Page 38 of Goblins Don't Count
Sashimi finally removed his hand and put the breakfast burrito to my mouth. I took a large bite, scraping his thumb with my teeth. What was it about goblins biting? Also, my brother’s face was turning different shades of purple.
Sputtering, Tarn shook his head and stepped out, slamming the door behind him.
“Why didn’t you want me to tell him that you licked my hair?” I asked once I’d finished chewing the burrito. “I think it’s hilarious. The Goblin Authority personally styled my hair.”
“He would think it was me marking my territory. Replacing the scents of others with my own.”
I shrugged. “That would also be hilarious.” Actually, kind of depressing. He’d been dress-drunk, as illustrated by the way he’d licked my hair so much. I yawned and stretched, then rolled off the couch. “I’m going to take a shower. I’ll let you use it once I’m done.” I left the blanket draped over him as I headed to the bathroom again.
My hair was still shocking. I took a picture of it before I used the shower. It took a lot of effort using my pine-stink shampoo, but eventually it all went down like it was supposed to. He could market his spit as miracle hair gel. I felt kind of cheerful in spite of having nothing to show for the night before. I’d gotten the Goblin Authority to snuggle with me. And he was horribly embarrassed about eating my dress and licking my hair. He must have been truly, terribly wasted.
When I came out, he was watering my plants, without a shirt.
He glanced at me and then back at the raccoon, who was balanced on his arm, trying to catch a fish out of the watering can.
“Mr. Racoon, there are no fish in the small container,” I said.
It’s good to check,he said in my head. Would I ever get used to that? Probably not.
Sashimi cleared his throat. “Your work called. You should probably find out what they wanted.”
I hurried to my bag, digging it out of my depths while he mumbled something about showering. I started the message and then winced when Lieutenant Joss roared.
“Sato! Get into the station right now! Did you actually interrogate people at the governor’s ball? Do you want our funding stripped?” And then he hung up, and the message ended.
I hurried to my bedroom and dressed, braiding my hair away from my face as I put on a fresh white shirt and dark gray pantsuit.
When I came out, Sashimi was wearing a towel and showing off hard, lean muscles that took my breath for a second. The morning light played over them while he flipped an omelet onto a plate and took it over to my couch, which is where I usually ate.
“You should eat before you go. What are you going to tell Lieutenant Joss?”
“What?” I sat down and started eating, because I really couldn’t say no to food before I had to face my boss in a bad mood.
“Never mind. I’m sure whatever you say will be fine. Now that we’re dating, you should probably use my parking garage.”
I snorted. “Your parking garage? The Granite is a bit far from the police station.”
“I own the building across from the police station, and it has a very secure parking lot. It has a dentist office, along with a few other health professionals.” He picked up his tuxedo jacket, which was over by the window we’d come in the night before and got an envelope out of the inner pocket. He brought it over to me, holding it out, a weird hesitance in his eyes.
“You have a parking garage across from the police station? That’s weird.”
“I own many buildings.”
“Right, but the odds of you owning the one across from the station, and of course the fact that you were working on my car, does make you sound slightly fixated.” I squinted at him while he stood there, hand outstretched, holding a parking garage pass that made my fingers itch.
I snatched it out of his hand before I could talk myself out of it. “Thanks. I’ll use it well.”
He smiled, an absolutely dangerous close-mouthed smile that made me wonder if I was playing into his hands before he nodded and backed away from me. “In that case, I’ll see you later.”
“Sure.”
He went over to the window, still wearing his towel, but carrying his pants, jacket, and my raccoon, and then he left, just climbed out, and was gone, leaving me startled into making my own exit, but through the door. And I had a parking pass right across the street? I would make much better time to the office, even if I had stopped to eat and ogle the goblin I’d slept with. Snuggled. I suppose it wasn’t that weird that a clever goblin could learn to snuggle, but at the same time, it was so, so weird.
Lieutenant Joss was bellowing from his office when I came in. Lewell gave me an empathetic wince when he saw me. “Seems like you had an eventful evening.”
“Sato, get in here,” the lieutenant growled at me, making me wonder if he had traces of ogre blood.
I was already halfway there and greeted him with a smile I hoped would calm him down. “How can I help you?”
