Page 82 of Love Under the Microscope
He shudders. “Don’t even joke about it, but no, I don’t want to be anyone’s bitch.”
“Not even mine?” I giggle. “It might be fun to have you at my beck and call.”
“God, you’re seriously weird.” Jack takes another look behind him. “You need to hurry. Those voices are getting closer.”
“I need to watch the end of the video. There’s only thirty seconds to go.” I press play on my phone and watch the end, then I turn to the safe. “Okay, here we go.”
I follow the video bit by bit, pausing and hitting play as I accomplish each step. A couple of times, I lose my way, so I rewind and watch again.
“Zelda, hurry up.”
Uh-oh, he sounds impatient. I huff out a breath. “You really don’t want to be my bitch, do you?”
“Not yours or anyone else’s.”
“Honestly, don’t worry.” I wink at him. “You’re so pretty you’ll be protected.”
“Seriously, I have no idea why I like you.” His eyes twinkle with laughter, and even in our stupid disguises, he’s so damn handsome I want to get him home and in bed.
“You’re so funny.”
“I know, now hurry up.” His smile is soft and full of joy. He seems to care about me—like me. “And baby, if you pull this off, I’ll let you pull my dick later for saving us from jail.”
Grinning, I face the safe. “You’re a dirty, dirty man, Jack Parker. Now, shut up.”
A minute later, I hear the final click, and the safe opens. Jack gasps, and I breathe a sigh of relief.
“Shit,” he mutters. “You did it.”
“I did it.” I open the door.
“Well?” He sounds excited like we might find diamonds, not ripped-out pages from my notebook.
Unfortunately, nothing’s inside except a small scrap of paper. I pull it out.
“What is it?” Jack asks. “What does it say?”
I stare at the paper and read Nigel’s untidy handwriting.
Hard luck, Zelda. Looks like I win!
“What the hell does that mean?” Jack moves into the room, leaving his lookout post. He peers over my shoulder to read the note.
I bite my bottom lip. “He knew we were coming here.”
“He couldn’t possibly have known.”
“Why else would he put that note in there? He had to be expecting us.”
Jack takes the note from me and examines it. “I don’t buy he knew we were coming. If he did, he couldn’t know for certain when. If he knew, we’d be busted by now. No, this looks more like a note he hoped you might find.”
I exhale slowly, trying to quell the nausea bubbling in my stomach. “He’s beaten us, Jack. Beaten me.” I hate the idea that Nigel has won. Zentello can’t be brought down by such a spineless, hateful douche. I swallow the lump burning in my throat. “I don’t know what to do. Maybe resign before Nigel starts spreading more lies about Zentello and Orchid. That way he can’t use me to get to Nate.”
Jack grabs my hand. “You’re not resigning. We have time to get the formula back.”
I shake my head. “We don’t. If it’s not here, I have no clue where it might be. I’ll have to take responsibility and resign. There’s nothing else I can do.” Tears prick my eyes. “Nigel’s going to steal Orchid. He really will win.”
The idea breaks my heart, but worse is the thought of the disappointment I’ll see on Nate’s face. I promised I’d take care of this, and I’ve let him down.
