Page 56 of Power Play Pursuit

“Careful, your serial killer side is showing,” I tease.

He howls again, then gets to work applying the makeup. I have a hard time sitting still. But after he almost pokes me in the eye twice, I steady myself and wait patiently for him to finish. It’s not unpleasant. I like the feel of the brush against my skin, and James is gentle in his movements. Finally, he puts the brush down.

“Are you done?” I mumble.

“Wait, I’m going to smudge it a little so it looks more natural,” he says, rubbing my cheek with his thumb.

I look him in the eye, and I instantly regret it, because his face is just inches from mine. His thumb caresses my cheek, and just like that, I’m overheating again. As his gaze falls to my lips, I wonder if he’s thinking about kissing me. I know I am.

As we’re staring into each other’s eyes, my phone rings, effectively ruining the moment. We study each other for a second longer before he takes a step back to let me answer the phone.

After glancing at my screen, I pick it up. “Hi, Mom. How are you?”

“Wait. Why is the screen all black? I can’t see anything—Richard!” she yells.

“Hold on. I didn’t know it was a video call,” I say, holding my phone in front of me so I can see my mom’s smiling face. “Hey, Mom.”

“Oh, you look great, honey. Love the makeup.”

“Thanks. It’s all James’ doing.” I point the phone at him, and he waves.

“And who’s this beautiful lady?” he croons, channeling all his charm even with his wolf makeup. “Love the blouse.”

“Oh, you’re too sweet,” Mom says. “It’s just an old rag. But you sure look handsome as a wolf.”

“What’s up, Mom?” I ask, directing the phone camera back to my face before the exchange of compliments continues to ping-pong between them. With these two, it could go on for hours.

She gives me a sympathetic look. “I’m afraid we have to cancel Roast Night on Thursday. We have to work. It’s a regular client, and we can’t turn him down.”

I shrug. “Oh, that’s okay. Don’t worry about it. We’ll do it another time.”

“I’m terribly sorry, James,” she says in a louder voice, so I point the phone at him to let her see that he’s right here.

“It’s absolutely fine, Pam. Roast Night can wait.”

“Great. Well, maybe you can come for Pizza Night on Saturday instead?”

“Mom,” I groan, but she prattles on about how Pizza Night is just as fun.

“I’d love to, Pam,” he says, taking the phone. “But we have our friends’ wedding on Saturday.”

“Oh, right.” She shakes her head slightly. “Well, in that case, I might have to look at the calendar again and get back to you.”

“Sounds good,” he says with a smile.

“Well, you two have a good night at Golden Age. We just went to visit Grandma today, and she’s very excited.” Her shoulders fall. “It’s a shame we’re working tonight. I would have loved to have seen it.”

“We’re excited too,” James says. “And don’t worry, we’ll send you pics.”

“Thank you.” She beams.

“Do you want me to put Elizabeth back on?” he asks, glancing at me.

“Actually, I have to get going, but it was nice talking to you two.” She waves into the camera. “Bye, bye!”

Returning her wave, he hangs up and hands me my phone back.

“Oh, you’re done,” I say, taking it with a smirk. “You had a nice chat with my mom?”

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