Page 25 of Misadventures With The Mistaken Twin

I pondered that for a moment. The gun probably wasn't loaded anymore. “I'll make sure he doesn't.”

I heard a grunt, and then the line went dead.

Thirty minutes later, I was definitely tipsy and wired with caffeine. I heard a car door slam and I peeked out and saw Jack, leaning against a different rental. I didn't blame him for not approaching the house. Old Mr. Chalmers was all warmed up and ready to shoot again, if need be.

I gave the old man a hug and a quick kiss on the cheek before bundling back up and meeting Jack by the car. Snow squeaked beneath my boots with that sound it made when it was super cold.

He had a small brown bag in his gloved hand.

“How are you going to do this?” I asked, looking at Violet's house as if Jasper was watching from the window.

He held up the bag. “Mouse from the pet store.”

I gulped. Poor mouse.

Jack went into Violet's house and, for once, I was happily left out in the cold. Ten seconds later, he came back out and stood in front of me, his breath in big white puffs. “How big is this snake? Is it a python, because the house is a mess?”

“Boa constrictor. Brown, black stripes.” I held out my arms in front of me as if measuring the length. “Yeah, well, it's a mess because someone broke in.”

Jack stood there staring at me as if I'd grown a second head. “Broke in? You called me because you had a problem with a snake. You didn't think having a break-in was a problem?” His eyes darkened when he got riled up. I hadn't noticed that before.

I put my hands on my hips. “I wanted to tackle the most important one first!”

“Most imp—” Jack huffed out a big breath. “A loose snake is the most important?” He ran his hand over his hat covered head.

“To me it is!” I snapped back, hiccupping.

Jack stepped close, sniffed. “Have you been drinking?”

I held up my finger and thumb to show him a little bit. “I think Old Mr. Chalmers was trying to get me drunk.”

Jack smiled, finally showing beautiful straight teeth. Grunted. “Smart man.”

He left me, went back into the Violet's house, and closed the door behind him. I stomped my feet on the snow-packed ground while I waited for him to come back out. I half expected to see him come out screaming with a different kind of boa wrapped around his neck. A minute later he returned to my side snakeless.

“That's it?” I asked.

Jack shrugged his shoulders. “Now we wait.”

I looked at my watch. I had to be at Goldilocks. “I'm a little sloshed. Wait for what exactly?”

“I turned the terrarium upright and put the mouse in. Jasper will slither back inside for his little snack. It'll take a while to eat so he's not going to get out. I'll just put the cover back on then.”

“Huh. That's actually pretty smart. My hero.”

“Getting shot at, saving you from wild reptiles. All in a day's work.” Jack stepped close, leaned in to whisper in my ear. “Does this mean you'll give me a reward? Like discovering what color panties you’re wearing and whether or not they’re wet from you thinking of fucking me.”

I gasped at the contact of his lips brushing against the outer edge of my ear. And from the words. Holy hell, he was a sexy talker.

“Saving me from the snake is worth a kiss.”

“Just a kiss?”

“Just a kiss,” I confirmed, although I didn’t say where I wanted the kiss. “Now if it were a poisonous snake, I'd definitely help you live out a few of your fantasies and tell you my panties are yellow lace.”

Jack's mouth froze against my neck as he groaned. I could tell he was thinking about what I'd said. “Fuck, Miller. Now I’m hard and want to see them. As for the fantasy, is it the one where I put my mouth on your?—”

“No, that's one ofmyfantasies.”

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