"Yeah, but you love it. Admit it, Drew, this is the most fun you've had in a long time, isn't it?" Quinn grabbed him by a hand and pulled him to his feet. Still laughing, Drew hauled Nathan with him.
Nathan ignored the strange feeling in his hand as he pretended not to notice how Drew's fingers felt against his. "I need to take the steaks up," was all he could think to say as unease settled over him.
"God forbid, a little fun get between a man and his barbecue grill." Quinn smacked him on his ass before he went off to drag his daughter to the table for dinner. That Walker wouldn't meet his gaze before he walked away confused Nathan and he wondered what exactly was going on with the man. He seemed so different from the confident Tennessee Bureau agent Nathan remembered. Quieter, less imposing, but that went with the job, he guessed. No, this was something else. Something that Nathan wasn't sure he wanted to investigate further.
* * * * *
A cool breeze wrapped around Drew making him shiver a little. Dinner with Nathan's family was a blast for everyone except Nathan, it seemed. After the tussle in the grass, he'd grown quiet. Quinn, on the other hand, became more animated as dusk turned to dark and the cake was served. "That was delicious, Mrs. Truman. Boston Cream Cake is one of my favorites."
"Ann, honey, and I'm glad you liked it." Nathan's mother fussed around the patio with her flowers while Natalie sat with Emma on her lap playing a clapping game. Nathan moved to a chaise on the far side of the pool with the excuse that he was tired.
"Ann. Yes, ma'am, thank you. And thank you for putting me up for a couple of nights." He absently watched as Nathan stretched out in the dark and covered his eyes with his arm.
"He's not sleeping again." This from Natalie between sets of some silly song. "I hate watching him stress out over this. This is senseless and … " She stopped talking, the pain and worry in her eyes stark enough that even Emma noticed and hugged her. "Drew, please, you've got to help him find who is doing this."
He noticed she was careful never to mention the murders in front of the little girl. Quinn's daughter was incredibly intelligent; she understood everything, and if she was anything like her father, she took too much of it to heart. Almost as if he knew he was thinking about him, Quinn excused himself from the table and went to join Nathan on the chaise. Nathan eased over and wrapped Quinn in his arms.
"I'm going to do what I can. I'm just here to look and listen. You know that." Drew couldn't hear them talking, but Nathan relaxed in Quinn's arms enough to smile and accept light kisses from his lover.
"He wouldn't have allowed that, even a year ago." Natalie followed his gaze. She turned back to him with a questioning gaze that made him shiver. "What Nathan and Quinn have is special. I don't want to see anything come between them."
Was that a warning? Damn, what the hell was on his face to make her think he needed a warning? Nathan's tongue darted out and was swallowed by Quinn's lips. Shit. He shivered again, the breeze turning cold. "I'll do my best to make sure nothing happens to him, Nat. Or anyone else."
"That's all I ask." She wrapped her arms around her niece and gave her a big slurpy kiss. "Mama, I'm going to head home now. Thanks for dinner."
"Anytime, sweetie," Ann said as she returned to the table looking at her watch. "Lord, is that the time? How did it get so late?"
"Time flies when you're having fun." Natalie shrugged, her silver eyes, so much like her brother's, narrowed as she looked across the pool. "You know Quinn has been gone for nearly a week."
"Is that your way of saying I should make a grand gesture?" Ann wrapped her granddaughter in her arms, tickling the little girl as she did. "How about that, Emma, would you like to stay over at Grannie Annie's tonight?"
"Can I sleep with Drew?"
Drew choked on his water. Warning bells sounding loud and clear in his head as the little girl looked at him with something akin to puppy love. "I … uh … "
"No, honey, that would be wrong. Mr. Drew isn't your daddy, or even Nathan. He's not … " Anne tried to explain how inappropriate the idea was, but even she couldn't come up with anything.
"I don't sleep with Nathan, Grammy, you know he won't allow that. He reads me a story and tucks me in, and if I get scared, he comes back to run the monsters off. I just thought that since Drew saved Nathan from a monster, then he would keep them away from me too." Emma climbed out of Ann's arms and into Drew's lap. Her little hands on his chin were warm as she patted him. Her blue eyes, so like her father's, swam with affection.