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As soon as they entered the room, Zane went to the heater and cranked it up Ca for the bathroom He was upset, but Zane couldn’t blame him

Ty escorted Julian through the roo behind them to help secure Julian to whatever they could find Ty had fished a handful of bungee cords out of the trunk with solee

“Antiques dealer, huh?” Ty asked Julian, voice laced with amusement and contempt as he tossed his jacket onto the bed He was still irritable and tense froet of his ire appeared to be Julian Zane wondered what had been said in the car when he was gone to up the level of animosity between them

“Yes”

“That’s original”

“I don’t strive to be original”

“And the kid?” Ty asked

“What about him?” Julian asked, shoulders stiff

Zane looked up at his partner as he flipped through channels on theto find the Weather Channel and wondering what it was about Julian Cross that annoyed Ty so Ty had told him that parts of Julian reminded him of Zane Well, parts of Ty and Julian reminded Zane of the way he and Ty had treated each other when they first met The tension was palpable, but there was an added layer to it that Zane really didn’t want to ponder

“You know you’re going to get hi him all over the place like this”

“I wouldn’t say I’ him anywhere,” Julian said, utterly calm

“He has no idea what you do or who you are You’re doing nothing but putting hily if he knew the truth about you?”

“Yes And sometimes it’s safer that way”

“Safer, norance is not bliss, you know”

Cameron chose that moment to step out of the bathroom, unaware that he was the subject of their conversation

Julian looked Ty up and down “Are you telling me you’ve never lied to a loved one?”

Ty raised his eyebrows and shook his head, an entirely insolent look that would have made Zane want to smack him if it had been aimed at him

“You’ve never kept so fro colder

“No, I haven’t,” Ty answered without a moment’s hesitation

Julian’s eyes narrowed, and he took a step closer He and Ty were too close now Close enough that they couldn’t even look each other up and doithout leaning away Ca

Julian’s voice was low andwhen he spoke to Ty “You’ve never lied to someone to keep them safe? Wife? Mother? Boyfriend?”

“No,” Ty said, not reacting to Julian’s last word