Mosaic Moon

Chapter 1-2

“Very long” translated to three hours and two, very heavy boxes, carefully stowed in the back of Jesse’s car. Only one of them was for Michelle. Gideon was doing his best not to think about how much money Jesse had actually spent. The only good thing to come out of all this was that now their tab at Michelle’s book store was officially clear.

Gideon came around the back of the car to see Jesse and Emma standing under a streetlight, going over the list one last time. “Are you sure you don’t want the kitchen sink?” he asked dryly. “I think there’s still room.”

“It was a nice kitchen sink,” Emma said.

“It really was. I know I don’t need ornate faucets, but I think I want them now.”

“It would have looked better in silver.”

Jesse shrugged. “The gold matched the…” His voice trailed as he caught the annoyed expression on Gideon’s face. “No, I think we’re done here.”

“Good. I’m hungry.” He looked to Emma. “Do you have a taste for anything in particular? We can go back to the office and order it in.”

Though the night hid the color in her face, Gideon felt the flush of embarrassment crawl over her skin. “I can’t, actually. I have other plans.”

The smile that Jesse had been wearing since buying the books faded. “We better get you home then. I’d hate to be the reason you’re late for your date.”

Gideon opened the passenger door and climbed in, watching Jesse guide Emma away from the sidewalk. His hand remained in the small of her back until she slid onto the seat, and though she smiled up at him, Jesse’s wasn’t quite as quick.

“So,” Gideon said, after Jess had pulled away from the house, “is Ethan going to be mad we kept you out until all hours?”

Mention of the other man’s name made Jesse’s hand tighten on the wheel, but if she noticed, Emma gave no outward sign. “No, he knew it would be a late night. And it’s not like either of us have to go to work in the morning.”

“I thought you were going to check out that new magic shop with me,” Jesse said.

“Oh, I thought we were going in the afternoon.”

Jesse shrugged.

“We can still go,” Emma said. “I’ll just have Ethan drop me off at the office.”

“Great.” Gideon didn’t know if Emma was picking up on Jesse’s feelings about that, but Gideon didn’t have to be an empath to know that Jesse was less than thrilled with the suggestion. “Gideon has a meeting with a client tomorrow around eleven, so I thought maybe we could go to lunch afterward.”

“At the new Greek place? Ethan mentioned he wanted to try that. Maybe he’d like to come along.”

Every time she mentioned Ethan’s name, Gideon felt the thud of Jesse’s heart get stronger. Jess might not be aware of it, but he was sure Emma wasn’t. Ever since she’d started training with the other empath to learn how to control her abilities, she’d announced she was going to do everything she could to give them their privacy by not reading them. It was one reason why she was so much freer with touching them than she ever used to be. Emma no longer feared the emotional jolt that came from physical contact.

He glanced at the hard set of Jesse’s jaw. Sometimes he wondered if closing them off was necessarily a good thing.

“I’m going to need you back at the office after my meeting,” he said. It was a lie, but he didn’t want to be on the receiving end of Jesse’s bad mood when he came back from having lunch with both Emma and Ethan. “Sorry, Em.”

“I guess I’ll have to take a rain check,” Jesse said, with a note of apology in his voice. He almost sounded genuinely sorry. Almost.

“I’ll bring you a gyro,” Emma promised amiably. “Ethan’s taking me to a dance club tonight. He said I need to practice being in large, highly-charged crowds.”

“You don’t think that’s going to be too much?”

“No. I think I’m ready for it.” She frowned. “Why? Don’t you think I’m ready for it?”

“Oh no,” Jesse assured her quickly. “I think you’re more than ready.”

It sounded to Gideon like Ethan wanted to get Emma juiced up in order to take advantage of her heightened state, but he refrained from posing his theory aloud. It wouldn’t do anybody any good. And it wasn’t like Emma couldn’t see whoever she wished. Even if sleeping with the man who was supposed to be helping her sounded like a textbook definition of conflict of interest to Gideon.

“If it gets too much for you, I want you to come over,” Gideon said.

She turned to look back at him, and her smile warmed the cool moonlight. “Yes, Daddy.”

