Diversion 2 - Collusion by Eden Winters Page B

he care for people? Jade gave way to rust, the tender shoots withered to blackened
husks hanging over the sides of the pot, forlorn lovers cast aside. In
Lucky’s imagination, the beautiful ornamental shuddered and died.
If Bo ever stopped caring…
Lucky took a deep breath and let it out slowly. His choices lay
before him. Go home, sulk, and hope Bo continued to water him
on occasion, or make things right.
* * *
    “You look like shit, boy!” Luc ky accused his reflection. He put aside a comb in favor of a brush. A few strokes didn’t improve matters. “Now you look like better-groomed shit.” No help for it, he needed to wash his hair. Ten minutes later, he swiped away a cloud of Bo-scented fog to try again.
    “You still look like you, but cleaner.” No help for it. Some people were born gorgeous, others weren’t. Lucky sure as hell hadn’t won the genetic lottery. Maybe Bo suffered from poor eyesight.
    He squeezed an unfamiliar tube of toothpaste from the middle. Minty freshness exploded on his tongue the moment the brush hit his mouth. Not bad. Not bad at all. He rinsed and dropped his old fashioned toothbrush in a glass next to Bo’s battery operated model and wiped a layer of dust off a bottle of mouthwash. No, he wasn’t trying to impress Bo, not really, but it was here. He could do a taste check.
    What if he’d driven the man away? Sex aside, he enjoyed the company, and quiet evenings watching TV or fixing supper. Truth be told, he wouldn’t mind those evenings happening on a more regular basis, but wasn’t yet ready for the whole live-together thing. Besides, if anyone at work found out…
    Bo had been right in Florida when he’d mentioned the “no fraternization” department policy, and more than one office affair ended with both parties being fired. And while Walter didn’t tolerate his team badmouthing each other, the SNB wasn’t immune to gossip. Lucky didn’t give a rat’s ass about what folks thought of him. In fact, he didn’t like them much so why should they like him? Well, except for Walter. Lucky squeezed his eyes shut. While Bo had sneaked past Lucky’s defenses, Walter had merely chiseled patiently away, spending years wearing a hole in Lucky’s armor.
    Push come to shove, technically, Bo and “Simon” were alrea dy in a relationship the day Simon Harrison joined the department. Their preexisting relationship overrode policy, in Lucky’s eyes. But how about the rest of the department’s? Or Walter’s? Or the big dogs Walter answered to? And would the receptionist’s smile turn to a sneer if she knew Bo left work in the afternoon to head over to Lucky’s and do the nasty?
    He propped against the sink, opening his eyes to glare at the mirror. “You’re a free man now,” he said. “Walter can’t say a whole lot about what you doon your own time.” But he did have a say about Bo’s. Bo fell onto Walter’s team the same way Lucky did—by fucking up royally in the outside world. Lucky’d never asked how long Bo had to work off, or the probation details, because he sure as hell resented talking about his. If anyone found out they’d shared more than a house together while on assignment, the shit would hit the fan—and ricochet back on Bo.
    What the hell did Bo want with Lucky anyway? Regardless of a new name and expunged criminal record, deep down inside dwelt a petty, two-bit felon, whose own family kicked him out.
“Would you stop looking a gift horse in the mouth?” he heard
    Charlotte say, imagining a swat upside the head for good measure. “Yeah, yeah. I hear ya, girl.”
He stopped brooding to get dressed. Which T-shirt? The blue
    or the green? Bo said the blue brought out Lucky’s eyes. Lucky put on the green. Bo might read too much into the blue. Boxers, jeans, socks, and tennis shoes completed the outfit.
    He loaded up two grocery bags with las t night’s leftovers and pushed aside Starbucks cups to put them on the passenger seat of his car. Damn, I left