Best Laid Plans Read online

  Six guys stood waiting outside the house. One looked like Brad Pitt, another like Ryan Gosling, while the other four looked like Will Smith, Denzel Washington, and young versions of Harrison Ford and Tom Selleck. They barely gave Miz Babe and Denny the chance to say thanks and bye before they hustled them into the building.

  Dix continued to drape himself over the Josh’s seat. “You sure you don’t want to come up and see me, big guy?” he asked as he ran a finger up the side of Josh’s neck.

  Mopp scowled at him. Who did this guy think he was, Mae West?

  Josh shifted in his seat but didn’t say anything. Dix turned his head and gave Mopp a slow wink.

  “We have to get back for the funeral,” he said loudly, then added in the most saccharine voice he could come up with, “Thanks very much, though.”

  Dix gave him a sardonic look and whispered, “Take him to McHarris B&B. It’s a mile or so past the junction of 395 and 95 in Springfield. Just mention my name. I take my favorite clients there.” Then he had the gall to not only kiss Josh’s cheek but to kiss Mopp’s lips as well. He was lucky he hopped out of the truck before Mopp could do anything more than sputter.

  Josh waved good-bye to Dix before he checked his side mirror and pulled out into the street. “I think we’d better find a motel and crash for a few hours before we start back,” he said.

  “There’s a bed and breakfast in Springfield.”

  “Oh? How did you know that?”

  “Dix told me about it.”

  “He did, did he?” There was a bite to Josh’s tone. “Did that little—did he want to take you there?”

  “Huh?” That thought had never crossed Mopp’s mind. “No. He wanted me to take you there.”

  “Me?”

  “Would you rather be with him? I know I don’t have his kind of experience.”

  Josh sighed. “I’m sorry, Mopp. I’m giving you all kinds of mixed signals.”

  Mopp felt his stomach turn over. Did that mean Josh was having second thoughts? “Are you having second thoughts? Would you rather we drove straight home?”

  “No. I think it would be a better idea to get some rest before we start the drive to Savannah. The thing is…” They came to a light and he was quiet for a minute.

  Mopp began to pick at his thumbnail, but when Josh still didn’t say anything, he swallowed and asked, “What’s the thing?”

  “I want a relationship with you for however long I can have it.”

  “And since that should be seventy or eighty years—”

  “Wait. I thought you said fifty or sixty.”

  “I decided I wanted more.”

  It was a good thing they were stopped at a light, because Josh stared at him with his jaw hanging. Mopp couldn’t help grinning, feeling better than he had since they’d started the drive to DC.

  “So that’s all settled. Now, according to Dix, the B&B is just past where 395 and 95 meet in Springfield. Can we get going?”

  Josh continued staring at him.

  “Uh… Josh?” Mopp bit his lip to keep from laughing. “The light’s green.”

  Josh shook his head, rested his hand on Mopp’s thigh, and got them moving again.

  Chapter 27

  MOPP ANGLED HIMSELF so he could watch those big hands on the steering wheel. Josh hadn’t kept it on his leg long enough. And geez, what was with him? He’d never had that kind of reaction to any man’s body part before.

  Josh flipped up the blinker and steered the truck off the interstate. After a few minutes, Mopp suddenly realized they were turning into the parking lot of a twenty-four-hour pharmacy.

  “I have to stop here.”

  “Do you feel okay?” Mopp didn’t care if he sounded alarmed. Darn it, he was alarmed.

  “Yeah. I’m fine.” In spite of the hour, there were already quite a few cars in the lot, but he was able to find a parking spot fairly close to the front of the store, and he pulled into it. He glanced over at Mopp, his cheeks a faint pink. “That’s sweet. No one except Tommy ever worried about me.”

  Not even that asshole boyfriend of his? Mopp kept his mouth shut, though. He wouldn’t be happy if anyone criticized Jan, even though she wasn’t his girlfriend any more, and Josh probably felt the same way.

  “Stay here,” Josh said. “I’ll be right back.” He left the engine running and hurried into the building.