Jesse made a funny choking sound, and the wheel jerked suddenly. His eyes darted nervously to Emma and he muttered, “Damned dogs.”

“Everything okay?” Emma asked.

“Yeah, fine.”

Gideon turned his head to hide his smile. There weren’t dogs, just vivid memories of some of his and Jesse’s games. He had a sudden certainty that he knew exactly what they were going to be doing once they got home.

When they reached Emma’s apartment building, she stopped Jess from killing the engine by reaching across and resting her small hand on his forearm. “It’s okay,” she said and nodded toward the outline of a man approaching in the headlights. “Ethan’s already here.”

Ethan opened Emma’s door wearing the big smile that Jesse always referred to as s**t-eating-grin-number-twelve. He greeted Emma with a kiss to the cheek, and then extended his hand to Jesse.

“It’s good to see you, Jess. I keep telling Emma that we need to invite you for dinner.”

“Yes, we’ll have to do that,” Jesse said, shaking his hand politely.

Ethan nodded at Gideon. “And how have you been?”

Gideon’s gaze was unwavering. “I’m hungry.”

Jesse’s lips twisted into a smile and his shoulders shook with a silent chuckle.

Ethan’s smile faltered. “We better get going, Emma.”

Emma leaned across and planted a friendly kiss on Jesse’s cheek. “I’ll see you tomorrow morning. Have a good night.”

“You, too. Be careful.”

“I’ll take care of her,” Ethan promised as he took her hand and helped her out of the Jeep.

Gideon waited until the pair was headed back to Ethan’s car, his arm curled protectively around her waist, before climbing into the front seat. “Tell me again why I can’t eat him,” he complained, once the door was shut safely against being overheard.

“Because being a prick isn’t technically a crime,” Jesse muttered. “Thanks, by the way. Every time Emma invites him to lunch, I lose my appetite.”

“Maybe you should stop giving her the choice of bringing him.”

Jesse stared at him like his second head had sprouted a third eye. “How am I supposed to do that? I can’t dictate who she spends time with. I don’t have the right to tell her how she can spend time with her…friends.”

“Have you tried telling her how you feel? Because she’s not bothering to figure it out for herself these days.”

“How I feel about what? Ethan?” Jesse shrugged. “Look, it won’t do any good. If nothing else, she needs him right now. I certainly don’t know how to help her.”

“Who said anything about helping her?” Sometimes Gideon wondered how such a smart guy like Jesse could be so blind. “All I’m saying is that Emma is important to us. And she’s made it clear we’re important to her. Look, she even rearranged her schedule as soon as she realized you expected her in the morning. She’s not going to appreciate us not telling her how we feel.”

“Okay, Gideon, enlighten me. How do we feel?”

The direct question made him pause. It was one thing to try and force Jesse’s hand, but to have him turn it around and demand the same answer from Gideon was something else entirely.

“We care about her,” he said, hedging his reply. It was still truth, if not all of it. “She’s…important to us.” He moved to safer ground. “And we both think Ethan is a schmuck. Emma can do better than him.”

“She knows we care about her. At this point, she’d better. And, Gideon, you of all people must understand that I am not going to try to force Emma to drop her relationship with Ethan. Yeah, he’s a schmuck. Do you know what people say about you?”

Gideon scowled. The way this conversation was going, it was going to end up nowhere.

“Fine,” he said. “Forget I said anything.” Reaching for Jesse’s hand, he pulled it across the parking brake and placed it over his crotch, molding his fingers along Gideon’s burgeoning erection. Thinking about Emma these days always seemed to get him hard. “Let’s talk about a certain promise you made for taking advantage of my generous nature tonight.”

Jesse smiled, his fingers curling against Gideon’s shaft. “Let me get you home, and I’ll show you how much I appreciate your very generous nature.”

“Can you drive with one hand?”

“Well…” Jesse pulled his hand away long enough to shift the Jeep into drive, and then navigated out of the small lot. When his hand found Gideon’s erection again, he had unzipped his pants. Jesse’s fingers were hot and firm. “I did learn how to drive on a manual.”

Gideon grinned. It was the best thing he’d heard all night.