“By the way, where did you put the charm?”
“What charm? My charm is fully on,” I said, as my libido could hardly be tamed even if I tried.
“I meant Henry’s charm,” David said, smiling. He was enjoying my confusion.
“He lacked any of it,” I snapped.
“I meant the cat thingy we found in his car,” David explained.
“Ah! That! You took it.”
“No,youtook it.”
“No, I distinctly rememberyoutaking it.” He was so stubborn sometimes.
He stared at me in disbelief, and I returned the incredulous gaze. We let our eyes do the talking for a few minutes the way we’d learned to communicate without words those past few months.
We were saying things like,There was never time for that quickie.What I really want to do right now is not be looking for something that you misplaced.Damn it, we’re not even home!andI still haven’t made you scream like you asked me, but I’ve been thinking about it non-stop.
All the non-verbal sexy banter and unresolved heat was keying me up. I tried shrugging it off and put my hands in my pockets. And inside one of the back pockets of my jeans, I found a plasticky object that I didn’t recognize to the touch.
“What the hell?” I took the unknown object from my pocket and, obviously, it was Henry’s fucking cat charm. Apparently, I didn’t so distinctly remember telling David I’d keep the charm after he offered to because I thought he’d probably lose it.
I know he was tired, preoccupied about his police troubles, fearful for the next accusatory article that would get published against him, hungry, and at least as horny as I was. But, for the first time that day, he looked perfectly satisfied.
He didn’t say,See, I told you. His eyes were doing all the talking.
“Quit with the smug face. It doesn’t suit you,” I told him.
“Liar. You’ve told me my jaw gets sharper when I look smug, and I know for a fact that you find that very sexy,” he said, his fucking jawline irresistibly accentuated.
Bastard. He knew me too fucking well.
“Okay, I had the cat. So what?”
“I don’t think it’s just a charm,” he said, holding out his hand. “I realized this when I was at the security office with Miguel and wanted a copy of the CCTV footage. He opened a drawer full of USB drives. Some of them were colorful and in the shape of cartoon characters.”
“You mean...” I gave the cat to David. I was a universally known clumsy person with butterfingers and the ability to breakanything.
“I mean...” he said, pulling the cat into two pieces easily.
One of them showed a USB-C connection.
29
It was after ten at night. David had managed to cook us some vegan tacos, making use of the many ingredients inside my sister’s fridge. I was surprised to see she even had anything more than the coffee beans and almond milk necessary for the morning coffee she took before heading to the main house for actual breakfast.
I texted her to inquire about it.
Fridge is full of yummy things. Hope you don’t mind we cooked some dinner.
Also, where are you?
She replied right away.
Marta
Of course the fridge is full. I told the house staff to pack it with plenty of vegan options when you told me you’d be there.
