Perfect Fit: Book 4 of the Fated Hearts Series (25 page)

I had just sat down at my office chair when I received a text from Miller. I held my breath while I opened the text to read his response.

I miss you too. Debacle? You mean Senator Sleaze Bag? Don’t do anything reckless. He’ll eventually get tired and go away. Indy and I will be over at 6.

I breathed a huge sigh of relief and planned out what I wanted to say to Baxter once he arrived. I knew that I’d need to stay calm and on point or risk blowing the whole thing. I’d only have one chance to talk to him about it, because I knew he’d refuse my calls after we had our conversation.

I wasn’t surprised when the arrogant jerk was twenty minutes late. He thought everyone ran on Baxter time. He offered me his cheesy politician grin and shook my hand before he sat down. I opened my mouth to begin my prepared speech but he beat me to the punch.

“You’ve come to your senses, right? It took longer than I thought, but I’m glad you’ve seen the light.”
Huh?

“I’m not sure I follow, Senator Baxter.”

“I think you can drop the proper title, JJ. I mean, you’ve had your dick inside my ass and quite honestly having it there again is all I’ve been able to think about since we ran into each other last December.” The slightest wind could’ve knocked me over after I heard his confession. He was making this a lot easier for me. I figured it would be like pulling teeth to get him to talk to so freely. He was either stupid or overly confident, but either worked out great for me.

“Senator, I didn’t ask you here to talk about our past sex life. I asked you here so we can talk like old friends.”

“Sure you did.” Baxter sneered at me. “You want me to back off your boyfriend. Isn’t that the real reason why you called me,
Jag
?” I hated him using that nickname. I only wanted Miller to use it, not some perverted son of a bitch who didn’t want to take no for an answer. “You’re so predictable. Let’s make a deal.”

“There will be no deal. I will not, under any circumstances, allow you to ruin Miller’s career or cause him any more grief than you already have.”

“How are you planning to stop me?” He raised an arrogant brow and sneered at me, becoming virtually unrecognizable to me.

“By pleading to the good man that you used to be.” Baxter flinched at the past tense phrasing I chose. “I remember the young guy who wanted to take on the world and make it a better place for everyone, especially his LGBT brothers and sisters. What happened to the guy who worked crisis hotlines and volunteered at shelters for runaways?”

“I’m still the same guy,” he replied defensively as he sat straighter in his chair.

“You’re not the same guy, Bax.” I shook my head for emphasis. “You never would have coerced a guy into having sex with you like this back when I knew you. Power and greed has corrupted you and turned you into a very ugly man. Maybe you can dig deep and find that good guy again, but you won’t be using the services of
my
archeologist on your quest of self-discovery. Make this all go away, Bax. I love Miller and I will not let anyone, not even a very powerful US Senator, come between us.” Although I already had and was lucky enough to be forgiven.

“We could’ve had something really good, JJ.” Baxter shook his head as if he couldn’t believe I actually chose Miller over him. There was absolutely no contest between the two men. “For old-time’s sake, I will make this right for you.” He said nothing more as he rose and exited my office.

I flopped back in my chair in relief. All of the tension I had felt since the day of the dig evaporated into thin air. Sure, I had a lot of making up to do with Bones, but I was confident we could work through it. I was just as certain that it wouldn’t be our last conflict either. We were two stubborn guys who both thought they knew best most of the time. What we needed to do was find a better way of communicating and I needed the most improvement in that arena.
Fuck, I was sounding like Grayson!
Miller tried being an adult through the whole ordeal while I curled up in a corner and licked my wounds. He’d forgive me this time, but this wasn’t a behavior I could repeat and hope to keep him in my life.

I finished work early so I could get home and get things set up. Yes, I was planning a sappy romantic dinner for two with candles and soft music. They weren’t empty gestures, either. He meant the world to me and I would’ve done anything to prove it.

I could barely boil water so cooking him dinner was completely out of the question. I ordered our favorite Indian dishes and then transferred them over to cookware so I could keep them warm in the oven. Mal and Urs wound themselves around my legs hoping for a treat, but no way was I giving my girls spicy food. Instead, I gave them a few treats from their cat shaped treat jar on the counter.

I lit candles all about the dining room and put on some music – all things I never thought myself capable of doing - while I waited for Bones and Indy to arrive. Miller meant the world to me and my stupid pride would need to take a backseat to showing him how I felt. I tried to shove my nerves aside and focus on the positives. Baxter removed the pictures from his social media sites and “a trusted source” leaked to the pain-in-the-ass gossip website that there had never been a relationship between the senator and the archeologist. Hell, they made them sound like Beauty and the Beast.

I heard Indy barking on my front porch before I heard Miller’s key in the door. My heart began to beat erratically and nervous butterflies fluttered around in my stomach. I tried to look casual as Miller came through the door, but one look at him and I was a goner.

“I’ve missed you so much, Bones.” I sounded like a chick, but I just couldn’t work up any concern for my manliness. I wrapped my arms around him and breathed in his scent. “Never again…” I couldn’t complete the sentence, but he knew just what I meant.

“I’ve missed you too.”

We stood there holding onto one another for several minutes, so grateful to be together again. My world had returned to its peaceful order once I held Bones. Well, until I heard the cats hiss followed by Indy’s high pitched bark before our pets ripped and teared their way through the house. They were the happiest sounds I’d heard in several days, until I heard and felt laughter rumbling through Miller’s chest.

Miller pulled back and looked into my eyes. “Thank you for the beautiful flowers, Jag.”

