...Nate looked up then, and their gazes met and held. “You’re thinking deep thoughts from your silence and the look on your face. I’m starting to worry. Are you thinking about backing off on this, maybe not wanting to work with me here?”

Merl shook his head. “No, not really. It may not be easy for me, which may make it less than easy for you at times, but you’ve got a good idea. I’m convinced you’re going to work until you make it happen. How can I refuse to be part of it?”

“It’s going to throw us together, like almost twenty-four/seven, you know. Does that bother you?”

Again, Merl shook his head, this time adding a smile. “Not so you’d notice. You’re really not a hard guy to hang out with.”

Nate laughed then. “You have a way with words, my friend. Do you mean that? Or maybe mean even more?”

Merl’s memory chose that instant to dredge up the feelings of the previous night, the touch and taste of Nate’s lips, the sensations of his body pressing close. If they had not been interrupted by Dane’s awakening… A surge of arousal and excitement rushed through him. His words came thick and slow. “Even more? Yeah, even more.”

They both stood, shoving chairs back, at the same moment. For a breath, Merl thought Nate might climb right across the table, but he went around it instead. Merl met him halfway. Coming into each other’s arms created an instant spark that became a roaring blaze in seconds.

Catching Nate in a bear hug, Merl lifted him clear of the floor as he bent to find the other man’s mouth. He lapped at Nate’s lips until they softened and parted, allowing his tongue to slip between them and explore the warm, coffee-flavored depths. Nate kissed back with equal enthusiasm, sucking on Merl’s tongue and teasing back with his own.

Nate slid one hand under the hem of the short sweatshirt and traced along Merl’s lower ribs. The touch tickled in a tantalizing and arousing way. His skin quivered as fiery tingles swept over his whole body.

Nate drew back just enough to speak. “Come on. There’s a king-sized bed in my room, with plenty of space to do anything we want. It’s farther than your room, but we can get there.” He wiggled in Merl’s grip until his feet again found the floor.

Merl could nearly have picked Nate up and carried him, but he figured that might not sit well. Nate had his pride, too, and might not appreciate the reminder of the differences in their stature.

Merl had not been upstairs yet in the big house, so he followed Nate, taking the hand the other man extended to him as they started up the wide staircase.

“I could’ve taken over the master bedroom,” Nate said. “Still, my room is comfortable, familiar. I just got some new furniture and kept it as my space.”

He swung open a door, and they entered. Merl paused to look around, not sure what he’d find. The room reflected the Nate he was coming to know—neat, utilitarian, but comfortable, with solid, simple furniture and nothing unnecessary or ostentatious. Nate stopped and turned to face him.

“Do you approve?”

Merl could not hold back a grin. “Approve? Well, it beats hell out of a tent and some tarps, don’t you think? But I like it—nothing fancy or frilly or false. A den, a shelter and a safe place. Kind of like coming home.”

“It’s yours, too, now…ours, if you want.” As he spoke, Nate grasped the hem of the sweatshirt and lifted it. Merl ducked enough to let the shorter man draw it over his head. He stood quietly while Nate raced his hands over the planes of Merl’s chest, traced the line of dark hair from his breastbone down to the elastic waist of the pants. He could not control the involuntary quiver as Nate’s tongue made the same path and then back up to swipe across each of Merl’s nipples.