“Ace is coming.” Angel quickly retook his place in the chair, but not before touching his back pocket and narrowing his eyes at Christian.
Christian made sure his expression was innocent as he leaned back against the banister and nodded. “Right, then. Everyone act casual and—”
Ace burst through the library door and came to a screechinghalt when he saw them gathered ’round. “Oh, great,” he muttered, scowling. “Nothing I like better than a bunch of eavesdroppers.”
“We weren’t eavesdropping,” Emily assured him, shoving her partially eaten sandwich in his face. “We were enjoying dinner. Here. Eat. You’ll feel better.”
Ace hesitated all of a split second before snatching the sandwich and taking a huge bite. “Thank you,”he said around a mouthful. Then, “I’m going to bed, and I don’t want anyone to disturb me until it’s time to leave this godforsaken island.”
The three of them watched Ace stomp down the hall and disappear into one of the bedrooms. They all winced when the door slammed with abangloud enough to make the paintings on the walls jump on their hooks.
Emily blew out a huge breath, then shruggedand reached for the knife and two more slices of bread. Angel stared after Ace, a considering frown on his face. And Christian took advantage of Ace’s segue.
“Speaking of getting off this godforsaken island,” he said, “any luck finding a vehicle we can nick tomorrow? You were gone quite a long time.”
“First of all, we willappropriatea vehicle,” Angel corrected.
“Sure.” Christianrolled his eyes. Angel’s refusal to admit that he was a dab hand atstealingthings was rather odd, and Christian couldn’t help but wonder if there was a story buried somewhere in there.
“Second of all, I was gone so long because I had to wait for the farmer and his wife to go to bed before sneaking into the kitchen to go through their cupboards.”
“Indeed.” Christian nodded. “Thanks forthat, by the way. Emily was getting rather peckish. I don’t know how much longer she would have lasted. Her stomach was grumbling so loudly it woke me from a dead sleep.”
Angel eyed Emily. “It always surprises me,” he mused, “how such a delicate-looking woman can be so loud.”
Emily punched Angel in the arm, then turned and gave Christian a good one too.
“Ow!” He rubbed his abused flesh,grinning delightedly.
“As for a vehicle for tomorrow,” Angel said, “the farmer and his wife have two cars, both sedans with back seats. So no more Emily on your lap.”
“Oh, bad luck, that.” Christian blew Emily a kiss, causing her to frown. She couldn’t hold the expression for long. Soon, it melted into a secret smile that went right to his stomach and flirted rather shamelessly.
Burninga hole in his bloody pocket…that’s what the condom was doing. He would have liked nothing better than to drag Emily back to the bedroom and put the thing to use, but she was in the midst of ravenously devouring her new sandwich. Not to mention there was something he needed to take care of…
“Emily,” he said, “mind making me a sandwich while I throw something in the wash?”
“Sure,” she saidaround a mouthful. “But only this once.”
He frowned.
“Just ’cause we’re doin’ it don’t mean I’m suddenly at your beck and call, ready and willing to do your bidding.” Oh, how he loved it when her ’hood-girl grammar made an appearance.
“Don’t get your knickers in a twist, I know you’re only willing to be at my beck and call and do my bidding when I’ve got you tied up in bed.”
“Christian!”she cried at the same time Angel said, “Thatwas an over-share.”
Chuckling, Christian turned back toward the mural room. It was only after he’d gone a few steps that he realized, for the first time in a long time, he washappy.
What a ruddy frightening prospect.
* * *
“Christian?” Emily whispered from the bottom of the stairs, blinking against the stygian gloom. Another night-lightwas plugged into an outlet by the desk in the entryway, but the dark wooden paneling on the walls seemed to absorb what little glow it offered. “Did you get lost?”
It had been nearly twenty minutes since Christian had emerged from the yellow bedroom, the quilt bunched in his arm. With nothing more than a wiggle of his eyebrows, he’d sailed by the library doors—where she, Angel, and Rusty hadbeen enjoying their PB&Js—and headed downstairs, having left her to blanch and turn to the two men eyeing her curiously.
“Uhhh, we just need to…um…”
