I did my best to keep my mouth shut when it did flare to life, but there were a few times I cracked and made a comment. Like most of the others, I stuck my foot right in my mouth.
I flip the lights on in the whole building, not wanting to spook them. I made sure each one of my steps was loud so they would hear me coming. I don't get the chance to say a word; I didn't think I would. Kindred pops up from behind the front library desk.
"Oh my God! I thought we were going to die. We've been locked in!" She stumbles around by the desk, appearing lost. Her acting isn't half bad.
“I’m in labor!” Candy pops up next.
“I said follow my lead.” Kindred shoots her a look. Candy cringes.
“Okay, I’m not in labor.” She gives Hollis a sly smile while blushing at the same time.
“But she could have been, and”—Kindred holds up her hands to make air quotes—“the librarian locked us in here.”
“Is she not really a librarian?" Candy asks. That gets her another look from Kindred. “Right, the hussy librarian.”
“Hussy?” Hollis barks out a laugh. Now it’s Hollis that gets a look from Kindred, and this one is not so nice. He quickly locks down any further laughter.
See, that's my problem. When I see I'm getting her worked up, I keep going. I get off on those glares of hers that can cut a grown man down to size. I don't give a shit. Kindred could cut me any and every day. As long as I had her attention, I wouldn’t care.
"Is there a reason you're breaking into the library?"
"I didn't break shit." Kindred puts her hands on her hips.
"All right, then why are you sneaking around the library?" I am curious as to why, but I'm curious about everything surrounding her.
"I'm not sneaking. See, I'm right here."
"You were under the desk," I point out. I know this conversation isn't going anywhere but in circles, which again, I'm more than happy to chase her around in that circle. It’s like our foreplay; she just isn’t attuned to that little fact yet.
"I thought I dropped something." She juts that stubborn chin of hers up a few notches.
"Glitter?"
"Glitter? Do I look like a stripper?" Now it's me narrowing my eyes on her.
"You're not a stripper," I grit out. The thought alone pisses me off because I could see her as a stripper in my mind. Believe me, I’ve fantasized about her stripping for me many times. That show would be for my eyes only. Kindred has the legs for it, and I swear she could do anything in heels if she wanted.
"I could be a stripper!" Kindred snaps back.
"Yeah, she can strip," Candy adds. Kindred was hard enough to handle, and now she’s got a sidekick in Candy to egg her antics on.
"You think I couldn't be a stripper?" Kindred's expression goes from a hurt one to a pissed-off one in a blink of an eye.
Fuck me. This is how I'm always putting my foot in my mouth. I suppose I'd rather that. It's never my intent to hurt her.
"You think Shelly could be a stripper?"
"She doesn’t have the hips for it."
Kindred's mouth opens and then closes, her cheeks flushing. Shit, now I'm done. She’s got that look that tells me I’ve crossed some line and she’s going to make me pay. It might not be now, but it will come in some shape or form when she deems fit.
"All right, we all know Shelly isn't going to be stripping." Hollis cuts in. "She still has to get her second hip surgery next month, so stripping isn’t even possible."
"She'll be sixty-five by then," I add.
"Oh, her birthday is coming up? We should get her a gift," Candy says, glancing over to Kindred, making her tune change. "A gift she can choke on, obviously. Little hussy."
I have to bite back a laugh. “Are you going to tell me what you’re up to, or do I need to take you down to the station?” I keep my gaze pinned on Kindred.
