Cardinal's Rule (30 page)

“I’ll eat after both of you are finished.”

Another few minutes later, she apparently couldn’t take it. “Would you please eat? You’re

hovering.”

“He hovers well,” Landry joked. “That’s one of the things I love about him.” He looked down at Cris and ruffled his hair again. “He’s my good boy.”

Pleasant heat rolled through Cris as Landry left his hand resting on top of his head. After weeks of what sometimes felt like constant cold torment, to have this tenderness from him again was such a relief.

He’s my good boy.

Cris nuzzled Landry’s hand, content.

Landry patted him on the head. “Take the night off, Cris. I mean it. Go ahead and eat. It’s all right.”

He looked up at him. “Are you sure, Lan?”

Landry touched his chin. “Absolutely. I’m very proud of you. Besides, you have to prepare for your trip.”

Cris rose to his knees and kissed Landry. “If you need anything, call me.” His eyes briefly fell on Tilly, whose gaze quickly darted away from him.

He couldn’t blame her.

“I will,” Landry assured him. “Go on, now.”

Cris rose and returned to the kitchen, his head and heart buzzing. Whatever happened from this point on, he knew he could handle it.

Because his Master still loved and wanted him.

He looked at the ring again, his smile nearly painful.

* * * *

She slept fitfully that night, memories of watching Cris stare at Landry keeping her awake. With their bedroom door open, she heard Cris moving around in the kitchen even though he didn’t make much noise. She glanced at her alarm clock and saw it was a little after four a.m. He’d have to leave in less than an hour to have time to return their rental car and catch his flight.

Landry still slept. At some point he’d rolled over away from her, but he’d had a peaceful night otherwise.

She pulled on her robe and walked out to- the kitchen. Cris looked up, surprised, from the

coffee maker.

“I’m sorry, Til. I didn’t mean to wake you.” He’d already showered and dressed.

He looked like her Master for the first time since she’d seen him…

Since that day.

Khaki slacks, a chambray shirt with the top button loose, loafers. Gone was his leather collar. In its place she spotted a heavy silver necklace. His day collar, obviously. Necktie loosely knotted and ready to snug up once he fastened his top button. He’d shaved and brushed his damp hair back from his face.

He finished making the coffee and laid a piece of paper on the counter, then nudged it her way.

“There’s all my contact numbers. I’ll have my BlackBerry, plus the office and home numbers. I’ll be in and out of meetings but if you can’t get me, call the office and ask for Jennifer Carson, my administrative assistant. I wrote her name down. I’ll tell her I told you to interrupt me—”

“Cris,” she softly said, “it’s okay. He’ll be fine.”

He tensed and didn’t meet her gaze. “I feel horrible I’m leaving him.”

She sat on the other side of the counter, on one of the bar stools. It would be too much

temptation to walk around the counter and hug him to comfort him if she entered the kitchen. She looked at the paper he’d left for her. “He told you to do this. You’re following his orders. You won’t be gone long, just a few days.”

“Doesn’t mean I don’t feel shitty about leaving.”

“Stop. Please. It’s all right. He’ll be fine.”

He laid his hands flat on the counter, palms down. “I know you’ll take good care of him, Til.

That’s not why I’m upset.”

“I know. You love him and you’re worried about him. It’s understandable.”

He nodded. For a moment, the only sound in the kitchen came from the burbling coffee pot and the quiet hum of the fridge. “I made enough soup for him for several days. He won’t want to eat much today, probably. He’ll spend the day in bed or on the couch sleeping and watching TV.” He slowly smiled before he looked up at her. “And being grumpy. Maybe it is a good thing I’m getting out of here.”

She returned his smile, this time not having to force it. “You don’t mean that.”

“No, I don’t. But he really is a bad patient.”

“So you two keep warning me. He can’t be any worse than some of my clients.”

He nodded. When the coffee finished brewing, he poured her a mug and slid it across the

counter after fixing it for her just the way she liked.

All these years and he still remembered how she took her coffee. She didn’t know how that

made her feel and she really didn’t want to think about it right then.

“Thank you.” She stood to go.

“May I come in and say good-bye to him before I leave?”

She frowned. “Huh?”

