. But then, well, I figured I should research. Maybe keep an eye on the chat in case that Nomad character appeared.”

He gave me a flirty little smirk. Fuck. The vodka burning through my veins made me want to lean in, to taste those lips on mine. His eyes, blue as a crystal clear lake, made me want to dive in headfirst. “So you were just there for the chat?”

“Well, it was hard to ignore everything else happening on the screen.”

“Hard, huh?”

That got a genuine laugh out of me. It helped me clear away the rush of anxiety that had flooded through me only minutes before. “Nice one.”

“Sorry, I had to.”

This was nice. This immediate and easy connection we were building between us. It felt like we had already known each other before ever meeting in person.

And in some ways, I guess we had.

Eli chewed his bottom lip, turning the edges pink around his perfectly white teeth. “Actually, is it weird that I’m kind of relieved you’ve watched my stream? There’s so much bullshit that comes along with me telling people about my career. So much judgment and stupid comments. It’s nice that you, you know, aren’t an asshole about it.”

“Of course not. People that judge you aren’t worth your time or energy. Chances are they’re projecting anyway. They’re probably doing something in their life that makes them feel bad about themselves, so they want to turn that around and make someone else feel the same. It’s fucked.”

“You’re so right.” Eli leaned back, the smile on his face bright enough to light up the night sky. His golden curls caught the sunlight, making him appear like some kind of Greek god.

I had to reel myself in. This wasn’t a date. I shouldn’t have been checking out my client and thinking about how damn kissable his lips were. This was a transactional relationship. Eli had come to me because I provided a service, full stop. I was letting my fantasies (and the vodka shots) drive my thoughts.

“Speaking of my stream, Nomad sent me a DM about an hour after that text. And, well, it wasn’t great. They sent me a message saying that I didn’t need to hire someone to find them, that it was a waste of time because we were destined to be together, no matter who’s hunting down who.”

Seeing the fear cross his expression filled me with a flash of red-hot anger, striking my protective instincts like a match against flint. “So they clearly know you’re seeking help, which is… concerning. That was fast. Did you tell anyone else you met with me?”

Eli shook his head. “Not really. I mean, I guess I told Fran—she’s my roommate—but she’s also sixty-one years old and the kindest soul walking this earth. I’m a hundred percent positive she has nothing to do with this.”

As sure as Eli sounded and as unlikely as it appeared, I still had to investigate every possibility. “Maybe she mentioned it to someone else? A neighbor? A mailman? Delivery guy?”

“I don’t know, I guess I can ask.”

“Did you write it down in a calendar somewhere? Maybe made a note on your phone?”

Eli shook his head and scoffed. “I’m not that organized with my life. Why?”

“Maybe this Nomad person has a digital tracker on you. They could have hacked into your accounts somehow. I want you to change all your passwords when you get home. Just in case.”

Eli frowned, his lips pursing slightly as he considered my suggestion. “Shit, you think?”

“It’s possible,” I said. “If they got your number, they could have gotten access to other things, too. I don’t want to freak you out, but I also don’t want to take chances here.”

He exhaled, running a hand through his shining golden hair. A silver bracelet matched the two silver rings he wore. “Shit. I’m hating the CSI vibes happening here.”

“I prefer Mindhunter ,” I said.

“Of course you do,” Eli teased, crossing his arms. His gaze flickered over me like he was assessing something. “You totally give off ‘special agent with a dark past’ energy. And wasn’t it someone from Stonewall responsible for catching the Raven serial killer? You’re practically made for that show.”

That made me laugh, the tension loosening slightly. My eyes traced his face, lingering on his lips before I snapped myself back to reality. He didn’t just look like Michael; he acted like him, too. Spoke with his hands in the same manner, rolled his neck in the same way, had a similar crooked smirk.

Focus.

“Anyway,” I said, clearing my throat. “First thing—change your passwords. And maybe don’t log in to anything on public Wi-Fi for now.”

Eli nodded. “Yeah, okay. Good call, detective .” He tilted his head. Was he teasing me? “So, what’s next?” he asked. “Because this… this is really starting to scare me.”

“Well,” I said, keeping my voice even. I didn’t want to add fuel to the fire of fear he was already feeling. My job was to quench those flames, not feed them. “Next step is getting more information. We need to figure out if this guy has left any physical evidence anywhere. I’m waiting on the fingerprint results from the cops but I’ll also see if I can track down this phone number. And in the meantime, you need to be careful. No walking alone at night. No letting your guard down.”

“Thank you. For helping me with this.”

Was it wrong that him being so close to me was making me hard? Our legs were practically touching. I leaned forward, petting Lucky as an excuse to hide the bulge. I had made it past my fumble from earlier; I didn’t want to add another one by being too obvious with how badly I wanted him.

“No need to thank me.” I checked my watch. It was still early in the day. I could choose to head home, where I could spend my day combing through the internet, or I could spend more time with Eli and help him set up those cameras I mentioned. Both options seemed perfectly valid to me, but I preferred one much more than the other.

“So, want to head to the camera shop?”

Eli— God, that’s Michael’s smile —clapped his hands together and stood up.

“Let’s do it.”