“I’ll let you relax,” Sam said as he stood.
“Don’t go. You said I couldn’t sleep. I want to relax, but if you keep me talking, I won’t fall asleep.”
With a nod, Sam backed away and sat on the closed toilet. From there, he could only see Bray from the shoulders up. Much less of a temptation.
“This feels amazing. The warmth is seeping into my bones. Today definitely didn’t turn out how I thought it would.”
Sam snorted. “Ditto. I thought I was in for a fairly mundane business trip.”
Bray reached for the little soap provided by the hotel but flinched. Sam jumped up to get it for him. He tried not to look at Bray’s lower half, but his eyes caught on the bruises.
“Are they getting worse?” Sam asked.
“I’d only worry if it hurt to breathe. You’re quite the mother hen, Sam Wheeler.”
Sam looked up at the sound of his alias. The last name sounded so wrong coming from Bray’s mouth, but the kid was smiling like he was proud of himself. Sam found himself smiling back until his gaze fell once again to the black-and-blue marks on Bray’s abs.
“I feel responsible,” he murmured as he returned to sit on the toilet lid.
“You couldn’t have stopped me. I did my best to hide the fact I was following you.”
“Next time I’ll remember to have one of my men sit on you.”
Bray’s eyes went wide.
“Not like that. Don’t get all offended. I meant trail you, make sure you don’t leave the States.”
“I want to apologize,” Bray said. “I’ve caused you a lot of trouble today with your…associates and I didn’t mean to. You don’t know how relieved I was to see you walk into that room. I knew you’d come for me.”
Sam wasn’t sure how true that last sentence was, but he was sure the rest was true. The look in Bray’s eyes made Sam uncomfortable.
“Don’t look at me like I’m some hero, Bray.”
“You’re a good man, Sam Wheeler. I knew it right away, and today, you proved it.”
“I didn’t prove anything. My business is about as dark as you can get. I’m not a good man.”
“You are to me. I might be naïve, but I think that counts for something.”
“Don’t see pixie dust where there is none. It wouldn’t behoove me to have left you there at their mercy. I had selfish reasons for getting you out of there.”
“I’m sure you did.” Bray smiled.
Maybe he was getting too into his role, but that smile was one of both indulgent patience and dirty little nymph. It was a smile one boyfriend would give another and Sam hated how much he loved looking at it.
