something? I glanced over my shoulder to make sure Noah wasn't moving and then continued my search. It wasn't on the ground or shoved in the wrong drawer. But then I found it on the drying cloth by the sink. Oh. I pressed my lips together. Had that been there the whole time and I just hadn't seen it? Or had he just placed it there to trick me? I drummed my fingers on the granite. The answer to that question was very important. Not that I'd ever trust Noah.
But he was looking at me like he was innocent. Like he wasn't dreaming of stabbing me in the chest with a knife. Now that I thought about it, I had used the missing knife recently. And I couldn't remember the last time I’d put the dishes away off the drying cloth. That chore was one of my least favorite things. Like when I did laundry, folded it, and didn't put it away for weeks.
It was possible that Noah was innocent. But if that was true, he wouldn't have been lurking around the house for the past several hours trying to scare me. I pointed my axe at him again. "If you're not planning on hurting me, then what were you doing lurking around the house being all creepy?"
"When you got back from whatever you were doing, I had just gotten out of the shower. You were screaming and acting cra...sorry. You just…you didn't seem quite like yourself, babe. I thought I'd wait it out until you calmed down. I wasn't trying to scare you."
I stared back at him.
"I'm sorry if I scared you."
It was weird getting an apology from him. I didn't know how to respond to that. Had I ever gotten an apology from him before?
"Look, if I was trying to hurt you, would I really spend all this time finishing up with the Christmas decorations?" He waved his arm through the air.
It looked like Christmas had thrown up all over the kitchen. The hand towels were red and green. He'd even changed all the plates over to a Christmas pattern we hadn't used in years because it was such a hassle. I glanced into the family room. It was practically a winter wonderland. "You...decorated while I was out getting the tree?" Not only had he decorated, but he'd done it fast. He was a much better housewife than me.
"Yeah, you were gone for like four hours."
Four hours? Geez. It felt more like days. Or minutes. It was hard to know for sure. "Just because you decorated doesn't mean you don't want to hurt me." Hell, I'd started decorating and I was still strongly considering chopping his head off with an axe. Christmas wasn't an all-cure for revenge.
"I hid when that detective came by, remember? I didn't do that for myself. I was trying to protect you." He took a step closer to me. "I know you're in trouble because of what you've done to me. But we can figure this out together. I'll help clear your name."
"Why would you help me after everything I've done to you?"
"Because...you're my girl."
My axe was getting heavy. That was the only reason why I lowered it to my side. It had nothing to do with the fact that the way he said "my girl" made my knees feel weak. "How did you even get untied?" I'd watched countless tutorials on sturdy knots.
"Remember when you were pissed off and threw a pair of pliers at me? You left them." He shrugged. "It took a while but I finally got free."
So much for my perfect plans. I wasn't good at this. I was really really not good at this. I didn't even step away as he drew closer to me, even though I knew I should have. I was supposed to be the one chasing him around with an axe. He wasn't supposed to be stepping even closer. And closer. I could smell his familiar body wash all around me, lulling me into a false sense of security.
"I like you better as a brunette." He reached out and ran his thumb and index finger down a strand of my hair.
I'd forgotten all about my wig. I wasn't even sure where I'd left it. But it didn't matter. He already remembered. I could tell. He was looking at me like he remembered everything. At least, everything before he started adding sidepieces like it was his job.
"And it was sinful to cover this face." He ran