After my moment in the cold air and moderate sunlight, I returned to see Jacques. He sat on the sofa and patted the seat beside him. I wondered if he’d seen my eye roll and now wanted to offer up some soft domination. I threw myself into the seat with a sigh.
“You’re cold,” he said, and the back of his warm hand touched my cheek. “You should’ve put a jacket on.”
“No,” I grumbled.
“Oh, you’re a sassy pants today,” he said with a chuckle that broke me from my frown. “I thought we could make some hot chocolate and brownies. Or if that’s not good for you, maybe we could do a jigsaw.”
I cuddled my head against his chest and brought my feet onto the sofa with my knees up. “I don’t want to stay here over Christmas,” I said. “This is all shit. I just want to see things again, and not these walls or that alley. I wanna go out and I—”
“I feel that too,” he said. “You should go out. But wear a scarf and hat.”
“What? Are you serious?”
Jacques continued to stroke my face. “I don’t want to see you sad. I definitely don’t want to see you doing something that breaks your soul. And if going out is going to help, then you should.”
I stared at him. “What’s the catch?” I asked. “And why now?”
“I have to come with you,” he said. “If you consider that a catch.”My eyes rolled right in front of him. His big hand pinched both cheeks with it over my mouth. “Don’t do that. I’m not being mean. I’m really trying my best to keep you safe, kitten.”
“I know,” I said, through the limited amount of space my mouth had to open. “It’s just...” He pulled his hand away. “I think we’ve spent too long together. Like, what if you’re annoyed at me. What if I’m annoyed at you? Because I—”
He chuckled. “I know when you’re annoyed at me,” he said. “I know how to deal with you, and if letting you take a stroll down the street will help, then kitten, I want you to take that stroll.”
“And do you get annoyed at me?” I asked.
“I’ve dealt with worse situations, but I’m never annoyed at you.”
I cuddled back up to him again. “Worse situations?”
“Some people have to spend a long time in safe houses,” he said. “And to think, you could’ve been in FBI custody right now, living in that awful hotel room.”
“Don’t.” I shuddered at the memory of almost spending the night there. That bed would’ve broken my back if I’d had to sleep on it. “I don’t want to think about that.”
“But you should,” he said. “Think about how shit could’ve been different, then you learn to appreciate and know how much better you have it.”
I wrapped an arm around him and tried my best to squeeze him. His muscles had become a little more flabby since all we could do all day was cook, eat, and fuck. “I know we have it good, but if we go out, what’s to stop people from recognizing you as the guy from the news?”
Jacques chuckled. “Hat, scarf, some fancy shades. And if we’re caught, I have a gun.”
My hand slipped down his body until I was grabbing at his crotch. “And another big weapon.” He thrust his hips into my hand, shimmying with a wiggle. “And he knows how to use it.”
***
As far as disguises went, this was fun. It felt a little naughty, like I was sneaking out of the house, except Jacques was several paces behind me, also bundled up with a thick jacket, sweater, andscarf combo. He was right. Nobody knew it was us. We managed to walk around for a little while. I got coffee and had them break a hundred-dollar bill. Then I went into a bakery and bought up most of their croissants. Jacques never came in anywhere with me, and I barely even noticed he wastailingme, which he said wasn’t good because I needed to be aware of people at all times.
I didn’t know whereabouts in Boston we were, but we came upon a small park and I sat on a bench. There was a basketball court opposite me, and two kids were in there kicking a soccer ball around.
Jacques sat on the bench beside mine. We weretogether. He also had a large coffee warming his gloved hands.
“When did you get that?” I asked while looking straight ahead.
“I told you, pay attention,” he said. “I got it from some vendor outside. You passed right by him.”
“The hotdog guy?” I grumbled in disgust.
“No, but they were close to each other,” he said. “Pass me a croissant.”
Trying not to move my head in the beanie and thick scarf, I said, “What if people are watching?”
