He pulled his mouth from mine, looked directly in my eyes and muttered, “Later.”
Then he let me go and took off.
I took in a deep breath.
Then I headed to the shower to get ready to start my day.
Gun was sitting on the top of my couch, tail sweeping the back.
“Meow,” she said.
“Not you too,” I replied.
“Meow,” she repeated.
“Whatever,” I muttered, not needing a lecture from my cat and pulling off my clothes as I moved. I was na**d by the time I hit the bathroom, which meant no delay in the shower so I turned on the water, waited for it to get warm and stepped right in.
It wasn’t until I was in my uniform, tank, jeans, belt, cowboy boots, long hair drying wild, a swipe of mascara and line of eyeliner and I was standing in my driveway staring at the lone Expedition when it hit me I didn’t have a car.
So I turned on my boot and headed to Charlene’s to ask Creed to take me to my car.
* * * * *
I was sitting in my ‘Vette parked on the street, nursing a chocolate malt and staring at the house out my side window when I sensed movement. My eyes went to my rearview mirror and I saw a huge, shiny, black Ford Expedition pull in behind me.
I rolled my eyes, grabbed my phone, flipped it open, went to the top of my recent calls list and hit go before putting it to my ear.
“Sylvie,” Creed answered after one ring.
“Partner, I checked in before I rolled out to get here. No reason to physically check up on me. Reminder, I’ve been doing this awhile.”
His response was, “Come back and get in my truck.”
“No. You got something to say you can’t say over the phone, come and get in my car.”
“Truck, Sylvie.”
“’Vette, Creed.”
Silence.
I dug in. Creed did too.
Patience was one of the many virtues I did not have.
“Fine,” I bit out. “Truck.”
I flipped the phone shut, threw open my door and me, my phone and my malt angled out. We jogged to his truck, I threw open the door and climbed in.
I turned to him to see him grinning a crowing because he won (again) grin.
I checked the eye roll and asked, “I’m here. What?”
“You know a woman named Amy?”
I forgot to be in a snit at Creed and his superiority. I felt my eyes get round as my mouth breathed, “Fuck me.”
His gaze moved over my face before it locked with mine and he muttered, “You know her.”