Baz nodded. “Of course.”
“That leaves us with a team leader position open, as well as the rest of the teams. I reached out to local PDs and we’ve got a handful of people who’ve been referred to us. I’ll email you their info. If you’re interested in anyone, call them in for an interview. At least three people need to talk to them before a decision can be made. One of those must be me or Reese.”
“Do we have a time frame on gettin’ them hired?” Trey asked.
“Yes.” Brantley hopped off the desk. “Yesterday.”
“How did I know you were gonna say that?” JJ started toward the stairs leading up to her office. “Oh, and I’ve got three people scheduled for interviews. Two tomorrow, one on Monday. These are my peeps, but I’d appreciate someone helpin’ me with interviews.”
“Just holler,” Reese told her. “One of us’ll be there.”
She gave him a curt nod, then bounded up the stairs, the box of cell phones in her hand.
“Until we’re at full capacity, I want you to start goin’ through the case files with Trey,” Brantley told Baz. “Let’s separate them out in a manner that makes sense. That way we can start lookin’ into them as soon as we’ve got the teams in place.”
“Got it.”
“Oh, and last thing,” Brantley called out. “Travis is sendin’ in a crew this weekend to get the conference room completed. So make yourself scarce.”
“A construction crew that works weekends? Impressive,” Baz said with a grin.
“Travis is owed some favors,” Brantley told him.
“Tell me y’all don’t hang around on the weekends,” Trey said, his gaze darting between the three of them.
“Only when it’s necessary.” A smirk slowly formed on Baz’s face. “For some reason, I get the feelin’ it’s about to become necessary.”
Yeah, Reese had to agree with him on that. The time for settling in was over. It looked as though they were gearing up to get to work.Chapter TwelveFriday, November 20, 2020The following morning, Brantley woke groggy but thankfully without the migraine that had hit him with a vengeance last night. One of those that gave no warning and had been relentless in taking him down. He’d been expecting it. They were still coming once a week at minimum, sometimes more, and it had been about that long since the last.
He didn’t remember much except for Reese taking care of him, urging him into bed, feeding him the pill that would help to alleviate the excruciating pain, or at least lessen the time it lasted. Brantley had shut down his brain and drifted off into nothingness.
The mornings after were always a gamble. The fear of another headache lingered, making him move slowly. It took only a few minutes for him to realize he was fine and the day wasn’t quite underway since it was still dark out. Perhaps some exercise would help, get his adrenaline flowing, make him feel human once more.
Getting in a five-mile run was his intention, but that goal went right out the window when he stretched his arm and found Reese was still in bed. Only one part of his anatomy seemed content to get up at the moment, so he rolled toward the warm body and spooned Reese from behind, sliding his arm around him. He had another form of exercise in mind.
Reese’s hand glided over his forearm, gripping his wrist gently as he pushed back against him. “Feel better?”
“Yes,” he breathed against Reese’s ear. “Thank you.”
“My pleasure.”
“What pleasure would you like me to give you in return?” he asked.
“Depends. Is the headache gone?”
“Long gone,” he assured him, pressing a kiss to Reese’s shoulder as he pulled him in close.
A soft moan escaped Reese, so Brantley trailed his lips over Reese’s shoulders, licking and sucking until those moans grew louder, the tension in his body making his muscles flex. Sliding his hand down Reese’s abs, he continued until he had his steel-hard shaft in his hand.
“Brantley…” Reese’s hips rolled.
“Hmm?”
“Fuck … feels good.”
“That’s it, baby,” he whispered, nipping Reese’s earlobe. “Fuck my fist. Make yourself come.”
Another groan, this one long and low. “I want inside you,” Reese growled. “Let me come inside you.”
Brantley didn’t have time to respond before Reese moved, pinning Brantley to the bed as he laid out over him. His weight was sheer perfection as Brantley’s hands roamed over the smooth, muscular contours of his back. Reese kissed him, a long, wet exploration that went from playful to urgent as their lower bodies ground together. Breaths became raspier, the air thick with the electricity that sparked whenever they were together.
Brantley threw out an arm, reached for the nightstand. He managed to get the drawer open, but the lamp nearly took a header. He fumbled until he found the bottle of lubricant they kept stashed there.
Reese never stopped grinding against him, their bodies growing warmer, sweat slicking their skin as the need became a driving hunger that had to be sated.
