Nolan cleared his throat, feeling even less certain about his choices now. “I, uh, had something for you too. Hopefully, you’ll like it better than Dottie’s cage.”
He caught James’s subtle shake of his head a little too late. The words had already spilled from his mouth and he was standing there with the box in his hands, extended toward Jace.
“What’s this?” Jace looked up at Nolan, his eyes dark and wary.
“Open it and find out.” His heart beat unexplainably loudly as Jace took the package and uncovered the guitar case inside.
Rich and supple, the midnight blue leather of the custom carrier looked even more striking in person than it had in the pictures Kason had sent him while they were browsing online together at some outrageous shop Kason bought his own instruments from.
Jace popped it a crack, then froze before slowly pushing the lid all the way open and setting it gently on the coffee table as he cradled the main compartment in his lap.
James whistled. “Damn. I can tinker with lizard cages all day long, but I could never create something like that. How the hell do they get it so shiny?”
“What is this?” Jace’s gaze shot to Nolan, and Laurel gasped.
“I thought you knew how to play,” Nolan teased. “It’s a guitar.”
“It’s a work of art.” Now it was Jace’s turn to lovingly stroke something.
Nolan’s cock twitched in his jeans as the man ran one fingertip along the curve of the glossy Brazilian rosewood as he stared longingly at the guitar. Nolan cleared his throat and said, “It’s for you. Those songs you sing deserve to be played on something like this. You’re good. You’rereallygood.”
Then Jace doused Nolan in ice water. “I can’t accept this.”
“Of course you can.” Nolan waved off his rejection. “If you think informants get paid a ton, you should see how many zeros are on the checks Jordan passes out to the people who put their lives on the line for the Shields.”
James cleared his throat, cluing Nolan in to the fact that he was only making things worse. “I’m not bragging, I’m saying it’s not that big of a deal to me and I thought you might like it.”
Laurel smiled sadly at Nolan. He knew right then Jace wasn’t going to keep his gift. She understood Jace a lot better than he did, and Nolan would do well never to forget that again. He should have asked her about this first.
Jace shut the lid of the guitar case extra carefully for a man who was distinctly rough around the edges. He touched it like he did Laurel, reverently. But when he looked up at Nolan, his eyes were almost hollow and his voice flat, nothing like when he sang. “Thanks, but I’m used to my guitar. It might not be flashy, it’s full of scratches and scars, but it fits me. Unless Kason said mine sounds like shit on his session recordings or something.”
“No. No, of course he didn’t.” James tried to smooth things over, which was usually Nolan’s job. Damn it, he’d fucked up. “He was so excited when he went home to Jordan last night he made us all listen to what you were working on about five hundred times on repeat. I’m no expert, but it was so catchy I talked him into letting me download the recording to my phone to listen to in the car on the ride home. You’re a true artist.”
“Thanks.” Jace nodded, then sighed as he slid the guitar a few inches away.
“Sorry. I didn’t mean to shit on your set up.” Nolan barely bit back a curse.
James laid his fingers on Nolan’s wrist, but he shook them off and reached for the guitar, wishing he could hide it out of sight.
“No worries. We’re good.” Jace’s smile was tight, though. “It’s just…That’s over the top. You guys have done so much for us already. I’ve got to earn something. Be worth it, you know?”
“You are.” Nolan was shocked. Who would think they weren’t deserving of kindness?
Jace stared back without blinking, clearly not convinced.
Laurel was there, rubbing his back in a slow circle, nodding. “Thank you. For Dottie’s cage. For thinking of Jace. For everything. It’s kind of overwhelming. We’re not used to people being so generous without asking something in return. Sometimes more than we’d like to give.”
Ah, fuck. The last thing Nolan wanted was to make either of them feel indebted. Or like he was going to call on them for favors—sexual or otherwise—to repay him. He’d gone too far. He’d only wanted to help. And to see them smile. Somehow he’d done exactly the opposite. Damn it!
“Well, I’ll put this over here. And someday if you decide to buy it off me, I’ll give you a good deal.” Nolan shrugged as if the rejection of his gift didn’t sting a bit, even though he understood he’d mashed Jace’s buttons. “Not bad to have a spare on hand when Kason’s over anyway, right?”
“Yeah. Yeah, that sounds good.” Jace settled a bit.
It took an hour of Laurel and James shooting the shit, infecting the whole place with their light and laughter, before Jace fully unwound. Nolan was grateful to the other guy for sticking around and patching his slip up. But eventually the light started to fade and James checked his watch.
“Gotta go play house husband?” Nolan teased, figuring acting like an asshole was about as normal as he got.
“Devon and Neil will be home soon. I like to be there to feed them and help them relax after a long day on their sites.” James had found his happy place where he could take care of his spouses and do something fulfilling for himself.