Free Beneath the Palisade by Joel Skelton Page A

again sometime?”
    “Ian….” Unable to communicate how wonderful he felt, Harper clamped his arms and legs around his handsome landscaper and squeezed. I’m never going to let you go.

Chapter 4

    “ I AN , this is insane. He gave you a key? You know this is insane, right?” Andy leaned across his desk to emphasize his point.
    Yes, he knew this was insane. He and Andy were merciless on other couples who rushed into relationships when they hardly knew one another. This is different.
    “What do you want me to say? Did I plan for this to happen? No. It… well, it feels like the right move. I can’t explain it, it just does.” He hated himself for not having the nerve to make eye contact with his best friend. It was hard to justify an instinct, and that was about all he had. After spending yesterday in bed with Harper, he was convinced the man didn’t have any cracks. He was worth pursuing; there was no question about it.
    Andy shook his head in disbelief. “I’m not trying to tell you what to do, but I hope you’re using your brain here and not your… damn it all, Ian, you need to go at this with some thought. That’s all I’m saying.”
    Andy, give me a break here. I’m in the right place at the right time.
    Ian looked around the office, not sure what more he could say to his friend. He hadn’t expected this strong a reaction. Despite the fact that Andy thought him careless to move so quickly into a relationship, he felt confident he was making the right decision. He could be very tough on himself. To save his soul, he was unable to come up with a reason not to take the Harper leap. Where were the warning signs? Sure, you could argue that in such a short time, do you really know very much about a person? Even after being put on the spot like he was now, he was convinced this one was worth the risk. But he knew there was no defense he could call upon that would wipe away Andy’s concern.
    Wow! It’s clean and organized in here! He’d been so nervous earlier he’d failed to notice the change.“When did you find the time to overhaul the office? Looks great!” He hoped his observation would, at least for the time being, cause Andy to lighten up.
    “It wasn’t me. I gave Emmett a raise last week with a list of conditions. Little adjustments I felt he could make. I came in the next morning, and voila! Of course it took me three hours to locate stuff, but hey, we’re talkin’ baby steps here.”
    He’d recently sensed a paternal pitch in his friend’s voice when discussing his young employee. “Emmett’s lucky to have you for a boss. He’d have his ass booted by now working anywhere else.”
    “He doesn’t know it, but he’s an experiment,” Andy whispered, gesturing for him to turn around to see if the subject of their conversation might be lurking in the break room.
    Ian stretched around and found it empty. “We’re cool.”
    “I’m working on Emmett in subtle ways to make him more responsible and successful.” Andy took a sip from his water bottle. “It’s tough when you come into a job without a work ethic. I’d like to kick his parents’ butts for sending him out in the world with so little to work with.”
    He had no doubt in his mind that if Andy were to ever come in contact with Emmett’s parents, God help them, they’d definitely get a piece of his mind. “We come from good stock, you and I, Andy.”
    “Okay, I’m over it.” Andy slapped his desk.
    “Over what?” Ian cocked an eyebrow, waiting for another round of “careless Ian” to ramp up.
    “I’m over the fact you fell to your knees at the mere sound of a zipper.” Andy folded his arms across his sturdy chest and grinned.
    He had his friend’s blessing. It had been a tough battle, but it was worth it. “He’s from good stock too.” Ian winked.
    He shared all he knew about Harper Callahan, which, sadly, wasn’t much.
    “There’s more,” he teased when Andy failed to keep the conversation flowing.
    “No