A small smile spread across his lips. It was the first time Daniel had actually spoken to him in a somewhat civil tone since he’d discovered the truth about his interest. Well, the partial truth. If Edward hadn’t been there on an assignment, he most definitely would have hit on Daniel.
They might not be able to have the physical fun they initially enjoyed, but it would be nice if they could at least stop snapping at each other. “We have all of tomorrow for me to get you ready,” he murmured.
“One day isn’t a lot of time.”
“I know,” he said quietly. “But I have faith in you.”
“We don’t know each other, so I’m not sure why.”
Edward sighed and shifted to lie flat again. He stared at the ceiling as he placed one hand behind his head. “Desk jockey or not, you’ve had proper training. I couldn’t have picked a better person to be wrong about.”
“If you were wrong about that, you could be wrong about me handling this correctly.”
“I’m not. All you have to do is be at that appointment and stay long enough for me to get pictures. I’ll take it from there, and you can go home back to that job you love.” He pushed down the blanket in the warm room.
“It feels so surreal being here instead of at work.” Restless sounds rose from the bed like Daniel was shifting around, trying to find a comfortable position. “I can’t believe I finally took a vacation just for me and it turned into this. I was planning to read and lie on the beach for a week. You really fucked that up.”
Edward sighed. There went his hopes that Daniel might finally let go of his anger. “I can keep apologizing, but it’s not going to do any good if you won’t believe me.”
“Like I said, it’s hard to believe a word that comes out of your mouth.” Daniel grumbled as he shifted on the bed again. Then he sighed and got up to cross the room. “I’m too nervous to sleep yet.”
Daniel opened the balcony door and stepped outside. The city sounds grew louder as he left the door open and a welcome cool draft floated through the room. Edward rolled over and watched as Daniel stepped up to the rail and lifted his face into the breeze. He ran his gaze down to that gorgeous backside, recalling what it had felt like to sink into it. He let out a frustrated breath and propped his chin on his hands to keep staring and remembering. Damn, the accountant had a sensuality that burned through Edward and now, his hard-on had returned. Edward had a feeling it would be around a lot where Daniel was concerned. The man was truly beautiful.
Daniel came back into the room and sat on the edge of the bed, putting his head into his hands.
Edward sat up. He really did feel bad that he’d pulled this innocent man into this mess. He hadn’t been lying about that. “You’ll be fine,” he whispered.
Daniel raised his head and stared across the room. “I wish the meeting was tomorrow so I could just get it over with. This is nuts.”
“You’ll be glad we have tomorrow to go over things. Plus, Barcelona is beautiful. You can’t be here and not at least see some of the sights. We’ll make a day of it.”
The snort from the other side of the room was loud. “You think I can just walk around like an average tourist with this sitting on my shoulders?”
“I do. Like I said, it’s one meeting, and you don’t have to sit through it long.”
Daniel released another of those drawn-out sighs and crawled back into bed. He didn’t say another word and after a while, Edward finally let himself nod off. He went to sleep still wishing he was in that bed with Daniel, even if it was only to hold the man and reassure him that he’d get through things safely.Chapter SixDaniel slept later than he’d wanted the next morning. But it had taken him hours to finally calm his brain enough to fall asleep in the first place. His sleep had been restless. Not plagued with dreams so much as a growing sense of uneasiness he couldn’t escape.
When he finally dragged himself out of bed, it was to the smell of coffee, sausage, and bacon. A trolley had been brought into the room and Edward was seated at the table, freshly showered, and sipping coffee while reading the newspaper. He flashed Daniel an easy smile, but Daniel growled in response, picking up the carafe.
Coffee and a hot shower helped to put him back on his feet, but the sense of growing dread still dogged him. He wasn’t trained to be some suave secret agent. He wasn’t James Bond with his martial arts skills and cadre of deadly weapons. He wasn’t even the bumbling Maxwell Smart. Even the ridiculous Austin Powers was better equipped. Daniel knew who he was. A number-crunching data geek. He loved his puzzles and his computer and his tidy desk.