And Call Me in the Morning Read Online Free PDF Page A

of Zane's back and rested his palm on Zane's hip, taut and flat instead of rounded, and liked it. His leg was pressed to the join of Zane's. “Nah. I know you. You're easy.”
     
    “Guilty.” Zane relaxed his pose, letting Eli push his leg between, and shifted his weight so that Eli held him up. “What are you going to do about it?”
     
     
     
    Eli snapped out of the fantasy.
     
    What was he going to do about it? That was the million-dollar question, wasn't it? And the biggest irony of all? If he'd had a problem like this before, who would he have taken it to?
     
    Zane.
     
    Zane, who glanced up at the skylight as if he could sense himself being watched. Eli jerked back, heart thudding in his throat.
     
    Someone caught him. For a breathless second, Eli thought it'd be Zane. Instead, it was the last person he would have expected.
     
    “Taye?” Eli pulled away from Taye's tap on his shoulder. “No one ever taught you not to sneak up on an ex-cop, did they?” He had a sensation of spiders crawling over his skin. “It is Taye, right?”
     
    “It is.” Taye shook Eli's hand, surprising and impressing him. Manners. Nice. “Sorry. My brother's on the force. NYPD. I know these things.”
     
    “Not much you don't know, is there?”
     
    Taye held his ground. Ballsy, wasn't he? Eli could respect that. “I wouldn't have intruded, but I called your name three or four times and you didn't hear me. I thought you might be asleep on your feet.” A glint of humor broke up his seriousness. “I'm new, but I've been around long enough to know that happens too.”
     
    “True.” Eli sat on the windowsill, welcoming the cold bite of slate through his clothes against his too-warm skin. “What can I do for you?” he asked, figuring Taye had seen a fellow doctor and come to get a consult on something. The usual from an intern.
     
    He was wrong. “I wanted to apologize,” Taye said, meeting Eli's eyes the way so few people did. “We don't know each other. My being in on that brunch wasn't right. Neither was my ganging up on you. I was out of line.”
     
    “Damn right you were.” Still… “Takes balls to own up to that. Thanks.” Eli offered Taye his hand. “We done here?”
     
    Taye nodded, no comment, and turned to go. Maybe it was because he didn't pry. Didn't ask. Either way, sometimes a man—even one like Eli—had to make snap decisions without checking the grand scheme. Not as if that hadn't gone a hundred percent out the window already today.
     
    Bad choice of words.
     
    “Wait up.” Eli didn't say it loudly, but Taye halted just the same and looked back at him. “C'mere.”
     
    Brows slightly furrowed in curiosity, Taye did as he'd been told. Eli could tell he was still his own man, doing this because he chose to and not because he was intimidated. Tough kid indeed.
     
    Trouble was, once Eli had him there, he had no idea where to start. Helped that Taye waited and let him find the words. Eli pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. “Okay, this goes no further than the two of us, right?”
     
    “Of course,” Taye said, and nothing more. Eli could really grow fond of this one. Go figure. He was no Zane, but then again, who was?
     
    Eli started once, twice, and stopped both times. This wasn't something he did, even if he needed to. The times, they were a-changin', but still a work in progress. “Christ. Help a guy out, would you?”
     
    “I don't know what this is about.”
     
    “Please.” Eli aimed a narrow look at Taye. “You're an intern, so I know you're not stupid. Take a wild guess.”
     
    “Oh.” Comprehension dawned. “Huh.” Taye parked his ass on the back edge of a couch. “Exactly what do you want me to say?”
     
    “Hell if I know.” Eli's shoulders slumped. Just a little. “Pick something. We can play hot and cold.”
     
    Taye chuckled. “Or I can tell you how I think it is.”
     
    “So we're still doing hot and cold. I can work with