Total pages in book: 79
Estimated words: 76713 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 384(@200wpm)___ 307(@250wpm)___ 256(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 76713 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 384(@200wpm)___ 307(@250wpm)___ 256(@300wpm)
I wasn’t wrong.
We moved into the living room featuring a brown couch across from a big brick fireplace with small plants placed across the mantle and much larger ones in pots near the windows.
There were several canvases on the walls, and if I knew anything about Traveler, they were all from local artists, not something you could buy in a store somewhere.
“Everything looks alright,” she said as she walked through the living room and into the kitchen.
Everything was narrow, what with it being one house split in two, but the kitchen was a good size with white cabinets and appliances and a stand full of what looked like potted herbs in front of another window.
She didn’t have a dining table, choosing instead to utilize that space with a rolling island pushed against the wall for more prep space, and an old armoire she’d taken apart and painted a light sage color.
“Well, that’s just inviting trouble,” she mumbled to herself as she turned away from the kitchen and moved into a small bedroom dominated by a bed that couldn’t be bigger than a full and covered in a bright patchwork quilt in green and yellow.
It was the only room without plants. There wasn’t room. Even though there were big windows, one of which she was slamming closed and locking.
“Nothing looks out of place?” I asked as she looked around.
“No,” she said, moving toward her nightstand to pull open a drawer. “Even my laptop is here,” she said as she placed it on the bed with the charger, already starting to gather up the important things to bring with her. “And this is an expensive one,” she added, going into her closet to grab a suitcase. “How much should I be packing?” she asked, glancing back at me.
That was a good question.
I didn’t have a satisfactory answer to it.
“Pack for five days and nights, just in case,” I said before she could object.
She didn’t seem as though she was going to, though. If anything, she seemed oddly numb as she started grabbing yoga pants, shorts, and tees. She packed her laptop on top of those before moving near me to open her dresser, pulling out PJs, then socks, before getting to her underwear drawer. Which was full of fancy, tempting shit like I knew she had on under her jeans.
“What? No snarky comments about my girlie underthings?”
“Baby, no jokes can be made about panties and bras like those,” I said as I actively tried not to picture her wearing them.
I failed.
And when she looked up, I could see in her eyes that she knew exactly what I was thinking.
“Stop picturing me without my clothes on.”
“That’s kind of rich coming from someone who was checking me out without my shirt on this morning.”
“Oh, get over yourself. I was not,” she said, small-eyeing me.
“You absolutely were,” I countered, lowering my voice as I leaned slightly closer, enjoying watching the way she swallowed hard.
“Please,” she said, rolling her eyes, but her voice was just a touch more breathless than it had been before. “Someone looking in your general direction doesn’t mean they are checking you out.”
“No,” I agreed, leaning over her. “But you were.”
“I locked up all the windows,” Aurelio said, coming up behind me, prompting Traveler to jump backward with her hands full of lacy and silky bras and panties.
“What’s this?” Aurelio asked, sensing the tension in the room but misinterpreting it. “He teasing you about your underwear?” he asked, shaking his head. “Like a fucking child,” he added with a pointed look in my direction.
“I’m gonna go dump your perishables,” I said.
“No!” Traveler snapped, making me pause mid-stride.
“Why not? You want it to go rancid in your fridge while you’re away?”
“No, but I don’t want to waste perfectly good food either. We can bring it to the hotel. There’s a full-sized fridge.”
I may or may not have mumbled something about her being a crazy hippie chick under my breath as I started away.
“What was that?” she barked.
“I said Whatever you want, honey bun,” I lied, turning back to find her slitting her eyes at the pet name. “Snookums?” I asked, getting a grumble out of her. “Sugar tits?” I asked, and this time, she picked up a book from her nightstand and hurled it at me, whacking me on the side of the head. “Hey, that wasn’t very peace and love of you,” I said, handing the book to Aurelio whose brows raised at what was obviously an abstract pussy on the cover and a title that included the word Come on it.
He placed the book down before following me out.
“What?” I asked.
“Am I going to be babysitting the fucking two of you this whole trip?” he asked, grabbing one of Traveler’s many reusable bags that were hanging from a hook behind her back door.