Crazy In Love (Secrets of Suburbia #3) - Ivy Smoak Page 0,74

Noah."

"You couldn't have been that high. You were outside for hours after eating those brownies."

"Right. But you had them too. After I did. You probably just imagined me saying all those things."

He shook his head. "I lied."

"How unusual for you." I glared at him. "What did you lie about this time?"

"Well, I tried to tell you the truth last night. Your brownies were terrible. I only had one bite."

"But you said you went back for more. There was at least a third of them missing."

"Yeah, I knew you drugged them. You definitely needed something else in them to hide that taste. I figured you were trying to drug me, so I wanted to make it look like I'd eaten a bunch. I tossed several of them in the trash and then warmed up a TV dinner instead. It was sitting on the counter right next to the brownies. You just didn't see it. Probably because you couldn't stop staring at me." He flashed me a smile.

Was that what he'd been eating with his shovel hands? I pressed my lips together. The fact that I thought he had shovel hands last night was probably enough of an answer. "I don't think I was staring at you."

"It's okay." He reached out and grabbed my shin. The rough skin of his palm made me shiver. "I was staring at you too. Kind of like I am now."

I could use this to my advantage. "I have a proposal. Why don't we have a redo of last night?" I bit my bottom lip as I stared into his eyes.

"Maybe later." He reached into his back pocket. "First I have some questions for you." He pulled out a cell phone.

No, not just any cell phone. Mine. The one I'd misplaced last night. Oh shit. I cringed as he slid his finger across the screen.

"There was an alarm going off on this at 7 am this morning. A reminder to pack your passport," he said. "That definitely piqued my interest."

I swallowed hard. Why oh why had I not set a password on my phone? More importantly, why did I think it was appropriate to leave reminders about my escape plan on my calendar?

"So I did a little digging," he said.

"Noah, it's not what you think."

He stood up, distancing himself from me. "Really? Because I think it's exactly what I think. You stopped wearing your rings. You have appointment reminders to visit Dr. Collins constantly." He looked down at me. "Is this the same Dr. Collins you were trying to make me think I was having an affair with? It was you, Ensley. You were cheating on me. And you made me think I was the bad guy because I hit my head and couldn't remember. You made me think I was a monster."

"That’s...that's not what I was doing."

"Dr. Collins 3 pm - grocery store. Dr. Collins 1 pm - mall. Dr. Collins 7 pm - office. Dr. Collins noon - Grotto's. You see Dr. Collins almost every day of the week."

I stared at him. "That's not what it looks like."

"Oh, I think it's exactly what it looks like. You're a terrible liar and a terrible criminal. You have 'kidnap husband' on your calendar." He held up my phone. "Did you seriously not think that the detective you're cozying up to would subpoena this for evidence?"

"I'm not getting cozy with Detective Torres."

Noah ran his fingers through his hair. "Right, because detectives usually offer to carry up Christmas decorations for their prime suspects. I heard you flirting with him."

"I wasn't..."

"You called me a liar. You called me a cheat. But it's you, Ensley. It was you all along."

"Noah, please. You don’t understand."

"Oh, I found a whole to-do list too." He looked back down at the phone. "Kidnap Noah. Hide him. Notify police. Give police the box of falsified records. Get a confession. Get money back. And then there are a whole bunch of question marks. What the hell are the question marks, Ensley?"

"Untie me and I'll tell you."

"Tell me and I'll untie you," he countered.

I wasn't really in a place to negotiate. My wrists were burning. And I did kind of need to pee, and I wasn't an animal. I'd never actually pop a squat in a litter box like him. "Noah, come on..."

"What are the question marks?!"

He'd been so loving recently. It was strange seeing him mad. Mad enough to hit someone? Like he'd hit Sophia Tremblay? I didn't want to test that theory. "There were several possibilities