Cut and Run 3 - Fish and Chips

up at Zane critically. “You’re too pleased with yourself,” he observed, still suspicious. “I don’t like it. Stop it.”
    Zane blinked. He didn’t think he was projecting anything. But it was getting more difficult to hide things from Ty, even if he wanted to. As for now… dammit. Zane cleared his throat. Leave it to Ty to ferret out something before he was ready to share it.
    Ty reached across the table and took his hand suddenly, squeezing it gently. Instead of letting go immediately like he usually did, though, he held on, not seeming to care who saw them in the crowded restaurant. He slid his hand up to Zane’s wrist and gave it another squeeze before he let go and reached for his glass again. “It’s okay,” he assured Zane as he lifted the glass to his lips. “You’re kind of cute when you’re scheming.”
    Zane’s stomach flipped, and he wet his bottom lip, nerves fluttering. It wasn’t the gesture, or even the venue. It was the trust. “I, ah, made a New Year’s resolution,” he said, embarrassed that it came out a little shaky.
    “Oh yeah?” Ty asked in amusement. “My last one was not to shoot anyone for a year,” he told Zane ruefully as he looked down at his glass and swirled the ice around. “I’m not very good at them,” he observed with a faint frown. He looked back up at Zane. “What did you resolve?”
    Zane huffed out a little laugh at Ty’s self-deprecating comment, but it didn’t dispel the nerves. He was annoyed with himself for a moment and drummed his fingers on the tablecloth. “I resolved to take better care of myself.”
    Ty’s eyebrows climbed slowly. “Good. Less work for me,” he said, winking at Zane to ease the truth in the words.
    It helped Zane relax a little, knowing Ty was in a good enough mood to tease. He reminded himself that Ty had really taken a hell of a plunge with announcing that “I love you” with no warning; surely a smaller admission like this wasn’t that difficult. He swallowed hard. “That’s why I was late,” he said before adding in a little bit of a rush, “The AA meeting ran over.”
    Ty looked at him in true surprise, his hazel eyes wide, struck speechless for a long moment. Finally, he nodded slowly, his expression entirely serious. “That’s good, Zane,” he whispered. He nodded again, smiling slowly. “That’s really good.”
    Relief flushed through Zane, and he wondered when Ty’s approval had come to mean so much. He relaxed and let out a slow breath. He wanted Ty to know that he could trust his partner and that Zane cared enough about him to make an effort he hadn’t made before to earn that trust. If Ty was going to love him, Zane wanted to at least be worthy of it. “Good,” he repeated quietly, drumming his fingers again to loosen some of the remaining tension, inexplicably happy to have made Ty smile.
    Ty looked down at Zane’s right hand briefly before taking it back up with both hands and pulling it toward him. He leaned forward and kissed Zane’s fingers, as if thanking him for the effort. Then he looked back up at Zane and smiled widely. For perhaps the first time Zane could remember, Ty wasn’t blushing after such a display of affection in public, and his eyes weren’t seeking out anyone who might be watching them. All his attention was focused on Zane.
    The smile was catching. They probably looked like idiots, sitting there grinning at each other, but Zane couldn’t have cared less.
    Ty didn’t say anything, just took his napkin and put it in his lap as he continued to watch Zane affectionately. Zane reflected upon the fact that if Ty looked at him like that more often, he’d be putty in the man’s hands. That was more than a little scary, especially because it hinted at emotions within himself Zane hadn’t yet found the courage to consider. He cleared his throat and thought that with Ty at his side, he might find that strength sooner rather than later.
    “Happy New Year,” Zane offered, lifting his glass for a toast.
    Ty touched his glass to Zane’s. “Happy New Year.”
    Looking at his partner sitting across from him, Zane thought it might just be his best year yet. He was looking forward to it.
     
     



Check out this exclusive sneak peek at the sequel to Fish & Chips
    D IVIDE & C ONQUER
    By Madeleine Urban & Abigail Roux
     
     
    T HE blinking light on his phone drew Zane’s attention away from the report he was trying to parse. He always muted his phone when he was in the