“Stop! I’ll catch a few Zs but only if your bestie promises to stop feeding you nonsense. Dr. Jones is going to revoke my free trial.” I’m kidding of course, but Rose huffs.
“Don’t be ridiculous. If a woman is going to be successful, she needs to understand how to change her persona to deal with different types of people. We do it all the time. Men do not.”
“That’s not true.” Hoping to end the no-win conversation, I put on my blinker, hop out, and we trade seats.
The gypsy prances around the front and laughs as we meet in the middle. Her hair free, it flies in the wind. She looks younger, happier, and it catches me right in the groin.
After she adjusts the rearview, she locks onto my gaze. “Name one time you changed who you were to deal with a situation.”
“I’m more alert at work.”
“You’re always hyper-aware. Name something else.” When she smirks, I want to kiss it off her face.
I wish I was brave enough to say I act differently around her. To do so, I’d have to admit I’m falling for a gorgeous brunette who not only hardens my cock but cracks the hard shell around my heart.
Convinced it won’t happen, I finish my burger, lick my fingers, and crumple the bag. “Going to catch some shuteye. If anything spooks you, no matter how small, you wake me up, y’hear?”
“Copy that, bossy-guard.” With a sly look in my direction, she eases onto the dark road.
Before I sleep, I have one last question for the AI unit. “Has anyone researched Rose or my license plates, credit cards, or any other personal data in the last two days?”
“Yes. Her Gmail account was hacked.”
Rose’s mouth drops open, but this comes as no surprise to me. How else could they know where to deliver the doll? “Anything else?”
“I do not detect any.”
“Please continue to monitor.” I sleep for a while and when I wake, Rose speaks in a hushed voice. A better man would stretch and yawn, but I listen in.
Chapter 16
Rose
Other than asking Siri to locate the best pizza place and other life-saving locations, I haven’t had much experience with artificial intelligence. Jasonelle is fucking amazing. Like Dorothy, I keep waiting for the curtain to open and reveal a human behind the magic.
She asks me to stump her but there’s nothing she can’t research. She’s like I, Robot, or maybe the Matrix.
Finally, I think of one she won’t be able to answer or if she does, could help me out immensely. “Jasonelle, why do women cheat on their husbands?”
“The reasons are unique to each relationship.” Her explanation sounds like a copout, so I press further.
“List some examples.”
“Boredom, feeling neglected, opportunity, dissatisfaction, low self-esteem, emotion starvation, retribution, loneliness, midlife crisis…. Would you like me to continue?”
“No.” I’ve heard these things before but maybe I’m moving past the guilt and beginning to accept the fact I simply fucked up.
However, my mistake wasn’t sleeping with a stranger. It was not filing for divorce sooner. “Are you sure Wheels isn’t being charged for this call? We’ve been talking for hours.”
“I am certain.” The meme, dressed casually in jeans and a t-shirt, blinks out the screen at me in wait mode.
“Good, good. Can I ask you about my ex?”
“Paolo Stephano. He is wanted by Interpol.”
I did not know that.At some level, I should’ve had a clue. The jerk was buddy-buddy with my Uncle Vinny.
“Can you change your image to a pillow face?” I laugh at her first attempt, a Marvel comic evil doer with a fluffy face.
