Page 47 of Pretty Poison

“Hey,” Rocky said, internally rolling his eyes at how breathy he sounded.

Glancing over at Trudy, he saw her eyebrows creeping up toward her hairline. Yeah, she’d noticed his reaction too. He read the curiosity in her gaze, which meant Asher probably hadn’t introduced himself as Rocky’s husband.

He said goodbye to Lillian at the door and thanked her for entrusting their agency with such an important mission.

Lillian patted his arm. “We’ll be in touch soon.”

After she left, Rocky turned and caught Asher staring at his ass. Something dark, delicious, and dangerous sparked inside him.

“To what do I owe this pleasure, Inspector?”

Asher closed the magazine and set it on the small coffee table before he rose to his feet and crossed the short distance. “I have a problem that only a smart-mouthed private eye can help me with.”

“You’ve come to the right place,” Trudy announced.

Rocky looked over, and she’d propped her elbow on her desk and rested her chin in the palm of her upturned hand. Her eyes shimmered with pure, unadulterated glee. “Don’t you have something to do?”

“Don’t you?” she fired back.

“I really like her,” Asher said, then crossed the room and extended his hand. “I’m Asher Dunleavy.” Rocky waited for him to drop the bomb, but he didn’t.

“Trudy Robinson,” she said, shaking Asher’s hand. “I don’t recall seeing your name on the schedule.”

“It was a spur-of-the-moment thing,” Asher said to Trudy before facing Rocky again. “I won’t take much of your time.”

“Pity,” Trudy said as she turned back to her computer.

Rocky chuckled and gestured for Asher to follow him back to his office. He felt his husband’s eyes on his ass during the short walk, so Rocky was a mess of jumbled nerves by the time he shut the door to give them privacy.

Rocky turned away from the door and smacked into a concrete wall of muscle. Asher placed his strong hands on his hips, and Rocky slowly lifted his head to meet his husband’s gaze. Asher took a few steps forward, which meant Rocky had to back up a little if he didn’t want to be plowed.

Oh, but I do. I really, really do.

Asher didn’t stop moving until Rocky was sandwiched between the unyielding door and his husband’s substantial body. He liked it a lot and suddenly found himself at a loss for words.

“Hi,” Rocky managed to say.

Cupping his face, Asher brushed his thumb over Rocky’s cheek, then he lowered his head until his mouth was an eyelash away from Rocky’s. He didn’t mean one of those two-inch-long fake lashes like his drag queen friends wore. He was talking about the short and stumpy kind most people were burdened with.

Rocky’s brain and heart launched into a battle of “kiss me” and “don’t kiss me.” Rocky was quickly falling into the kiss-me camp.

The mixture of scents that had intoxicated Rocky in the bathroom was even more potent now, taunting him. He could so easily press his nose against Asher’s throat and breathe him in. His husband was right there for the sniffing and… taking? Is that what Rocky wanted?

“Hi,” Asher said. How could one little word awaken so many emotions and stimulate hundreds of nerve endings inside him? It wasn’t the word; it was the husky voice and the man with the hungry eyes who spoke it.

For the love of all things holy and unholy, please kiss me.

Asher didn’t budge from his position. If Rocky wanted a kiss, he’d have to take the initiative. The heat radiating from his husband’s body and the smoldering look in his eyes said he was also in the kiss-me camp. Asher’s ardor slowly downshifted the longer they stared at one another, but that thumb never stopped moving. Rocky guessed where Asher’s thoughts were going, and he wanted to throw up a stop sign.

“Are you okay?” Asher asked softly.

Too late. Pity had replaced lust in Asher’s dark gaze.

Biting back a groan, Rocky stepped out of Asher’s quasi embrace and walked toward his desk. Rocky could tell him about Shelly going into labor or his conversation with Lillian, but it would only make Asher worry more. “I’m fine. Why do you ask?”

“I’m not allowed to express concern?”

Rocky dropped down in his chair and forced himself to meet Asher’s eyes. How many fucking times had Asher asked Rocky the same question? Too many to count. No matter how Rocky answered him, it led to an argument. Rocky had no interest in rehashing old fights, so he ignored him instead. “What brings you by?” he asked.