Loverboy (The Company #2) - Sarina Bowen Page 0,73
setting his fork on his empty plate. “I’ve always thought more is more. Pretty much about everything.”
Then he’d looked me right in the eye and winked.
“Posy was a picky eater,” Ginny said.
“I was not!” I don’t know why I’d been so quick to defend myself.
“You didn’t eat mussels.”
“They’re chewy,” I’d said while trying not to gag.
“Or oysters. I’ll bet Gunnar likes oysters. I wonder if he likes clams.”
Sometimes sisters are the worst. Mine has no boundaries whatsoever.
“I like food, period,” Gunnar had said, watching Aaron eat his slice of pie. “There wasn’t always enough.”
“Why?” my nephew had asked, raising his head to stare at our guest.
That’s when Gunnar seemed to regret that small confidence. “Eh, I don’t remember. What’s your favorite food, anyway?”
He was really nice to my nephew. But when Ginny took Aaron downstairs to get him ready for bed, I was relieved.
She came back, though, and now she’s sitting on my bed, interrogating me. “How long is he going to sleep on our couch?” she asks. “I hope it lasts a week.”
“A week?” I whisper sharply. “Why?”
“Eye candy,” she whispers back. “Why won’t you tell me all the details from last night?” She’d tried all morning to get a story out of me, but the pie kitchen isn’t very private. I don’t want to talk about it, anyway. I’m confused. That man lied to me, and I had wild monkey sex with him anyway.
“Maybe he has supersonic hearing,” I say under my breath. “Besides, I don’t kiss and tell.”
“You should,” she argues. “This is big. No more dry spell.”
“Shhh!” I hiss. “I can’t believe you’re focused on my sexual exploits instead of the reason that man is on our couch. You seem barely interested that we may be in danger.”
Ginny gives me a maddening shrug. “Those hacker murders don’t have a thing to do with us. And half the neighborhood uses our WiFi, because I made you spring for the fastest service.”
“Sure, sure,” I sniff. “A murderer walks among us, and you just want to know if Gunnar has a nice penis.”
“Does he?” She presses her hands together in a prayer position.
“God, woman. Go back downstairs and read a dirty book. I don’t want it to seem like we’re in here gossiping about him.”
“But we are in here gossiping about him,” she points out.
“No. You’re digging for dirt, and I’m refusing to provide any.”
“You owe me,” Ginny says, rising from my bed. “I will get this story. Was it amazing?”
I shrug, but my face heats, giving me away.
“I knew it!” she squeaks. “Spalding can go eat a bag of dicks. Who needs him, anyway?”
“Not me. I don’t need you right this second, either.” I make a shooing motion. “Go on. I need my sleep.”
“Ten bucks says you don’t get any sleep.” She points at the door and wiggles her eyebrows.
“You’re the only one keeping me awake,” I point out.
“You’re no fun. Hey—what’s that?” She points to a small device on my bedside table.
“Oh, it’s a panic button. It’s something Gunnar’s company lent me, just in case. If you press it, a herd of badass security guys will come running.”
“Do they all look like Gunnar?” Ginny asks. “Maybe I should just—” She reaches for the button.
“Ginny! Don’t!”
She cackles, withdrawing her hand. “Why should you have all the fun? Goodnight, Posy.”
“’Night.”
She finally leaves.
Alone at last, I tuck myself into bed. But Ginny was right, damn it. I don’t sleep. What’s more, the floors in this old building squeak, and I keep hearing Gunnar walking slowly around my living room. Maybe there’s been a development.
I’d better check, right?
Taking care to tie a light robe around my nightgown, I tiptoe into the darkened living room, where Gunnar is seated on my sofa, head bowed.
He looks up the moment I open my door. “Hi, honey,” he says. “Am I keeping you awake?”
“A little,” I admit. “But not because you’re loud.”
“You want me to go? I could take a chair out in the hall.”
I shake my head. “No way. It’s fine. I just wondered if there was a reason you weren’t sleeping.”
His smile is no less potent in the dark. “Nothing worrisome. Just thinking too much.”
“What about?”
He cocks his head and considers me for a second. “Can I ask you a question? The other night, before everything got complicated, why did you ask me out?”
“Oh.” Well, crap. I don’t really want to admit how attractive he is to me. “Do I need a good reason? We have some chemistry. And I was tired of