Page 9 of Stand By Me

"He is, that. Too smart for me, too, but it is what it is." He gestured towards the door. "Come on, let's go see your smart guy now."

Clay shook his head. No point in arguing, was there?

"After you."

CHAPTER FOUR

Mario had assumed that seeing Clay come in wouldn't have the same effect on him the second time around. He was ready this time. He remembered the freakingvisionfrom yesterday, so he knew what to prepare for, right?

Wrong.

If anything, his reaction was even stronger now. There was no shock component, so his libido—and his damn heart,Jesus Christ—easily took over. He tried to fight it, he really did, but it wasn't his fault that Clay hit practically all his buttons.

He was responsible for a good half of them in the first place, after all.

Get it together, de Silva, Mario told himself, purposefully ignoring Carina behind the front desk as Clay and Diego walked towards them like they were doing an ad that promised things highly inappropriate to think about at work.

"Okay, let's get to it," Mario said after they exchanged greetings. "The upper floor today, right?"

"Yes, we want to see where to put our people at," Clay told him with a nod.

"Sure. Right this way, then." Mario gestured them to the left. When he glanced at Carina, she wiggled her eyebrows and tilted his head towards Clay who was thankfully looking the other way.

Mario waved her off and turned around quickly. He remembered last night's promise all too well, but he'd never promised to do it today, had he?

He still might, of course, but… Not now.

Maybe later.

As it turned out, "later" took much longer than Mario had thought. He'd assumed that since there was less space on the upper floor Clay and Martinez were interested in, it would take less time than yesterday, but it was actually the opposite. They checked every little detail, comparing their notes with the security cameras and their angles and making sure there were no blind spots.

Once again, Mario found it quite fascinating. He'd seen his fair share of crime shows and such, but it was different in real life, especially when it involved Mario's workplace, the museum he'd thought he knew like the back of his hand.

Apparently, while he could give a tour through every exhibit with his eyes closed, he greatly underestimated the number of security measures around.

"That's typical," Clay told him when Mario admitted that out loud. "Most people don't pay attention to things that are of no interest to them. You do have emergency drills, though, right?"

"Of course. Fire, blackout, shooting drills." Mario rubbed the back of his head. "That's how I know some of this stuff—but not all."

Clay lowered the tablet he was taking notes on and met Mario's gaze.

"Well, I know nothing about this stuff." He indicated the exhibition behind him. "Which means you're still ahead, by my count."

They exchanged smiles, and Mario suddenly felt the freaking butterflies in his stomach as if he was thirteen years old.

Neither of them looked away, and they just stood there, watching each other. Getting to know each other—again.

I know you, Mario thought.I want to know you even better, I want to—

A dull sound of something hitting the floor interrupted their moment. Mario turned around to see Diego crouching a few feet away.

"Sorry, dropped my things," he muttered, and Mario quickly took a step away from Clay.

Shit, they were both on the clock. And Clay worked in a field full of ex-military personnel, which wasn't exactly the most accepting environment.

"Are you two ready to move on?" Mario shoved his hands in his pockets and focused on the sculpture on the other side of the room to avoid facing either of the men.

"Yeah," Clay said quietly. "Let's go."

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