“I’m glad you liked them.” I leaned in and kissed Miller softly. “I meant every word I wrote on that card, Bones. I’m very sorry for the immature way I handled the situation. I was wrong to ignore your calls and messages. If it helps, I read your messages over and over and I listened to your voicemails to ease the loneliness. Nothing helped me until you walked through the door. I promise to do better the next time I get jealous.”

“We’ll work on it together. I shouldn’t have let myself get so caught up in the dig that I didn’t see what that rat bastard was up to.” Miller narrowed his eyes. “Speaking of the rat bastard… You did say you were handling the debacle. Dare I ask how you handled it?” I told Miller about the conversation I had with Baxter and how I pleaded with the guy he used to be. I told him about the photos being removed from Baxter’s sites and the online statement issued to the online gossip site.

“Huh!” Miller shrugged. “Maybe there’s a small part of the goodness left in him. Regardless, we can get back to our normal lives.”

“I hate the time we lost because we can’t get it back. Hell, it’s December already.” For so long, I hated the month of December. I wanted nothing to do with Christmas decorating, shows, music – none of it. I would still have my sad memories of losing my brother, but being with Miller made me want to focus on the future and not my past. “I haven’t had a Christmas tree in a very long time. It’s our first official Christmas together and I want it to be special. Will you help me pick one out and decorate it?”

Miller knew the significance of what I was asking him. I could see it resonate in his eyes and the way he touched my face. It was a big step forward for me and I wanted him to be a part of it. I wanted him to be a part of everything I went through.

“How about we go this weekend?”

“Perfect.” I leaned in and kissed him again. I planned on kissing him a bunch that night to make up for the lonely days that we were apart.

“How about we move this reunion a little further inside your home?” I laughed as I realized we still stood in the foyer. I had snatched him up as soon as he shut the front door.

“I have our favorite Indian food keeping warm in the oven.” I linked my fingers with his and led us into the dining room. “Have a seat and I’ll bring it out.”

“You didn’t have to go to so much trouble,” Miller said when I returned with the cookware full of fragrant food. He gestured to the candles and music playing softly. “Don’t you know by now that I would’ve been just as happy with pizza on the couch?”

“I wanted to do something special to show you how much you mean to me.” I leaned in and kissed him softly before I sat at the table. I began scooping his favorites on a plate and handed it to him. “You deserved to be wined and dined. Damn, I forgot the wine.” I started to rise to my feet to get the bottle I had left in the kitchen, but Miller placed his hand on my arm to keep me seated.

“I’ll get it.”

While he was gone, I tried to pull myself together. I was feeling anxious again, but I wasn’t sure why. Everything was going smoothly so I didn’t understand where it was coming from. Miller walked back into the room and placed the bottle down on the table. I was lost in my thoughts and it startled me a bit. I looked at Bones and he looked a little confused. “I’m feeling anxious and I don’t know why.”

“I do.” He said calmly and stood back up. He reached out his hand to me and gave me the crooked smile I had missed so much. “I know just what you need.” I placed my hand in his and he tugged until I stood up. He dropped my hand and picked up our plates. “Grab those dishes or our pets will be in our food while we’re upstairs.”

“What about our dinner?” I did as he asked and followed him into the kitchen.

“We’ve been apart for more than a week and you’re worried about your stomach? I must be losing my touch.” Miller spotted the toy I bought for Indy on the counter after we safely stored the food away. “You were going to use my dog to get to me weren’t you?”

“I’m not proud,” I said in mock shame. Indy spotted the toy in Miller’s hand and began to wag his tail in excitement. I took the toy and gave it to Indy. “Here you go, boy. I missed you too.”

“It worked,” Miller said with a leering grin.

We practically ran to my bedroom in our haste to get reacquainted with each other’s bodies. I wanted to relearn every part of him like it was the first time, because that was how it felt. That was the source of my anxiety. Once Miller had his way with me, I could relax and enjoy our dinner.

Our pets were in hot pursuit, thinking that we were playing games. Indy was going to town on his new hot dog squeak toy as he gave chase. Miller pulled us inside my room, shut the door, and locked it. I gave him a quizzical look when he locked the door. Did he think the pets would somehow unlock the door? He just shrugged. We sent our clothes flying as we made our way over to my large bed.

Miller fit himself between my spread thighs and lowered his head for a kiss that was full of passion and promise. He kissed me until my anxiousness disappeared and all I could think about was the pleasure we’d bring to one another. Miller reached his hand between my legs and cupped my sac. He gave my balls a firm massage at the same time Indy bit into his squeak toy again.
Squeak!
Miller grinned at me from above and gave my balls another squeeze.
Squeak!
He did it a few more times and each time Indy simultaneously chomped into his toy. We burst into laughter at ridiculousness of the moment.

“No wonder you were so anxious,” Miller said. “It’s been so long since we’ve had sex that your balls are squeaking.”

“Fix me, Bones.”

“With pleasure.”

We tried to take our time and go slow, but we had been without each other too long. I promised myself that next time I would sip and savor instead of begging to be taken. His every touch and kiss wiped away the sadness and misery I had felt while we were apart. The words we whispered to each other were about love and need as we joined our bodies together.

“All Mine,” I said as I slid inside Miller. I knew it, could see it in his eyes, but I needed to hear it too.

“Yours.” Miller pulled my head down for a searing kiss that branded me as his. Once I came inside him, he rolled me to my back, suited up, and claimed me with just as much passion as I showed him. “All mine,” he repeated my words to me upon entry.

“Yours.”

Much later, we ate reheated Indian food on paper plates in my bed while we watched television and our pets slept by our feet. It might’ve seemed lame to some, but it was what felt right to us. Being with Miller was as natural as breathing for me and I vowed to never let him go.