Page 42 of Canvas of Lies
“You mean hacking?” she asked, arching a brow.
“I’m not a hacker, Kitten.”
“Shame.” She scooted out of the booth and looped her arm through mine. “I was hoping for a chance to yell, ‘Hack the planet!’ at you.”
“You’re a goofball,” I told her, but I couldn’t hold back a grin. She'd always had a soft spot for nineties movies.
“Give me one more day, then you can hack to your heart’s content. The sooner we get Evelyn on the case, the better.”
She was right. I debated doing a little digging before that day was up, but then she jabbed me in the side with her pointer finger.
“Give me anotherday, Nicolas.”
I frowned down at her as I rubbed my sore ribs. “Fine, fine. I’m just eager for this to be done.”
“It will be. I promise.”
After dinner, we wandered a few blocks from the restaurant to peek in the windows of cute little shops lining Main Street, then picked up dessert from Caboose Creamery, an old train car that had been converted into an ice cream parlor. Watching Kat savor her cone of Brake Line Bubblegum, an impossibly bright pink ice cream with blue and purple gumballs mixed into it, was both torture and bliss.
If the sly grin on her face as we strolled back toward my car was any indication, she knew exactly what she was doing.
“Are you spending the night?” she asked, unbuckling her seatbelt when I parked in front of her apartment.
I raised a brow. “I am ever hopeful, so I brought a change of clothes, but it’s entirely up to you.”
She hummed thoughtfully before shooting me a grin. “Better bring them in, just in case.”
As Kat locked the door behind us, I silently applauded my decision to invite her out on a real date, and not only because she’d gotten dressed up. The evening had been filled with laughter and the familiarity of our old friendship, along with that new, sharp undercurrent of desire. It felt like redemption, like a second chance at everything I’d ever dreamed might be possible between us.
Whatever happened with the painting, I was determined not to lose my hold on her, not this time.
“You’re looking very serious,” Kat teased, unlacing her boots so she could kick them off beside the door.
I leaned against the wide archway leading into the kitchen. “What’s on your socks?”
An actual giggle bubbled out of her. While I stared at her in shock, Kat lifted her leg and propped her foot on the wall beside me.
“Read it and weep, handsome.”
“They’re actual kittens. And rainbows. You have rainbow kitten socks.”
She fluttered her lashes at me. “I do. Regret asking out a nerd like me yet?”
“Not even a little.”
My hand wrapped around her ankle and a wicked grin curved my lips. Before she could lose her balance, I caught her behind the knees and swept her into my arms.
“What’s it going to take to get you naked?” I asked.
This time, it wasn’t a giggle, but a throaty laugh that rocketed straight through me. “To start with, the bedroom is that door at the back left. Then I’m going to need a few minutes to get these stupid clips out of my hair so I don’t shred my scalp while we roll in the hay.”
“Fair enough,” I said, depositing her at the foot of the bed. “I’ll go brush my teeth and put on my footie pajamas for beddy-bye.”
She snorted. “If you don’t actually have footie pajamas, I know exactly what you’ll be getting for your next birthday.”
I winked and left the room, whistling cheerfully as I grabbed my backpack and located the bathroom. When I came back into the bedroom, Kat was on her hands and knees, peering under the dresser. Her leather jacket hung on a hook by the door, her pretty silver hair clips lying on the dresser above her. I had a perfect view of the lush, round globes of her ass as the ruffled hemline of her skirt crept upward.
“Not that I’m complaining about the view, but what exactly are you doing?”
