The person Ireallywanted to talk to was right here, with his arms still wrapped around my back. Through the thin cotton of his shirt, his chest felt warm and hard, and I had to remind myself that I'd come down here for a reason – to get some answers about my car.
Who, exactly, had paid for it? Sure, Rango had destroyed it, but who had reimbursed me for the destruction? Based on Rango's comments earlier, I was fairly certain that person was Jake.
"Actually," I told Jake when my phone stopped vibrating, "I'mnotdone."
"Yeah?" He ran a hand up into my hair. "Should I grab a pen or something?"
The implication was obvious. I was asking so many questions that soon, he'd be needing to write them down.
I didn't know whether to scream or kiss him. A reluctant smile tugged at my lips. "Oh, don't worry," I teased. "I'm keeping track."
Mostly, I needed to know about the car. If Jake had paid for it, Ihadto know. I hated the thought of taking any more charity, but there was something else I hated more – the idea of Rango getting credit for something nice that Jake had done.
"It's about my car…" I began, only to stop when my phone started vibrating again.
Damn it.
"You need to get that?" Jake asked.
I froze. So he'd felt the vibration? Of course, he had. Our hips were, after all, pressed against each other.
Reluctantly, I pulled away and reached into my pocket. Praying it was my sister or something, I pulled out the phone and checked the display.
Just great – another unknown number.
Rango? Probably.
But there was no way I wanted to confirm it. So I shoved the phone back into my pocket and told Jake, "Nah, it can wait."
I'd barely finished the sentence when Jake reached into his own pocket and pulled outhisphone. He studied the display for a long moment before swiping his fingers across the screen, as if searching for something else. He paused, and then frowned.
"What is it?" I asked.
He shoved the phone back into his pocket and said, "I've gotta go."
I stared up at him. "What?"
"An appointment," he said. "It can't wait."
I gave him a puzzled look. "Did you just find out?"
"Something like that." He pulled me close and kissed me hard on the lips. "I'll be back in a few hours. Don't go anywhere, okay?"
I pulled back and tried to make a joke of it. "So, you want me to wait right here?" I made a show of looking around. "In the office?"
He gave me a distracted smile. "Nah, go upstairs. I'll see you there."
As much as I hated this, I wasn't blind to the upside. In my pocket, my phone was vibrating yet again. If Jake disappeared for a few hours, I'd have some time to deal with Rango and his stupid phone calls.
Maybe I'd get lucky, and he'd finally run out of phones.
I summoned up a smile and told Jake, "Alright. See you later."
Again, he reached for me, pulling me close yet again. "I mean it," he said. "Don't go anywhere."
Something about his tone was off, and I didn’t like it. I pulled away and asked, "Is that a request or a command?"
Abruptly, he asked, "That picture, did you look at it?"
