Page 72 of Floodgates

“You guys need to talk and get your stories straight before we land,” he advised Breckin. “Tracy’s out of this.”

Breckin looked annoyed but gave me an affectionate smile before dropping down beside Celia.

Cord shoved his much bigger duffel into the overhead bin, along with his overcoat, and then took his seat next to me.

“You all right?” he asked, checking on me.

“Yeah, fine.”

“You look like shit.”

Charming. “So what do Breckin and Celia need to coordinate?”

“I had Breckin tell his folks they were married, so I need them to be able to tell his folks when they met and all that.”

“Why?”

“Why do they need to know about you? Why do they need to know he’s bi? How is any of that important? In this case, the simplest explanation is the best.”

“No, I don’t mean why that. That makes perfect sense.”

“Does it?”

“Like you said, why do his folks need to know anything about me at all? What’s the point?”

“Then what’s your question?”

“What’s my cover? What am I doing here? Who am I to Breckin and Celia?”

His smile was wide and made his eyes glint. “What’s your motivation, you mean?”

“Yes.” I chuckled, then added dramatically, “Line, please.”

He looked good grinning at me, enjoying the playfulness, sliding closer and lifting the armrest between us. “You’re Breckin’s best friend, who’s also been threatened.”

“Okay, that’s good. I like it. And you?”

“Baby, why would I need a cover?” he said, like I was stupid.

Spell broken, I groaned and turned away from him.

“What are you doing?”

I ignored him.

“Turn around and look at me.”

Rolling my head back, I noticed how clear his eyes were.

“What happened?”

“Do you even realize what you did?”

“Obviously not,” he said, opening his legs wider so his knee and thigh wedged up against mine. “Tell me.”

“Why do you always treat me like an idiot?”

“I don’t.”