“I didn’t want to come in without permission.”

Tilly chewed on the inside of her cheek. Another conversation she didn’t want to have this

morning. “Sure. Of course you can. He’s still asleep, though.”

“I won’t wake him up.”

She returned to the bedroom and grabbed some work-out clothes from the closet.
Might as well
do that since I’m up.
She locked herself in the bathroom to change. When she emerged she found Cris kneeling on the floor on Landry’s side of the bed and staring at him in the dim light.

Part of her felt sorry for Cris.

Part of her still wanted to kick him in the nuts. Fortunately, that part of her was slowly giving way to reason.

Very slowly.

Then there was the guilt-ridden part of her that wished she’d chosen screaming at him for a few hours instead of playing a revenge-filled sex game with Landry. Cuckolding did not suit her well at all and still left her with a sour taste in her mouth.

After a moment he leaned in and gently kissed Landry’s forehead. The man never stirred. She

remained in the deep shadows by the bathroom door as he left the bedroom, although he had to know she stood there watching.

She walked to her office and dug through her desk until she located her headphones. Normally she worked out with the stereo blasting, but didn’t want to wake Landry. Next best thing would be her ear buds, but she worried she wouldn’t hear him if he needed her. She could drape the headphones around her neck and crank her music up loudly enough to hear it and still be able to hear him if he called out for her.

She felt Cris standing in the doorway behind her and ignored him until he cleared his throat.

She didn’t turn. “Yeah?”

“I’m going.”

“Okay. Have a safe trip.” Goddamned tears threatened…
again
. When the fuck would she get her equilibrium back? She hadn’t cried this much in years and hated herself for the weakness. It was impossible not to think about their usual parting routine…before.

The kiss, his hand fisting her hair, his usual parting words to her.

“
I love you, Redbird. Always and forever.”

He didn’t move and she fought the urge to turn and order him out. She could do this.

“Thanks again, Tilly. For taking care of him. I appreciate it.”

She closed the drawer a little harder than she’d intended and yanked another open.
Where are
those fucking headphones!
“Yeah, no problem. I told you, he’s a great guy.”

“Yeah.” More silence. “Okay. I’ll get out of your hair. I’ll keep my phone on as long as I can in case you need me. My flight leaves at seven-thirty.”

“Yeah. I know.”
Please, just go away!

She sensed him leave, then heard the front door quietly open and shut a moment later. She

relaxed, resting her forehead on her arm, which lay draped on her desk. At least this time she didn’t cry.

There’s progress.

She worked out nearly twice as long and hard as she usually did, until sweat pooled around the waistband of her shorts and her shirt clung to her, even in the cool, air conditioned house. She grabbed her stuff and showered in Cris’ bathroom because Landry was still asleep. She’d just walked through the kitchen when her cell, charging on the counter, rang Loren’s custom ring tone. She dove for it to 

answer it before it woke Landry.

“Hey, girlie. How’s hunky hubby this morning? He okay?”

She walked into the office and closed the door behind her. “Hi, and he’s still asleep.”

Loren hesitated. “So?”

“So what?”

Loren sighed. “Results. What’s going on? Is he okay? Are
you
okay? Talk to me.”

“We won’t get results back for a couple of days. We already know from the scan and his blood work that something’s going on. He will have surgery, but what kind and how much they take out is to be determined.”

“Sooo…how’s that other thing going?”

“If you’re asking if I’ve killed Cris yet, the answer is no. In fact, he’s not here. Landry sent him back to L.A. this morning to handle packing and moving their stuff and to take care of business issues.”

Loren’s tone brightened. “Oh! He’s not there? Mind if I drop by?”

“Sure, come on over. Wait a while though, maybe after ten. Landry might be awake then and

you can say hi. Oh, and one more thing?”

“Yeah?”

“Please don’t call him hunky hubby to his face, okay?”

Loren laughed. “But he is! Hey, his nickname is a lot better than all the ones I have for Cris.”

“True. Bye.”

When she returned to the bedroom, Landry opened his eyes and held out a hand to her. She

carefully sat next to him so as not to jostle him and leaned in for a kiss. “Morning. How do you feel?”

