Page 60 of His Puppet

“Fugitive.”

I smile and nudge his knee teasingly. “Do I want to know?”

“Nope,” he says with a small laugh. “No, you do not. Clearly, you gravitate toward bad boys.”

“I wonder what a shrink would say about that.”

He nudges me back and smiles while tilting his head up to the sky. “You know I’m gonna miss you, right?”

I frown. “I’m not going anywhere. Not yet, at least.”

“Yeah,” he drags the word out and glances at me. “But your days of hoofing it in the big house are over, and so are mine. Honestly, I think I could use a change of scenery.”

“Where are you going to go?”

He shrugs. “I don’t know yet. I’ve thought about Portland for the last couple of years. I used to live by the ocean when I was a kid, and I miss it.”

“Oh yeah? Which ocean?”

He turns and gives me a ‘as if I would tell you that’ grin, and I return it. Nothing wrong with a little bit of mystery.

I let my smile fall with a sigh. “I’m gonna miss you too.”

We hug and stay on the porch for what feels like a long time, and it isn’t until the sun dips low in the sky that we squeeze one last time and say our goodbyes, giving empty promises of finding each other again.

The unmarked car follows me all the way back to the apartment.

19

Blade

Ican feel the eyes on my back with every step I take up the stairs to my father’s apartment.

The intensity with which I’ve been feeling the detectives’ stares today has me uneasy, and I tell myself it’s all in my head. They’re always there. Always watching. The only time I can’t look around me and pick one out is when I purposefully lose them, which is easy as shit to do.

Today is no different.

I step up to the door and put my hand on the knob, then decide not to twist. I knock before taking a step back, tucking my hands into the pockets of my jeans.

The door opens, and Emily appears dressed in a black dress with a slit in the side that has my eyes widening and my dick stirring. Her soft, brown hair hangs around her shoulders in loose curls, and a barrette pulls back one side. It looks freshly dyed. The subtle hints of blonde that tinged her scalp are gone. Her lips are painted red to match her pumps in a sexy combination, and I decide within a split second that I want both left on tonight after this ‘date’. The dress, as sexy as it is on her, can go.

“Wow,” I say, blinking and searching for more intelligible words. My heart picks up its pace. “You look…”

I don’t think there’s a word for it. Beautiful is an understatement, and sexy taints the elegance of her appearance.

Her lips twitch, but she tries to act as if she’s unfazed. Her eyes slide down my body. “You don’t look so bad, yourself. Less stiff. No suit tonight?”

I glance down at my maroon shirt as if I’ve forgotten what I’m wearing. I’ve never felt so inadequate.

I shrug. “I wasn’t expecting you to be so enthusiastic about this.”

Her cheeks redden, and the slight smile she’s been fighting eases. “We’re trying to sell this thing, right?”

Right.

I smirk and nod, seeing right through her.

She wants this. I don’t know if it’s because of me or if the prospect of being toted around like arm candy is appealing to her, but she’s worlds away from the girl who despised me days ago.

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