  “Well,” Mopp muttered to himself. “That’s not gonna happen.” He turned off the engine, took the key from the ignition, and got out of the truck.

  The door to the pharmacy slid open, and the woman at the checkout looked over and smiled at him. “Good morning.”

  “Uh… morning, ma’am.”

  “Can I help you find anything?”

  “No, thank you, though. I’m looking for the big man who just walked in?”

  “Ah. Your friend headed down aisle three.” And she indicated the direction he should go.

  “Thanks so much.”

  Mopp hurried to the left, and fortunately, he didn’t have to go too far before he spotted Josh at the far end of aisle three. Well, even without the directions, it would have been hard to miss someone built like Josh; tall, with broad shoulders and lean hips.

  What would it feel like to have that big body resting on his?

  He had every intention of finding out.

  Josh was just putting something into the basket slung over his arm, and he frowned when he spotted Mopp walking determinedly toward him.

  “I thought I told you to wait in the truck.”

  “I missed you.” He handed Josh the truck’s key. “What are you looking for?” The entire aisle seemed to be devoted to feminine hygiene products and early pregnancy test kits. Mopp knew his cheeks had turned red. He could feel the heat.

  Josh met Mopp’s gaze, then held out the basket, revealing its contents—a box of Trojans, a tube of K-Y, and something else.

  He was used to condoms, but lube would be new. He reached in and picked up what turned out to be a sampler pack of….

  “Flavored lube?” Dammit, that had come out in a squeak. His blush had just faded, and he refused to let it come back.

  “Mmm. Personally, I prefer mint or cinnamon, but the pharmacy seems to be out of those.”

  Mint? Cinnamon? The sampler contained kiwi, passionfruit, cherry, and strawberry. He cleared his throat. “Okay.”

  “Is it really?” Josh looked tired. “If it’s too much, we don’t have to—”

  “No, it’s fine. I… I like cherry.” Mopp gazed up into Josh’s blue eyes, and in spite of his embarrassment, he couldn’t help smiling. As he held on to Josh’s arm, he remembered something JT had said about never saying no to Mr. Jackson. Mopp had no intention of letting Josh think he’d ever say no to him.

  “We’ll go as slow as you want,” Josh said, and as much as Mopp wanted to dance up the aisle—he’d really talked Josh into doing this!—he didn’t. Josh touched his cheek, then glanced behind him. “We’d better discuss this in the truck.”

  Mopp turned to see what had caught Josh’s attention and realized they weren’t exactly alone.

  “Excuse me, please.” A woman wheeling a shopping cart down the aisle paused beside them. She’d filled the cart with disposable diapers and powdered formula, and she had an infant secured in a car seat propped in the front of the cart, while her toddler stood behind the baby, bouncing up and down.

  The woman looked frazzled.

  “Sorry.” Josh stepped aside, and she studied the various brands of condoms.

  “These are my two youngest,” she murmured, nodding toward the kids in the cart. “The three oldest are in school, and my mother-in-law’s watching the middle one. If my husband doesn’t start using these, I may neuter him in his sleep.”

  “We wouldn’t want you to have to resort to that, ma’am.” Jo
sh smiled at her, and she gave him a tired smile in return.

  “What would you suggest?”

  “Trojans have always done right by me.” Josh winked at Mopp, and darn it, he blushed again. How was it he had no trouble handling a gun so casually, yet was embarrassed by a box of condoms?

  Fortunately, the woman didn’t notice. “We’ll give these a try. Thanks.”

  “You’re welcome. Good luck.”

  The toddler lost her balance and landed on her butt on the can of formula. She began to cry, and the woman sighed.

  “Up you come, sweet pea.” She hoisted the little girl up into her arms, kissed a tear-stained cheek, and hummed softly in her ear.

  “Well, have a good day, ma’am,” Josh said.

  “You too. And thanks again.”

  “Not a problem.” They shared smiles, and then Josh slid an arm around Mopp’s shoulders and urged him back up the aisle.

