Page 75 of Skin Game
They were both covered with spunk and would need a second shower before leaving the house, but Casey smiled back at his partner.
“I don’t know much but I think maybe love is generally scary,” said Casey.
What the hell. Casey knew Gabe wouldn’t bring it up—he knew Casey too well. “I was serious, we do need a bigger boat.But maybe not a boat. What about a house together, big enough for us, Bowie, and Keith?”
“You’re talking about a home. About living together, me and you,” Gabe said, his grin huge.
“Yeah, I am.”
“If we weren’t in danger of being invaded by Claribel and crew, I’d take the time to show you just how incredible I think this idea of yours is. How vehemently I am saying ‘yes.’ Is tomorrow too soon?”
“Before we met, Gabriel, I hated doing anything fast.”
Gabe raised an eyebrow and leaned in to plant a quick kiss on Casey’s lips. “And how has that changed?”
It was Casey’s turn to smile. “I’m still not a fan but I’ve learned that with you, I just need to grab on and hold tight.”
TWENTY-SIX
GABE – FRIDAY AFTERNOON
The house that Shay had rented for the weekend was a beautifully restored two-story farmhouse that looked like it was originally built around 1900. The contractor had artfully expanded the ground floor to include a modern-style kitchen, two large bedrooms, a living room, a mudroom, and some other bonus room Gabe didn’t know the name for. There was another bathroom and two more bedrooms upstairs, and a beautiful wrap-around porch. He’d live there for the porch alone.
“This is nice,” Gabe said, setting his half of Alfred down and taking in their surroundings. “Do you think we could afford something like this?”
It was close to Greta and Abby. And, he thought, also to Casey’s brother.
Casey coughed. “On a ranger’s salary?”
Gabe noted that Casey didn’t scoff at thewe, just the budget.
The house was gorgeous, and Gabe had no trouble imagining living in a place like this—with Casey. They could have friends and family over easily enough, and there were plenty of rooms to give themselves space when they each needed alone time.
“I have money.” Actually, Gabe still had quite a bit of moneysort of lying around. Why not buy a home where he and Casey would be happy living together? “We might as well put it to good use. Come on.” He smirked across the top of Alfred. “I could be your sugar daddy.”
Gabe knew he should be exhausted, having gotten no sleep the night before, but he was officially wired. After a shower, coffee, and that energizing session ofCasey checking to make sure Gabe was really okay, he was ready for the rest of the day. And that included Claribel, Shay, Elton, and the rest of the crew who had been invited for brunch, or whatever this was.
“Bring that thing into the kitchen!” Claribel shouted.
Gabe rolled his eyes while Casey coughed and frowned, clearly trying to think of a response.
“You know there’s nothing you can say except yes.”
“Can we just get this into the kitchen and hash out living arrangement details later?”
“Only if it involves sexual favors from me.”
“Jesus Christ,” Casey whispered, his cheeks red.
They’d brought the chair along with them because if Alfred the Ugly was hiding a secret, Elton would be disappointed if he wasn’t there when they discovered it. If Alfred wasn’t hiding anything, the next stop was the building where the 201 Gallery had been housed.
Gabe hoped it didn’t come to that. He wasn’t looking forward to crawling around potentially spider-infested forgotten passageways between old buildings in Westfort.
They set Alfred down in the middle of the kitchen floor. “If I was a seventeen-year-old looking to hide purloined artwork, and this thing was all that was handy, where would I put it?”
“Do we want to know why this chair was handy?” asked Shay.
“We do not. That is called a detour. Maybe Heidi worked in an antique store? There still are a bunch of them along Water Street, even one next to Windward Kite Shop, maybe that’s where the secret door led from.”