Make Me Whole Read Online Free PDF

he’d congratulated himself on being right and not falling for Galen’s tease. The third day he’d cursed himself for letting an opportunity pass him by. Now what the hell was he doing? He still stared at the icon and still resisted listening to the message after several hours. He had to be touched in the head.
    He dumped the can of Italian Wedding Soup into his saucepan, added a little roasted garlic and some seasonings, then set it to simmer. Amy winged in, lit on her perch on the back of a chair, and bobbed her head along to the radio that Galen had going above the microwave. “What do you two think? Delete or listen?”
    Rory launched himself from his shoulder and joined Amy. Rory had been incredibly pitiful until Nick had found a companion for him. It made Nick smile to see them, Rory a beautiful shade of gray that contrasted with Amy’s pristine white. Both had the yellow crest, though Amy’s was a paler shade, and both had the orange spots on their cheeks, which made them look like cheery troublemakers in Nick’s opinion. “You two are no help.”
    Finally, he picked up his phone, set it to speaker, and hit the voice mail button. He’d regret it the moment he deleted it if he didn’t listen first. Moments later, Galen’s low, husky voice filled the kitchen and Nick’s pulse leapt. He didn’t understand how he could’ve let one man get under his skin so much.
    “Hey, Nick. I know you probably never expected me to call.” Nick stopped stirring the soup. Was that nerves in Galen’s voice? No, that would require Galen to desire something past his own immediate gratification. That brought memories of a naked Galen back to his mind. If Galen knew anything, it was gratification, and Nick’s body hadn’t forgotten that either.
    “I’ve been thinking about you a lot. I didn’t think I had the right to call until I had my head on straight, and then it seemed like too much time had passed and you didn’t need me stirring up things again.”
    Nick added some more pepper to the soup and took out a bowl. He should just delete the message and not respond; he didn’t need the heartache. Galen would get the point, and after all this time he doubted the man would try another hookup again, but he continued to listen, curious despite himself.
    Galen paused before continuing in an excited voice. “So I have these statues that showed up in my storeroom. They look Hellenic or maybe Roman in origin, and I wondered if you’d be interested in taking a look at them. I know you’ve done some wreck diving and you like art history. I thought you might have some insights into them.”
    The tiny hope inside him died and Nick ground his teeth because he shouldn’t have allowed himself to feel it at all. Business. He should’ve known better to think that Galen would’ve wanted to speak to him for anything else. It was time to delete the voice mail and drop the past. Galen had made it very clear from the first night they met that he had no interest in pursuing a relationship. Nick should’ve known better than to think he could change his mind.
    “The statues are strange, obviously old, and they seem only half-finished. It looks as if there should be a mate to them.” Galen’s voice trailed off and Nick froze, his skin tingling as adrenaline raced through him. No fucking way. “A missing lover…. I’ve never seen anything like it. I think you’d be fascinated. Please give me a call back. I should be at the museum for the rest of the day; maybe we could have dinner together. I’d really like to see you again.”
    Nick’s hands trembled, and the wooden spoon he’d been stirring with clattered down on the stovetop. The Dexios Collection. It had to be. How the hell had Galen come across the statues? They’d been lost before over the many centuries, and they’d always somehow ended back in his family’s hands, except this time.
    He had to find a lawyer, get the paperwork proving ownership. Only that meant he’d have