  “Y’know, it always surprises me how people strike up conversations with random strangers,” Mopp said, enjoying the weight of Josh’s arm on his shoulder.

  “We’re not random.”

  “We’re not?” Mopp looked up at him and felt his heart turn over at the caring expression in Josh’s eyes. “No, I guess we’re not.” He rubbed his cheek against Josh’s shoulder. “Is there anything else we need?”

  Josh studied his face. “A razor?”

  Mopp couldn’t help grimacing. His facial hair tended to grow in quick, and he wound up having to shave every day. He ran a hand over his cheek and jaw and sighed. “Yeah, I guess so.”

  They found the aisle where men’s razors and shaving cream was stocked. Josh studied what each shelf offered, but Mopp lost patience. “It doesn’t have to be anything special.” He grabbed the package of generic disposable razors and a can of Gillette shaving gel and dropped them into Josh’s basket.

  Abruptly, he scowled, and of course Josh noticed. “What?”

  “I should have packed a bag for us.”

  “Nothing at the ranch would have fit me, not even anything of Jackson’s.”

  “Then we should have stopped at your place.”

  “We didn’t have the time.”

  Mopp felt his scowl deepen. Josh wasn’t helping matters. “We need underwear.”

  Josh raised his eyebrows. “Do we really?”

  Mopp stared at him. “Really, Joshua? Well, let me tell you right now, I have no intention of arriving back at the ranch in the same shorts I’ve worn for almost twenty-four hours. My momma raised me better than that.”

  Josh snickered. “It’s okay, sweet boy. Next time we’ll know. Come on. I think they stock undergarments over in the corner.”

  Sweet boy. Josh had called him sweet boy!

  “Wait, how did you know that?”

  “These chain pharmacies are all pretty much alike.”

  “Huh?”

  “Haven’t you ever shopped the branch of this pharmacy in Savannah? There’s one on Abercorn St.”

  “No. I never needed any prescriptions filled. Well, not before this happened.” He touched the bandage on his temple.

  Josh looked grim. “If I ever catch the son of a bitch who did that to you, I swear to God I’ll take him apart one piece at a time.”

  “You will?”

  “Why does that surprise you?” Now Josh just looked annoyed.

  “No one’s ever cared enough to offer to do that.” Mopp heard an unexpected sound. “Are you… Are you grinding your teeth?”

  “Never mind.” Josh picked out a couple of single pair packages and dropped them into the basket he held.

  “These look like something my daddy wears.” According to the image on the package, the shorts were plain white boxers.

  “I really didn’t need that picture in my brain.”

  “They’re better than nothing.”

  Josh burst into laughter. “Mopp, you naughty boy. Nothing is better than nothing!”

  Mopp felt like he was ten feet tall. The big guy didn’t laugh as much as he would have liked. “This is so great.” He bumped Josh’s arm with his—unfortunately, he wasn’t tall enough to reach his shoulder.

  “What is?”

  “Being able to joke with you.”

  Josh stopped laughing.

  “Josh? Is something wrong?”

  “We’re going to find plenty of things to joke about.”

  “We are?” Mopp felt like he was walking on air. Being Jan’s boyfriend had been nothing like this. This… it was amazing.

  “Maybe we should have taken a cart,” Josh murmured as he switched the basket from one hand to the other. “This is getting heavy.”

  “Aren’t we done shopping?”

  “Not quite. I think…” A short rack held men’s dress socks, and Josh dropped two pairs of them into the basket. “Okay, now we need a couple of shirts, and that should do it.”

  “I don’t think they sell shirts in this pharmacy,” Mopp murmured.

  “I’m shocked and dismayed that a store of this caliber doesn’t carry men’s shirts,” Josh teased.

  Mopp smoothed his hand over the front of Josh’s suit jacket and toyed with a button.

  “Well, they have T-shirts.”

  Mopp shivered. “Maybe sweatshirts instead?”

  “Okay.”

  They found them on a table, souvenirs of Springfield. The only color available in XXL was coral, and Mopp bit back a laugh.

  “Not funny.”

