When he didn’t come back with an argument, I turned to look at him. He had a straight nose, and I could see the lines in his forehead from all the brow raising he liked to do.
“Thanks for saving me back there,” he said quietly.
Now my brows rose in surprise. “I thought it was the other way around?”
“Archers aren’t common in the city, so I wasn’t expecting crossbows in the suburbs. If it weren’t for your quick thinking, I’d be the one burning in that house.”
I smiled. “And I’d have to change my name to One Eye.”
He chuckled and tucked his arm beneath his head. “You have a wicked sense of humor.”
“I’ll take that as a compliment coming from you, Mr. Poe.” I reached down and lifted the diary, locating the spot where I’d left off. “She said she loved him when she was seventeen, but it was years before they got together.”
“Why the long wait? Life was short for humans in those days. You could die from a splinter.”
I turned the page, following the elegant flow of handwriting. “He told her he knew the girl, but he wanted to meet the woman she’d someday become. It’s tragic.”
Christian settled on his back and laced his fingers together across his stomach. “We all have tragic stories.”
“Is that why you mate instead of date? Did someone break your heart?”
Christian swung his legs over the edge of the bed and strode toward the door.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to pry,” I quickly said. “I was just making conversation.”
Christian glimpsed himself in the mirror as he passed it and stopped. He craned his neck to the side to get a better look at his shiny new tattoo. “You really want to win this bet, don’t you?”
I smiled at him over my shoulder. “Abstinence makes the heart grow fonder.”
“It also makes the cock grow harder.”
“I’m sure you’ll find a new hobby to keep you distracted. Otherwise, you’ll have to listen to my opinions on every woman you have sex with for the rest of our working career.”
He straightened his shirt with a tug. “Careful with that sharp tongue, or I just might spoon you.”
Regardless of who won the bet, I had a feeling I was going to be hearing spoon jokes for a long time to come.
Chapter 15
We hadan uneventful plane ride back to Cognito. Christian claimed the window seat so he could close the shade and pretend to nap. Next time, I was going to make sure I got on the plane first.
When we arrived at the mansion, Gem greeted me at the door with a growing smile. “What happened to you?”
I set my bag by the winged statue and looked down to see if I had a bloodstain anywhere. “What do you mean?”
She chewed on her nail and looked me over. “I don’t know. You just seem a little too refreshed for someone who just spent two days in the dreariest state in the nation. You have a glow.”
Christian breezed by and shut the door behind him. “She was up late last night with a vintage red.”
I cut him an icy glare, tempted to rip away the long red scarf he had wrapped around his neck to cover his tattoo.
Gem weaved around him on her roller skates.
I didn’t like the way the statue beside me was aiming his sword at my chest, so I pulled the laptop out of my bag and headed upstairs. “Is Wyatt home?”
“Wait, I’ll come with you.”
I looked over my shoulder as she held the wide banister, climbing one step at a time on the toe stop of her skates.
