Dalton untangled their fingers, and a second of alarm made Tierney’s heart seize, but then Dalton’s hands were cupping has face, and Dalton’s lips were right below his. “This isn’t an intervention. This is just me going home with you,” he whispered before kissing Tierney.
It was a great kiss. A consuming one that drained away the last of Tierney’s disorientation from the club and reminded him that there were reasons to go through life sober. Reasons like being naked in bed with this guy.
“Let’s go home,” he said as soon as his mouth was free. “Did you bring your car?”
“No, I took the bus.” Dalton was frowning at him. “Is that a bruise on your cheek?” He passed his thumb over it, not lightly, and Tierney flinched.
“Forgot about that.”
Dalton pursed his lips. “What happened?”
Chuckling at the memory, he took Dalton’s hand again and started them walking toward his car. “Well, let me tell you about this year’s Terrebonne family Thanksgiving . . .”
“You and fighting,” Dalton said as they walked down the sidewalk. Tierney had let go of his hand and draped his arm around Dalton’s shoulders. “When we met you’d just been in one with Ian, and now your brother? Not everything has to be solved that way.”
“You didn’t fight with your brothers?” Tierney asked, completely missing the point and steering Dalton toward a side street. Where had he parked?
“Of course I did, but I always lost.”
“Which is why you don’t understand the fine art of communicating with your fists.” Tierney grinned, pulling him further along, down this narrower street with the single, sputtering light.
Dalton suppressed a shiver. A little bit of trepidation was normal, wasn’t it? He’d witnessed an assault in an alley nearby. “You don’t use your fists on me. We talk.” God, if he’d had any idea that simply being in this neighborhood on a dark night would make him think of the bashing . . . He could tell Tierney it made him nervous; he knew he could. Tierney’d walk him back to the club and—
Tierney halted and turned to him, fingers gripping Dalton’s shoulders. “I’d never use my fists on you; you know that, right? I mean, I can talk to you. Guys like Ian and Chase, they communicate more physically.”
Dalton screened his eyes with his lashes, trying not to smile. “You and I don’t communicate physically?”
Tierney grinned and tugged him closer. “That’s a whoooole different type of physical communication,” he said centimeters from Dalton’s lips.
“Hey! Is that you?” Dalton jumped at the voice that came out of the darkness at the other end of the block, his blood racing, convinced of the necessity of communicating with fists in that heartbeat of time. “Tierney Terrebonne?”
Tierney jerked back, glancing around.
“Who is it?” Dalton whispered. Footsteps came closer, a few different sets, and Dalton couldn’t help it—he grabbed the front of Tierney’s shirt.
“I don’t know,” Tierney murmured. “I think it’s okay, though.”
Based on what? A band was cinching around Dalton’s chest, making it harder for him to breathe.
“Are you remembering that night?” Tierney asked, focused on him and not any potential attackers.
Dalton managed a nod, peering into the shadows hard enough for both of them, since Tierney wasn’t going to keep an eye out. He could see silhouettes now, multiple ones. He swallowed convulsively and tightened his grip. “Three of them.”
“It’s okay,” Tierney said soothingly, running his hand up Dalton’s back. “We can handle this.” He squeezed him a little closer, angling them so they faced the oncoming threat, but were still touching. A unit.
“Hey, man, glad I ran into you,” the unknown voice said, and then an innocuous, brown-haired guy came out of the shadows, another two men following along behind. “I was going to call you at the office, but since you’re here . . .”
Not a bashing.
Of course not. What were the chances of being involved in two in one’s lifetime?
The tension easing out of Tierney’s body was what really reassured him, though. Slowly, he unearthed his fingernails from the man’s chest. He missed a few seconds of whatever the other guy had to say, trying to get his adrenaline levels under control.
“Mark, nice to see you.” Judging by Tierney’s tone of voice and his smile, this was a business contact. He thrust his right arm toward the guy, not quite letting go of Dalton. “How’s it going?”
In return, Tierney got the double-clasp handshake. Totally wants something. It was obvious in the man’s smile and bright eyes. Well, unless he’d been drinking a lot. The guy looked at Dalton, eyebrows lifting expectantly.
“This is my friend Dalton Lehnart.” Tierney’s hand slid down to the small of Dalton’s back. “He works in Ian Cully’s department at the Health Division.”
Ah. This was important enough to explain everyone’s professional lineage. Dalton’s more professional self began to take over, settling the last of his frazzled nerves.
“Dalton, this is Mark Sendecki, one of the commissioners of Marlyle County.”
He couldn’t be positive, but when Tierney caught his eye for just a second then, it seemed like his brow was trying to send some special message. But Dalton didn’t need any signals; he caught the reference to Marlyle County immediately. When Tierney’d had his big meeting freak-out at the Interagency Disaster Relief office, he’d accused Sheriff Fowler of sleeping with one of the Marlyle County commissioners. A woman, so not this one.
“Oh, yeah, good guy. Cully’s made some real changes, I hear,” the commissioner was saying to Tierney. After that, he introduced his companions, then he and Tierney fell into chitchat that Dalton followed but didn’t contribute to. Neither did Sendecki’s friends.
Mark got to his point quickly. “So, I heard you had a few rough meetings,” he said, grinning at Tierney.
Tierney ducked his head but was grinning too. “A couple, yeah.” Hopefully only Dalton could tell how forced his smile was.
“Yeah, coming out isn’t easy. Smart of you to do it so the whole world would know and you wouldn’t have to keep telling people.” It was fortunate Mark didn’t seem to expect a response because Tierney looked a little knocked on his ass. “I’ve been meaning to reach out to you since then, make sure you know we’d still be open to a bid from Metropolitan Ambulance for the district one area service agreement.”