Page 47 of The Complete Truth Duet
She gasped dramatically. “You leave the toilet seat up, don’t you? Re-wear socks? Dear God, don’t tell me you wear a Speedo.”
“I don’t wear underwear, Cora. You think I’m tucking into a Speedo?”
She giggled. And I fucking loved it.
My stomach wrenched, and the words were out of my mouth before I could stop them. “Why do you live in a world like this?”
Her body tensed, but she made no attempt to step out of my hold. I ran a hand up and down her spine until she relaxed again.
“Lie,” she whispered. “I like it here.”
Careful to contain my anger at how amazingly screwed up that answer was, I murmured, “Fair enough.”
Her head tipped back, her chin resting on my chest as she gazed up at me. “So I guess I’ll see you in the morning?”
“Bright and early.” After one last squeeze, I won the war with my arms and reluctantly let her go.
I watched as she turned to the door, the most incredible high coursing through my veins.
“Hey, Cora?” I called, stopping her just before she went inside. “How do half-truths work in your game?”
She slanted her head to the side and shrugged. “Well, I guess they’d have to be two separate statements. One truth. One lie.”
“In that case, I feel the need to tell you that I haven’t thought about kissing you at least a dozen times tonight.” I forced a smile through the storm brewing in my chest. “And yeah. That was a lie.”
Her breath hitched and her lips parted, the most beautiful surprise covering her more beautiful face. “That’s not fair,” she whispered, bringing a hand up to her mouth to touch her lips. I felt it as though she were stroking my own. “No one should be that good the first time playing.”
“Beginner’s luck?”
Her face lit as she cut her gaze to the ground. Instinctively, I bent at the knee as though I could keep her in my sights. I hated that I was missing her smile.
“A dozen times, huh?” she asked.
“Give or take a three-percent margin of error.”
She looked back up at me with eyes so bright that they made my stomach knot. “Only three percent?”
“That may have been another lie.” I shot her a wink, but on the inside, I was cursing the universe.
She rocked on her toes. “Maybe we could test the margin of error another night? You know, for research and all.”
“That sounds like a date.”
“It does, doesn’t it?” Her excitement paired with the blush of her cheeks punched me in the gut. “Okay, then. Thanks for…ya know. Everything, Penn.”
I nodded. “Night, Cora.”
“Night.”
I watched her until she shut the door. And I stood there until I heard all three locks click into place.
Only then did I suck in a deep breath and prepare to face my destiny.
The moment I got inside, Drew sat straight up on the couch. “How’d it go?”
“You were right. She knows where Catalina is.”
Cora
After Penn had left, I hadn’t been able to fall asleep. I’d stared at the ceiling smiling like crazy until everyone had checked in, the sun had risen on the horizon, and I’d been forced to get up and get to work.
Throughout the day, I’d seen Penn twice. The first time we’d passed in the hall, he’d smiled, cordial and distant.
It’d sucked—hard and a lot.
However, the next time as he’d squeezed past me in the hall of my apartment, going as I was coming, he’d trailed the tip of his finger across the back of my hand and tossed me a sexy wink that had nearly made me trip.
I’d been mentally replaying that one at around six thirty that afternoon, when I’d sat on the couch for the briefest of seconds.
Some hours later, I woke from a dead sleep because of a hard knock at my door. Disoriented, I leapt to my feet and searched the room, relieved to find it empty when another knock sounded.
“Shit,” I mumbled, trying to get my bearings. “Um…who is it?”
“It’s Penn. I was wondering if maybe I could give it another go with the pipes in your bathroom?”
I glanced at the clock. It was after nine. The guys worked long hours, but that was a bit much. Though it’s not like I was going to tell him no. I’d been dying to talk to him all day.
“Yeah. Sure.” I looked down at myself. Old, stained yoga pants and a white tank top, sans bra. Shit. “Can you hang on for a second?”
I didn’t wait for his response before I raced to my bedroom. Okay…my options were get fully dressed and try not to look like a woman who was just comatose on the couch, though the wild hair and the seams imprinted on the side of my face would have been hard to hide…
Or I could pull on a pair of not-hideous sleep shorts and a bra, drag my hair up, and pop a piece of gum to combat my middle-of-the-night morning breath.
