No matter how many times Zack repeated this, his nerves still felt like they were skittering across ice. The second he reached his desk, he snatched up the Murmur Alexa had left. Shit. It just had a connection number and a callback time. No help at all.

He fired up his computer and jiggled his leg as he waited for the processor to boot. The welcome screen loaded with agonizing slowness, followed by his desktop. He clicked on the program they used to log calls, all but crawling out of his skin with impatience.

Once it loaded, he clocked in and signaled to the program that he wanted to make a call. When it had connected to his phone line and marked him as Busy, he finally picked up the phone.

He held the receiver to his ear, listening to the mindless buzz of the dial tone. He punched in the connection number Alexa had left and forced himself to breathe evenly. The call picked up and switched him over to the correct line. Then the phone rang once, twice, three times.

On the fourth ring, Zack heard a click and a muffled greeting. Too muffled for him to recognize the voice.

He floundered for a second before pulling himself together enough to rasp, “Hello. My name’s Wesley. I’m here to make all your dreams come true.”

He winced. He sounded awful. As he waited for a response, he was nearly deafened by the sound of his own pulse throbbing in his ears.

Then a smooth, rumbling voice said, “Hello, Darkling.”

Zack’s initial thought was that he wanted to bottle John’s voice and drizzle it all over his skin. His next was that he was woefully unprepared for the wave of excitement that washed through him and left his head spinning. Realizing he’d been silent too long, he scrambled for something to say. His brain offered up a helpful surge of feedback in response.

“Um, h-hello, John,” Zack finally stammered. “Welcome back.” He cringed. Apparently this was amateur hour. He hadn’t been this awkward with a client since his first week.

John, on the other hand, seemed composed. “I was about to ask if you remember me, but I suppose that answers my question.”

“Yeah, I do. It’s nice to hear your voice.” Zack clapped a hand over his mouth. Well, so much for playing hard to get. His unflappable reputation would be in serious danger if he kept this up.

“Uh, that is to say,” Zack fumbled, “I was hoping you’d call again.”

John laughed in a slow, sexy way. Zack swallowed.

“Were you? And why is that?”

Zack managed to purr back, “Because I had so much fun with you last time. I wanted a repeat performance.”

“I think that can be arranged.”

The promise in John’s voice was tantalizing. Zack searched for something suggestive to say back, but his mouth had other plans. He blurted, “Why did you wait so long to call me again?”