Rowe rounded his desk and walked out of the office to the railing that overlooked the ground floor training area. “Hey, Seth!” Rowe shouted above the noise. “Get your ass up to my office!”
Liam’s breath froze in his lungs and he jumped to his feet.
Are you fucking kidding me?
His damn body was running hot and cold, unable to decide if it was excited or terrified at the prospect of seeing Seth again. But he didn’t have time to figure out which was winning, because Rowe returned to his office. Luckily, he didn’t seem to notice that Liam was in full panic mode.
“Seth is on his way up. He’s technically off for a few days, but I think he’ll be happy to help out Sven’s brother. Plus, this should be an easy job for him.” Rowe was trying to soothe any of Liam’s worries, but Rowe’s words were mostly white noise in his ears as he struggled to pull himself together before facing Seth.
There wasn’t time, though. Just as Liam was getting his brain to start working again, quick footsteps pounded up the stairs and down the hall. Liam swallowed hard, and Seth stepped into the room. The shorter man stopped dead, his eyes widening as they met Liam’s.
“Liam!” Seth said on a gasp.
“Hey, Seth,” Liam replied when he could get his tongue to function. God, he looked amazing. Yes, he was shiny with sweat, his face was flushed, and his hair was standing up, but it all reminded him of how Seth had looked right after they’d finished fucking. Simply, he looked absolutely gorgeous.
“You know each other already?” Rowe asked.
Thank God he spoke, because it was the only way to get Liam to stop staring at the way Seth’s T-shirt was sticking to his damp chest.
“Yeah, umm…we met at Sven’s wedding,” Seth said.
“Oh. Yeah,” Rowe said, though there was something in the redhead’s voice that left Liam thinking he wasn’t entirely convinced.
“What’s going on? Liam, what happened to your face?” Seth demanded. He took a step closer to Liam and out of the corner of his eye, he saw Seth lift his hand as if he was planning to touch him, but he stopped himself. Seth cleared his throat and ran both of his hands down the sides of his shorts.
“That’s what I need your help with. You mind if I reschedule your break and put you on Liam’s case for a little while?”
“No, of course not!”
Liam ignored the butterflies that launched into frantic flight in his chest. This wasn’t about Seth wanting to see him again. Seth was a good person, and he was happy to help out his boss. Or maybe help out Sven’s brother. It had nothing to do with him.
“Shut the door, and we’ll fill you in.” Rowe returned to his desk, and Liam dropped down on the couch. Seth remained standing while Rowe recapped what Liam had told him over the past several minutes. It wasn’t easy looking up at Seth as Rowe laid the problem bare, but with each glance up at Seth’s face, his expression grew darker.
“And this friend?” Seth ground out when Rowe reached the end of his story. “When was the last time you heard from him?”
“Umm…almost a week, I think.” Liam folded his hands together in his lap to keep himself from fidgeting. “We talked just after Sven’s wedding.”
“In person or on the phone?”
“In person. He came into the shop.”
Seth gave a little nod. “Did anything seem off about him, then?”
Liam dug through his mind for the memory. It took a minute. There had been nothing particularly remarkable about the conversation.
“He seemed stressed, but we were both stressed. The shop was still coming together. It had been open for only a few days. He was working on lining up another reliable source for bulk flowers. Money was tight,” Liam said. “I didn’t think much of it. He said he was going out of town to check in with a flower supplier, but it was supposed to take only a day or two.”
“Liam’s going to meet with Gidget and give her the details of his visitors,” Rowe said. “I want you with him twenty-four hours for the next few days. These assholes are going to be back unless this Gerald makes an appearance soon.”
Seth’s gaze snapped to Liam for a heartbeat, and Liam swore he could see panic in those deep-blue eyes. But the look was gone in a blink.
“When they appear, your job is to keep Liam safe, find out how much Gerald owes, and any details you can get about them and who this money is owed to.”
Seth nodded. “Got it, Boss.”
Rowe snorted. “Go grab a shower while I get Liam set up with Gidget. I’m sure he doesn’t want to be around your stink.”
Liam kept his eyes locked on the charcoal-gray carpet under his feet as if his life fucking depended on it. If he looked up, his expression would give away that he reveled in every sweaty inch of Seth.
God, this was a nightmare. It wasn’t bad enough that his business partner owed money to a loan shark, putting both their lives and business in danger. But now he was being protected by his sexy hookup. The one man he wanted to fuck over and over again. The one man who was walking temptation.
The one man he couldn’t touch again.
Shoot me now.
Chapter Five
Liam winced as he bent to pick up one of the shipping boxes that had just been dropped off. Seth rushed forward to help and Liam let him. He didn’t think the kicks had broken any ribs, but he was still so damn sore. It was making the store clean up slow.
Plus, Seth had to be bored out of his mind.
“Are there any other things I can do to help out? I’d rather do that than stand around.” Seth carried the box into the back.
Liam scratched his bearded jaw, eyes darting around the room. It was easier than letting them settle on Seth and all his sexiness. “I’ve got some plants that need repotting.”
“You sure you don’t have broken ribs?”
Liam looked at Seth, loving the way he looked in his jeans and blue Henley. He’d decided not to wear the Ward Security uniform shirt so he could surprise the men when they returned to harass Liam. His ripped body looked so damn good in the casual clothes. He moved with an innate grace that made Liam’s mouth water. Was it from all his martial arts training?
“Liam? Are you sure you don’t have broken ribs?” Seth repeated.
He realized he’d been staring at him and not answering. Heat pricked his neck and he nodded. “I’m sure. Just bruised.”
Seth gave him a tight smile he couldn’t interpret and started moving the boxes again.
Liam unpacked them, carefully lifting out the new vases he’d been forced to order. Cash was in short supply, and he’d needed to put them on a credit card. Nerves gripped his heart. Gerald’s disappearance was now more ominous than annoying in light of what happened.
With the boxes unpacked and new stock put away, Liam quickly showed Seth how to repot the plants.
Liam had to open the flower shop despite not having the front completely refilled and luckily, he was getting nice traffic, thanks to the location among other businesses. He was interrupted often around lunchtime. It got slow after that, and he expected it would pick up again once school let out and the students came in to look at the corsages and boutonnieres.