It was one of the reasons Dominic hated honeypot missions, especially when the mark was male. He wasn’t always attracted to women he was supposed to seduce, but with women it was easier to fool his body into believing that he was attracted to them. So far he hadn’t been successful at convincing his body that it wanted Luke Whitford.
Of course, the fact that his thoughts kept returning to Sammy with irritating frequency didn’t exactly help him focus on the job.
“Then why?” Sammy said at last.
Dominic leaned back in his seat. “I hung up before I could say something stupid. More stupid than what I already said.” He still couldn’t believe he had called Sam baby. Christ, was he out of his mind?
“What do you mean?”
“Look,” Dominic said with a sigh. “I try not to be an asshole. I know it’s not cool to lead someone on. I didn’t mean to, but… I can’t be as firm with you as I should be.”
He should have been firmer with Sammy about his little crush instead of calling him endearments.
“Wait,” Sammy said, sounding like he was torn between laughing and sighing. “If it’s about you calling me baby, I know you aren’t—I know you don’t see me that way. Don’t worry. I’m not delusional.”
“Still,” Dominic said. “I should be—there should be a line. I’m the adult with more experience. I should be more responsible. But instead of being responsible, I keep slipping and treating you like—like…” My baby. “I can’t be as firm with you as I should be.”
“Awww.” Sammy sounded as though he was smiling. “Are you saying you like me too much, Nick?”
Dominic gave a rueful smile. If only it were that simple. “I guess I got a bit attached to you, Red.”
He could practically hear Sammy grin. “Of course you did,” he said. “I have a winning personality.”
“You do,” Dominic said, smiling faintly.
They fell silent for a while, but this time the silence was comfortable.
“I know you can’t come to headquarters,” Sammy said suddenly. “But can I come to your place? When I have time?”
Dominic stared at Luke’s picture unseeingly.
When he didn’t reply at once, Sammy mumbled with an awkward laugh, “Okay, let’s pretend I didn’t say anything.”
“It will look as suspicious as me going to headquarters,” Dominic said. “My house will be likely be watched after Whitford hears about my dating his son.”
“Oh. Okay. I get it. Forget about it—it was stupid of me to suggest that, anyway.”
Dominic grimaced. Sometimes Sammy’s insecurity was heartbreaking. “Remember what I told you about paying attention to what people say rather than letting your preconceived opinions affect your judgment? All I said was that you can’t come to my house from headquarters—sooner or later you’ll lead Whitford to MI6, no matter how careful you are.”
“I won’t!”
“You will. You’re very talented at what you do, but you’re still just a trainee. You don’t have practical experience and you will make a mistake, because every trainee does.”
Sammy went silent, clearly disheartened.
Dominic’s jaw clenched.
Don’t you dare, his rational part said.
But another voice whispered that Sammy was sad, Sammy was alone and vulnerable, and Sammy needed him.
“But you might be able to stay with me if you want,” Dominic said, cringing at his self-control, or lack thereof.
“What?”
Sammy sounded as stunned as part of Dominic was by his own suggestion.
He was a private man. He tried to keep his personal life away from his professional one if it was possible. In his decade with MI6, he’d never offered a colleague to stay with him. Most of his colleagues didn’t even know where he lived. And now he was offering to share his house with an eighteen-year-old kid he’d known for a month. What the hell was wrong with him? He’d never gotten attached to people so fast and so hard. If Sammy were a woman, Dominic could have blamed infatuation. Since Sammy was a boy, he was just baffled and irritated by the intensity of that attachment.
Not to mention that inviting a gay kid who had a crush on him to live in his house was the opposite of smart. It was the definition of irresponsible.
But apparently if Sammy was upset, all his rational thinking went out the window. Unbelievable.
Pinching the bridge of his nose, Dominic explained, “There are no rules prohibiting you from living somewhere other than the training facility. As long as you can get a qualified trainer, you don’t even have to go to headquarters until your tests a few months from now.”
“And you’re a qualified trainer?” Sam said.
Dominic smiled a little. “No, but I’m the next best thing. All agents of my rank are qualified to train rookies.”
“But won’t it blow your cover? It will be suspicious if someone you’re not related to lives with you.”
“Actually,” Dominic said thoughtfully. “It will probably be less suspicious if you live with me. If Richard Whitford manages to find out that I was on that cruise, he will also find out that I bought a pet on the auction. It will be more suspicious if my sugar baby suddenly disappears after I get home.”