Page 73 of The Hitman’s Final Job

I tut. “You’re really not the adventurous type, are you?”

He slaps my ass as we walk up to the bathroom to shower. “I’ll show you how adventurous I am once I recover from this round.”

The shower turns into another torture session for me. And when I say torture, I mean the fucking man edged me until I begged for relief. For a long, painful moment I thought he was going to leave me hanging, but he took pity on me and let me come down his throat.

Sadly, the eggs didn’t survive the long wait, so we sit with coffee and toast for a late breakfast.

“What are your plans today?” Vaughn asks, looking up from his phone.

“I offered to help Tess and Teresa at the baking stand. Teresa has an appointment later. I’m covering until she gets back.”

He picks up his coffee cup. “That’s nice of you.”

“It’s the least I can do when I’ve consumed more than enough of their baked goods.”

His eyes bore into me.

“What?”

He shakes his head. “Do you want to go out for dinner tonight?”

“You want to take me out?”

“Yeah. I think it would be nice to check out the seasonal menu at the Harvest and Root.” He holds out his hand, so I take it, and then he pulls me onto his lap. “There’s a band playing at the Ridgeline, so I was thinking we could go there after.”

I press my lips against his. “Hmm. It’s been a long time since I’ve been on a date.”

“It’s not a date,” he says.

“If it’s dinner like a date and music like a date, then I think it’s a date.”

“Fine. It’s a date,” he grumbles.

With Vaughn gone, I do a full check of the property for any signs of a foreign presence.

I start off around the house and expand the perimeter to the shed, the orchard, and the guest house, and then I check the fence line and the access road.

There’s nothing immediately suspicious, but then I notice tire tracks at the far end of the access road where it meets the main road, in the soft earth at the shoulder. Two sets. Neither of them from Vaughn’s truck or from the vehicles I’ve seen on the property. Most folks here drive the same type of truck, and I don’t use this road in the car. I take the side road to the lab because it gets to the main road faster.

Someone has been parked at the end of this access road.

I really don’t like this.

My phone dings. I pull it out of my pocket.

Vaughn:

It really is a date.

Silas:

I know.

Vaughn:

No. I mean, I really want it to be a date.

My heart melts for this man. The ache will come, but for now I’m going to enjoy this.