“Like shit. Cris leave okay?”

“Yeah. He should be in the air by now.”

He nodded.

She decided to add, “He came in to say good-bye before he left. You slept right through it.”

She didn’t miss his sad smile. “Thank you.”

“For telling you, or for letting him into my bedroom?”

“Both.”

* * * *

Master Grouchypants acted a little grumbly, but not too bad. He moved out to the couch to

watch TV and read. When Loren arrived, he enjoyed talking with her. From the way he kept her laughing, Tilly suspected Loren enjoyed talking with him, too. A little before lunch time Tilly’s cell rang and she stepped into the kitchen to take it.

“Hey, I’ve only got a minute between planes, but I forgot to tell you how to heat up his soup.”

She quickly moved into the office and pulled the door shut behind her. “Cris, I’m more than

capable of reheating soup.”

“I know, but he likes it a certain way. You have to heat a bowl of it for two minutes, then puree it in the food processor for him. It’s easier on his stomach that way. And don’t use a blender, use the food processor because—”

She fought her irritation. “Go catch your plane.”

“Tilly, please, wait! It has to be heated first, but not too much, because if you try to puree it when it’s cold—”

“Cris, enough. Seriously. It’s okay. I can handle it.”

“I’m sorry.”

She reined in her irritation. “Look, I know you’re worried, but focus on what he wants you to do and I’ll take care of him while you’re gone.”

“Is he okay? Can I talk to him?”

“He’s fine. He’s in the living room talking with Loren. She stopped by. I’ll get him for you.”

“No, that’s okay. I don’t want to interrupt him.” He didn’t sound snarky when he said it either.

“It’s all right, I’ll go get him.”

“No, I’m going to go catch my plane. Would you mind telling him I called? That I asked about him?”

She wanted to beat his deference to her out of him. “I’ll tell him. Have a safe flight.”

“Thanks.”

When she stepped out of the office she nearly ran into Loren going to use the guest bathroom, now Cris’ bathroom.

She pushed Tilly back into the office, concern on her friend’s face. “You okay, girlie?”

“Yeah.” She rolled her eyes at Loren’s arched eyebrows. “It was Cris checking in to make sure 

Landry was okay.”

By late that evening, Tilly had managed to heat and puree his soup for him several times, in the proper order and apparently the right way because he didn’t complain and it didn’t end up on her kitchen ceiling. She’d have to get an immersion blender though. She’d never needed one, and her old food processor was a bitch to clean.

Landry asked her to watch TV with him, so she sat at the end of the couch with his head in her lap.

“I like this,” he admitted. “This is fun.”

“Yeah. Barrel of laughs around here.”

He tipped his head so he could look at her. “I mean it. I like spending time with you.” He

grinned. “Even if you are wearing far too many clothes for my liking.”

She ruffled his hair. “Easy, tiger. No play for you, doctor’s orders. You’re supposed to rest.”

He laced his fingers through hers and squeezed her hand. “Thank you, Tilly. You’re a true

blessing.”

As she sat there, her other hand on his shoulder, she couldn’t deny it felt nice relaxing like this with him.

One of those many things she’d missed since her life had been ripped away from her.

* * * *

The doctor’s office called Friday morning before lunch. No surprise, the pathology report came

back positive. The doctor fit them in late that afternoon for a consult.

“I can work you into the surgical schedule as an add-on late Monday. Otherwise, it’ll be two weeks because I’m going out of town to a conference. I’d rather do it before I leave, quite honestly.”

Landry nodded even as his grip on Tilly’s hand tightened. “Okay. Schedule it.”

He sat quietly in the passenger seat and looked out the window as she drove. “Are you all

right?” she asked.

“Yeah. Cris isn’t scheduled to get back until Thursday. He needs to be at meetings on Tuesday.”

Back to that. Having Landry all to herself, she could almost forget about Cris.

He needed Cris, despite all they’d put the man through.

Loved him.

Wanted him.

But most of all, more than anything, he needed him, even if he wouldn’t admit it. “I’ll call him and let him know when we get home.”

Landry didn’t turn away from the window. “No. That’s all right. He’ll feel guilty he can’t be here. There’s no reason to upset him.”