Page 19 of Touch Me

But it’s time for me to figure that out.

Chapter Seven

“Morning,” Renly said, striding across the Stark Securitybreak room to where Ryan stood by the coffee maker. “You okay?”

Ryan looked up, trying to pull his mind back on track.“Sorry. What?”

Renly pointed toward the machine. “It works better if youpress the shiny green button.”

“Right. I think I read that in the brochure.” He hit theswitch, and the magical elixir began to flow. It had been a shitty morning,mostly because he couldn’t get a read on his wife. All he knew was thatsomething was off. And that today was definitely a non-stop coffee day.

“Thanks for the invite last night. Sorry I couldn’t pop overbut Abby had other plans for us.”

“No prob—” He cut himself off, frowning. He’d invited Renlyover to watch a flick after Jamie announced she was doing the girl thing withNikki and Abby. Renly thanked him for the invite, saying he already had plans,and Ryan had thought nothing more of it.

Until now.

Frowning, he took his mug and headed straight for theprivacy of his office, barely noticing the way Renly’s eyes tracked him.

A moment later, Renly stepped into the office and closed thedoor behind him.

“What’s up?” Ryan asked from behind the desk.

“That’s what I was going to ask you.”

“I’m fine.” He could hear the curtness in his own voice andsilently cursed his wife. The woman could definitely get under his skin.

“Might be my imagination, but with me being a hotshotsecurity guy, I like to follow up on my gut. And my gut’s saying my boss hassomething on his mind. So spill. What’s wrong?”

Ryan hesitated, then shook his head. “Probably just amisunderstanding. Seriously, don’t worry about it.”

Renly hesitated, but eventually nodded and started to turnaway.

Oh, hell. “Actually, wait.” Ryan hated that he wasprobably being paranoid, but he hated more not having answers. “Last night whenyou told me that Abby had made plans for the two of you, you meant together,right?”

“Uh, yeah. Very together.”

“And just the two of you?”

Renly’s brows rose. “Getting a little intimate there, bossman.”

“Oh, hell, I—”

Renly laughed. “Just giving you shit. Yeah. Just the two ofus. And again I ask, what’s going on?”

“Nothing. Like I said, just a misunderstanding.”

For a moment, Renly studied him, clearly wanting someexplanation for the odd questions, but at the same time, not wanting tointerrogate his boss.

Finally, the hierarchy won out. “Okay, man. Holler if youneed me. I’ll be at my desk all day. Damn paperwork. That’s what I get forbeing so awesome and closing cases.”

Ryan chuckled, then sat back in his chair as Renly shot himone more inquisitive look, then shut the door behind him. Immediately, Ryanreached for the control knob on the side of his desk, turned the dial, andwatched as the blinds slowly lowered. Then he sat back in his chair wonderingwhy on earth Jamie had told him that Abby had been with her and Nikki.

He couldn’t think of a single goddamn reason.

Which meant that Jamie had lied to him. But why?

If it were near Christmas, his birthday, or theiranniversary, maybe Abby had been her cover for shopping. But they were monthsaway from all of those.