Christmas Coda 70 - Zach Davies and Flint Carey from PUZZLE FOR TWO

Christmas Coda 70 – Zach and Flint from PUZZLE FOR TWO

 

“God bless us, every one!” Brooke raised her plastic champagne flute and downed the last mouthful of bubbly.

They all laughed, but Zach couldn’t help opening his mouth to remind her she still had to drive home after their office Christmas party was over. He was forestalled by Flint’s light nudge—Flint was standing behind him, methodically disposing of the last butter cookies Arlisse had baked for their little get-together.

This was their first official celebration as Security Solutions, LLC, and there was plenty to toast to. The last two months had been busy, even chaotic, as Carey Confidential merged operations with Davies Detective Agency. While business couldn’t be said to be booming, it had definitely picked up, and with two investigators—well, two-and-a-half, since Brooke was now working part of the time as a trainee-investigator—they were able to take on more complex cases.

Next month, Flint’s lease was up on his space in the Del Sello Center, so they would be paying one less office lease. And with Arlisse taking on office manager duties, Brooke was freed up to handle a lot of the research and background checks in between her Criminal Justice courses.

“Did you want this last cookie?” Flint inquired, hand hovering over the solitary remaining butter cookie on the grease-soaked paper lace doily.

Zach threw him a sardonic look. “No, no. You go on. You’ve got to keep your strength up.”

“Ha.” Flint finished off the cookie, brushed the crumbs off his hands. “I’ll remind you I didn’t have lunch.”

Zach and Brooke exchanged knowing glances, then Brooke exclaimed, “Oh my gosh! Is it that late?” She hopped off the reception desk and grabbed her coat.

“Where are you running off to like your hair’s on fire?” Zach inquired.

“I’ve got a date with Devin.” Brooke’s tone was breezy as she wrapped a long blue scarf printed with cherry blossoms in an elaborate arrangement around her neck.

Zach frowned. “I thought you weren’t—oww!” He glared at Flint.

“Have fun, kiddo.” Flint wrapped his arm around Zach’s shoulders, mostly in affection but partly in restraint. He gave Zach a little squeeze for good measure.

“I plan to!” Halfway out the door, Brooke paused. “We’ll see you guys Monday for Christmas dinner?”

“Of course,” Zach said.

“Yep.” Flint was a lot more cheerful about it.

He had briefly fallen out of favor with Mrs. Davies when she realized his buying out her share of Davies Detective Agency did not mean he was going to oust Zach from the PI biz and back into accounting. But she had since forgiven him, and he was now, to Zach’s exasperation, the apple of her eye. Something Flint was smugly aware of.

“Great! Have fun you two crazy kids. Don’t do anything I wouldn’t!”

“Is there anything you—” Zach began only to have Flint give him another of those increasingly-less-subtle squeezes.

The glass door swung shut with the sweet chime of jingle bells, and Brooke was gone, her slender shadow darting past the plate glass windows as she hurried to her car.

Zach didn’t move out of the circle of Flint’s arm, but he said shortly, “The guy’s married.”

“Separated. They’re getting divorced.”

Zach groaned. “Like we don’t spend half our time following around guys who claim to be separated from their wives?”

“I know,” Flint said soothingly. “But McLaughlin really is getting divorced. And he seems like a pretty decent—”

“He’s almost seven years older than her.”

“Uh oh,” Flint said. “Is the age difference a deal breaker? Because…”

Zach made a face and wrapped his arm around Flint’s waist. “That’s different. We’re both adults. Anyway, you’re only five years—”

“Brooke is an adult too,” Flint cut in.

“Maybe technically.”

“And I’ll tell you something else, she has to figure this one out for herself. In fact, the more you kick, the more likely she is to dig her heels in.”

Zach scowled, met Flint’s green-gold gaze, and sighed. Flint’s mouth curved into a slightly sympathetic grin. He turned Zach so that they stood face-to-face.

For a moment they just studied each other, half-smiling, half-serious.

“Alone at last,” Flint murmured, and swallowed Zach’s laugh in a kiss.