Okay, I might have looked a little.
“What the hell?” she screeched.
I just stared at her. When she reached toward her ears and came back with AirPods, I felt like an idiot.
“Hey,” I said, softer this time. “Um … hey.”
She cocked her head. “You’re in my house.”
“Yes,” I agreed.
“You’re in my house, and I didn’t invite you inside.”
“I knocked.”
That was a lie. I’d heard her dictating and let myself in. She was wearing headphones, though, and she clearly didn’t hear well with them in. She wouldn’t know I hadn’t knocked.
She eyed me for several beats then ran her tongue over her lips.
“Can I help you?” she asked when I continued to hold her gaze. There was no warmth to her tone. I really couldn’t blame her. I had broken into her house.
“I…” Honestly, I’d forgotten why I was even there. “You dropped something,” I said finally, pointing toward the pile of lingerie on the floor.
She looked down, then back up. “That’s why you’re here? To tell me that you were going to frighten me into dropping my pajamas?”
Pajamas? Is she being serious right now?
“No.” I shook my head. “I’m here to give you this.” I fished out the estimate from the mechanic.
She kept her eyes on me before looking down at the paper. “That’s not some weird naked drawing of me, is it?”
That was enough to sharpen my focus. “Why would it be a naked drawing of you?”
“You look like an artist. Like… I imagine you sitting around at home, drawing pictures. Not with crayons or anything because that would be weird. I bet you have nice colored pencils, though.”
“And you think I use them to draw naked pictures of you?”
She shrugged, unbothered by my tone. “Yes.”
I scowled. “It’s the estimate from the mechanic.”
“Oh.” There was no embarrassment to be found on her features. “Awesome.” She took the sheet of paper and looked at it. “Just the top thing, then?” she said after a beat.
I nodded.
“Okay. Um … do you want to wait and just have me pay the final bill, or would you like me to write you a check now?”
She was being far too reasonable. That wasn’t what I’d expected.
“You can just pay the final bill.” I sounded sulky for some reason.
“Okay.” She smiled blandly.
I continued to glare.
“Is that all?” she prodded after a beat. “I’m in the middle of something.”
“I heard. Vampire fangs and vaginas.”
