Page 16 of The Labyrinth
“I-I’m sorry,” she stuttered.“I never thought you’d actually go through with what you said.”
“You need to learn to trust.”
She pointed to herself.“Stubborn, remember?”
He turned down another road, which held a little less traffic.A very tall high-rise lay in front of them, and a moment later a gate on the underground parking garage opened, and he drove inside.The gate quickly closed behind them.
The garage was nicely lit, and he parked in a spot in the front, close to the elevator.Once he turned off the engine, he told her to stay put then came around to lift her out.Startled, she threw her arms around his neck, bringing her very close to his mouth.The memory of their kiss rolled through her mind, and she couldn’t help but stare at his sexy mouth.
Sexy mouth?she mentally questioned.Are mouths sexy?
She determined they were, because his made her want to kiss him again.He carried her into the elevator, then to his penthouse home, and finally into a bathroom.The quick glimpse she saw of his home seemed to be decorated with warm, dark tones and contrasting accents.The counter she sat upon was white soapstone, which kept the bathroom light and airy.From under the vanity, he pulled out a first aid kit and placed it beside her.
“The pants are ruined,” he remarked.
“Yeah,” she said with a sigh.“These jeans were my favorite.”
“Can you shimmy out of them?”
“But I’m only wearing panties under them.”
He gave her a droll stare.“I’ve seen panties before.”
“Not mine.”
“I’m only interested in bandaging up your leg.”
“Well, can’t you just cut the bottom off?They’ll be jean shorts.”
“Why can’t you just take them off?”
“Because I need to go upstate and investigate Shiel Sinaga’s property.Peter has got to be there.”
“No, you’re not going.”
“Uh, yes, I am.”
“Uh, no, you’re not.”
“You’re not the boss of me.”
“Are you, like, five?”She stuck out her tongue, and he chuckled.“Okay, you won that round.I’ll get a pair of scissors.”
Marion tried assessing the wound, which had settled into a dull throb instead of a piercing burn.Now that she could properly see it, it didn’t look as bad as she imagined.Slap a Band-Aid on it and she was off and running to upstate New York.
Deacon returned and with a snip of scissors, and a few snips later she wore a pair of jean shorts.He cleaned the deep scratch, swathed it with antibiotic ointment, and taped it up nicely.Then he held out two brown pills and a bottle of water.
“What’re those?”she asked.
“Ibuprofen.”
Swallowing them down, she carefully got off the vanity.“Okay, thanks for the rescue and patching me up.”
“Of cour ...what are you doing?”
“Obviously placing an Uber request,” she replied as she started tapping out where she needed to go.“I need to rent a car.”
He pulled the phone from her hand and turned it off.“No.”