  “No, sir.”

  “Just for that…” Josh picked out an L in lavender. “Actually, this will go well with your eyes.”

  “It will?” Once again, he blushed. No one had ever said anything about his eyes before, not even Jan.

  Josh reached out and tugged Mopp’s ear. “Yeah.”

  “Can we go now?”

  This time, color mounted Josh’s cheeks, and his Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed. “Just… just one thing more. Well, three things. We should pick up toothbrushes and toothpaste.”

  Mopp blew into his hand and inhaled, and Josh chuckled.

  “No, you’re fine, but I think we’ll both appreciate it later.”

  Later? Mopp’s mouth went dry. Was Josh thinking of… of blowing him? He gave a massive shudder, so turned on by the thought that he was afraid he’d come in his pants, something he’d never done, never thought to do before Josh.

  “I… uh… I think I saw dental supplies against the back wall.”

  “Let’s go check them out.”

  With the toothbrushes in the basket, along with a travel size tube of toothpaste, Josh turned to Mopp. “Now we’re done,” he said.

  “Cool.” Mopp caught Josh’s hand and hauled him along after him to the front register. One of the impulse buys on the counter was a switchblade comb. Yeah, we’re going to need that too.

  The woman behind the register smiled at them. “Did you find everything you were looking for?”

  “Yes.” Mopp hesitated to return her smile. How would she react when he placed the condoms and lube on the counter?

  She glanced from the items to Mopp to Josh, and her smile broadened. It didn’t seem unkind, however. She rang up each item, and when she gave them the total, Mopp pulled out his wallet before Josh could reach for his.

  “I’ve got this,” he told Josh, and he paid for their purchases.

  The woman bagged everything, gave him his change, and tucked the register receipt in one of the bags, which she handed to Josh.

  “Uh… I need to use the restroom,” Mopp said.

  He was relieved when Josh didn’t offer to go to the restroom with him, because Mopp wanted to buy something else, and he wanted to keep it a secret.

  “I’ll wait for you in the truck.”

  “Okay. I’ll just be a minute.”
>
  Josh walked out the door, and Mopp looked around, biting his lip.

  “You can find the restroom at the end of aisle—”

  “I don’t need to—” He cleared his throat. “Do you have candles? Like… scented candles?”

  “Ah.” She tilted her head and pointed. “We have a selection in the fragrance aisle.”

  “Cool. Thank you.” He hurried to the aisle she’d indicated and shoot, he should have brought the basket with him. He filled his arms with various sizes of candles. He’d seen Jan mix the different scents to excellent effect, and he hoped the ones he chose would blend well together.

  He returned to the checkout and paid for the candles.

  “Do you have matches?” the woman asked as she wrapped the candles in sheets of paper to keep the glass holders from breaking and then double bagged them.

  “No, I don’t.” He looked around. A line was starting to form behind him.

  “Then you’ll need these.” She dropped a book of matches into the bag.

  “How much—”

  “Don’t worry about it. These are to go with the cigarettes.” There was a wall of them right behind her. She beamed at him. “You two have a great day now, y’hear?”

  “Thank you, ma’am.” Mopp smiled back at her, relieved she wasn’t going to expose him to a homophobic diatribe on the day he was going to make love with Josh for the first of many times. “You too.”

  Chapter 28

  JOSH PUT THE bags on the floor of the passenger compartment. Lube, condoms, flavored lube… They were really going to do this.

  Oh, they wouldn’t be able to use all the supplies today, but they were going to make a start. And he was going to ask Mopp to move out of the bunkhouse at the ranch and into the house on the river with him.

  Just across the street he spotted a little grocery store, and a man was putting out displays of flowers—daffodils, tulips, hyacinths, and violets almost the same color as Mopp’s eyes.

  Perfect. Josh dodged the oncoming traffic, bought a bunch of violets, and hurried back across the street. He studied the pharmacy bags for a second, then rearranged their contents and hid the flowers in one of the bags. Then he dusted off his hands and climbed into the driver’s seat.