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I was awake even before the vibration alarm had been going for a second. What can I say? Old habits die hard. Alert had been ingrained into my very nature not only by training but by years of experience in the field.
I reached over to the night stand and answered only a moment later. “Yeah?”
There was silence on the other side, as if the caller was gathering his wits. Then a familiar voice asked, “Shelley?”
Eliot's voice was an interesting mixture of stupefied and suspicious. I could hear the frown clearly. I rolled my eyes, wondering why he was surprised to find me picking up my mobile. Who else had he expected? Elvis?
“Yes, my dear Eliot, it's me. You called me, so what do you want?”
A moment of silence followed that told me that I had done the impossible: I had stunned the great Eliot Spencer into speechlessness. Congrats to me. I mentally gave myself a heartfelt pat on the back.
“Actually, I didn't call you.” Eliot replied after a moment.
“This is my mobile. Did you speed dial the wrong number?” I began to wonder if Eliot had been hit on the head one too many times. This conversation was remarkably retarded, even for the late hour. Or early, depending on your point of view.
There was another lengthy silence followed by some rummaging, and I understood that Eliot was looking at his screen to check the number. A moment later he was back on the line, sounding still as stupefied as before. Maybe a wee bit more on the suspicious side, though. “No, definitely the right number. Do I even want to know why you're answering Bonanno's phone in the middle of the night?”
I would have sworn that somebody had emptied a bucket of really icy water over my head because I felt the cold fingers run down my spine. I jerked the mobile from my ear and looked at it for a stunned moment. It looked exactly like mine, it had even been in silence mode and the noise of the vibration alarm had been the same.
“What the...” I didn't finish the sentence. There was no need to. For once, destiny had tricked me – I had never noticed that Patrick and I had the same mobile. Let's just say there were other – more important – things on my mind when I was around him. When I put the phone back to my ear, my gaze fell on Patrick who was immersed in the sleep of the pleasantly exhausted. And I knew exactly why he was exhausted. I might have had a part in that.
I remembered Eliot's question and grinned. “No, you definitely don't want to know.”
Eliot was quiet for a moment, as if I had just confirmed a suspicion. Well, I had. “Is this what I think it is?”
My grin widened. “Do you want the details?”
“No!” His answer was immediate. “Spare me. I have to work with the man, I really don't need to get naughty images of you and him every time I see him.”
I chuckled. This conversation wasn't half as bad as I had imagined it to be. Come on, I had known Eliot would find out at some point. I had just expected him to be teasing me, not the other way round. “I love naughty images.”
“Which part don't you get of 'spare me the details'?'” Eliot growled. “Now get me Bonanno on the line.”
“Only under one condition.” My grin widened. This was so much fun.
There was an exasperated sight. I knew Eliot was rolling his eyes. “What?”
“No phone sex with him. He's taken.”
“Shelley, shut up and get Bonanno!” There were voices in the background hushing Eliot which told me that he was probably in a situation where he shouldn't be shouting. I thought I heard a female voice saying 'What's phone sex?' before there was another round of hushing noises.
“Give me a moment. I have to wake him, and boy, he's a heavy sleeper.” I know, a low blow, but I couldn't resist. I'm only human, after all, and Eliot begged to be teased.
“For Christ's sake, Shelley, Spare. Me. The. Details!” This time Eliot refrained from shouting, but only barely. I knew he would get back at me for this, but even so I couldn't help laughing. Gosh, this was fun. Maybe teasing Eliot could become my newest favourite pastime.
I turned to my sleeping partner and touched my hand to his shoulder to give it a gentle but firm shake. “Patrick. Wake up.”
When I didn't get any reaction, I stuck the mobile between my ear and my shoulder to be able to use both hands to give him a harder shake. “Patrick!”
“I think I have a fairly good idea where you are and what you're doing, and I assure you, it's something I never wanted to know.” I could hear the exasperated but teasing grin in Eliot's voice as clearly as if he'd been standing next to me.
I couldn't help chuckling, unable to keep from teasing him back. “You'd be surprised how flexible Patrick is.”
“Shelley! To much information!” I was certain I could hear horror in his voice. Yeah, let him suffer for intruding on a situation he had no business intruding on. All right, so technically it had been my fault for picking up the wrong phone, but I chose to ignore that for now.
Patrick woke up slowly, rubbing his eyes before asking me with a sleepy voice, “Who're you talking to in the middle of the night, Mark?”
“Did he just call you 'Mark'?” Now Eliot was back to sounding stupefied, and I knew exactly why.
I chose not to reply, instead I handed the mobile to Patrick who was propped up on his elbows now. “Eliot's on the line for you.”
Patrick looked at me, then he frowned at the mobile I was holding out to him. “Spencer? What does he want?”
“You'd have to ask him that.” I replied with a smirk. Patrick was cute when he had just woken up. A little out of it, hair tousled and and eyes still sleepy. It was a sight I enjoyed every time I had the chance to see it. Which wasn't as often as I would have liked.
Patrick took the mobile from me after a moment of looking at it like it was the most disgusting sight he could imagine, then he listened to whatever Eliot was saying. “All right, I'll be there and I'll bring the cavalry.”
Eliot had obviously hung up, because Patrick ended the call and stared at the mobile with a deep frown.
“So, what did he want?” I asked, watching him attentively.
“They have some new case and need me and my men down at the docks at sunrise.” Patrick sat up and sighed deeply. “Which means I have to get up to get things organised. There're only about two hours left.”
“What a pity, I'd rather keep you in bed.” I remarked with an exaggerated pout and let my finger trail down the scratches I had left on his shoulder blade just a few hours earlier. Patrick leaned into my hand, closing his eyes. I loved how he never hid how much he enjoyed my touch.
Then he turned around and made to hand me back the mobile. “Why did Spencer call you to get me, anyway?”
“He didn't.” I replied and made no move to take the little phone. “Actually, that one is yours.”
“It is?” Patrick seemed surprised and looked at the mobile. “Then why did you answer my phone in the middle of the night?”
“I thought it was mine.” I shrugged, then I pointed at the second phone lying on the nightstand which looked just like the one in Patrick's hand. He followed my gaze, then he looked back at his hand.
His frown returned, taking on a suspicious edge before he looked up at me. “By the way, Spencer just invited us to the pub tonight to – and I quote – 'celebrate an unexpected engagement'.”
I leaned back against the headboard, a picture of innocence. “Did he now?”
Patrick's eyes narrowed. He was definitely on to me. “Mark, you don't happen to have an idea what that's about?”
“Me?” I cleared my throat, only halfway bothering to suppress the grin. “Why would I know what that's about?”
“So you know.” He raised an eyebrow in a manner that told me that he saw right through me.
I held his gaze, serious for once. “Maybe it's because he heard how you called me 'Mark'”.
After a moment, Patrick smiled. It was warm and real, and I knew he'd understood the message hidden in Eliot's invitation. I couldn't help smiling back.