Page 16 of Mayhem and Minnie

“Fine. I believe you.”

“I just wanted to test you,” she adds. My curiosity is piqued. “To see if you would take advantage of me.”

“I assume I’ve passed?” I chuckle.

She just gives me a sharp nod.

“Don’t take it personally, pet. I’m sure you’re a lovely girl and all that, but as I said?—”

“I don’t do it for you?” She cuts me off, her tone defiant. She raises her gaze to glare at me.

“Precisely.”

She mutters something under her breath and promptly looks away.

She…puzzles me. I don’t understand her or her reactions. One moment she’s seemingly trying to seduce me, the next she’s colder than that goddamn weather outside. But then she’s not trying to seduce me, she’s just testing me, and I’m still not sure whether she’s pleased or upset I turned her down.

Fucking hell!

Women. Strange creatures.

There’s little wonder I don’t want to associate with them. They function on a completely different frequency than me.

A loud noise erupts in the silence of the car—something like a growl.

Frowning, I glance at her.

She’s staring at her hands as she fidgets with her fingers. She audibly gulps down, which is followed by yet another noise.

“When was the last time you ate?” I ask her. My voice comes out rather sharply because she jolts up, her pale cheeks reddening.

“Uhm,” she murmurs, fidgeting some more with her fingers. She wiggles uncomfortably in her seat. “A few days ago.” Her answer is so soft, I barely hear it.

“A few days ago?” I repeat incredulously.

Her chin tips down in an abrupt nod. She doesn’t look at me.

My lips flatten.

How the hell did she go a few days without food? But as soon as the question arises, I’m reminded of her slight frame.

She is malnourished.

Fuck.

I was supposed to dump her somewhere and be on my way. I’ve already wasted too much time as it is. Yet the more I look at her, so thin and frail, the more I can’t bring myself to leave her as it is.

With an annoyed sigh, I start the car again. Checking the GPS, I see there’s an open diner a few miles away.

As I drive, I note her curiosity from the corner of my eyes. Yet she doesn’t say a word.

She doesn’t ask where we’re going or what my plans are with her. Perhaps she’s already established I’m not going to do anything to her. Or, perhaps, she’s just too desperate to say no to anything.

Once more, I ask myself—what the hell did I get myself into?

It takes me about ten minutes to get to the location on the GPS.

Wendy’s Diner is written in neon letters on the front of the building, one of which has flickered out. I steer the car into the parking lot, pleased to see some other cars, too.

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