"Theo, I think this will interest you."
Seated on the floor amidst a flurry of papers and account books in the earl's private study, Theo propped his chin in his hand and looked up. "What is it?"
Fully recovered and in admirable health, Philip looked the part of a young earl. His fashionable new waistcoat was of the finest peach-coloured satin and fastened with mother-of-pearl buttons, and his golden hair had been brushed until it gleamed.
"It's an account of the excise duties for the inn. They are indeed due to the earl's estate, as the constables said." Picking up the account book he'd discovered, Philip brought it around the desk and held it out to Theo.
Gaze lingering up Philip's well-turned calves and trim waist, Theo smirked as he took the book from Philip. "What, will you have me seized for non-payment of duties?"
"No, Theo, look. They're paid. Your father paid them, and Simeon Kearney damn well knew it."
Theo blinked at the page, staring at the figures for several long moments before he made sense of what he was seeing. "They're paid? That… that scurrilous bastard!"
Philip laughed, casting himself down upon the floor by Theo's side. "It seems your troubles are settled and your inn is secure, my respectable Sir Innkeeper."
"So it is," Theo said. "So I am."
"What now?" Philip asked, leaning in to steal a brief kiss and murmuring against Theo's lips. "Will you return to Cambridge?"
"You know I shall not."
"No?" Philip smiled at him, alight with affection and mirth. "Surely you have nothing to keep you here."
"I do," Theo said, laying his hand along the side of Philip's jaw. "I have my love."
Philip pounced him, knocking Theo onto his back amidst the splay of papers and kissing him.
Theo kissed him back amidst laughter, winding his arms around Philip and tickling him in retaliation until they were both giggling on the floor, tangled up in each other's arms.
"What will you?" Theo asked, once he'd stopped laughing long enough to regain his breath.
"I?"
"Managing an estate seems very staid after the life you've led. France and back, a spy, a smuggler, a highwayman, and now an earl. Will you not be restless to live a life of luxury?"
"Perhaps," Philip made himself comfortable atop Theo, lounging upon him like a mattress. "It will take some time to restore the estate and the lands. I wish to restore the prosperity of Glynn. Simeon sucked at it like a leech, raising the rents and hoarding the money away."
"And then?"
"And then I shall travel. I'd very much like to see the East Indies."
Theo smiled, since that sounded more like Philip. "The East Indies?"
"And China. Perhaps the Americas."
"I'll miss you," Theo said, closing his eyes and enjoying Philip's warmth.
"You know perfectly well that you're coming with me."
Smiling wider, Theo cracked one eye open. "Mayhap."
"I know for a certainty that you would not let me go without you."
"The East Indies are very far," Theo complained.
"Yes," Philip said. "But you would cross half the world for me."
"Pfaugh," said Theo. "You are very confident of that."
"I am," Philip said. He kissed the side of Theo's throat, breath ghosting over the skin. "As I do know that you love me."
Theo let his eyes fall shut once again, sighing and relaxing amidst the earl's papers. "So I do. I do. I love you, and only you."