“Who stole your kiss?” Bonte stands there, arms folded over her chest, a glare aimed at both Mac and me. Neither of us responds. “You bitches were going to go on a trip without me.”
“You have twins at home,” I remind her.
“Who do not have a deadbeat father.” Fair.
“Whoa, I’m lost here,” Mac says, appearing thoroughly confused. Not the norm for her.
“Kittens. I got kittens.”
“Oh!” Mac says very loud and dramatically. “Who’s out here having twins and not telling me?” Oh, yes. Mac has her there, so I simply nod. It’s often better to say nothing at all.
“Fine.” Bonte gives us one last glare before perking up. “So where are we off to?”
“Does he know you escaped?” I ask Bonte, and both she and Mac burst into laughter.
“When did she get jokes?” Bonte says through laughter.
“I don’t know. She got winked at, and now her brain has gone haywire.” They both keep laughing, and I can’t deny this, so instead I take a seat. I may act as though their antics are annoying, but if I’m being honest with myself, I love them.
My phone starts to go off, and I see it’s Paxton. I should have hidden my number when I called him before. I’d thought about it, but in the end I hadn’t. Is this why? Deep down I know it is. I wanted him to be able to reach out to me. I’ll never admit that out loud to anyone else.
“Naomi Marino,” I say when I answer the call. This gets the two hyenas to stop cackling.
“Sunshine—”
I cut him off before he can say more. “You’ve been watching me.”
“As often as I can.” I think I was expecting a denial, but no. He’s so casual about it too. I’m finding that I like that he watches me. Never would I have thought it would be something I craved, but here I am.
“What do you need?”
“I was only calling to tell you to have a safe flight.” Mac was right, he’s still watching. Which makes me wonder if he saw his kiss get stolen. Is he jealous? I won’t ask.
“I’m not the pilot, so I don’t have that control.”
Paxton chuckles. “You have a point. Be safe and stop blowing kisses at other men.”
“It wasn’t at—” I press my lips firmly together.
“I know it was for me, Sunshine.”
“Holy hell, I love their flirting,” Bonte says, and I smack her thigh; she yelps and slides out of her chair dramatically. The flight attendant Suzie steps over her.
“Try not to kill anyone.”
“I can’t promise that.”
“I wouldn’t ask you to.”
“Well, okay. Bye.” I end the call and look at the girls. That was off. “I ended that call wrong, didn’t I?”
“No.” Bonte gets off the floor, dropping down into the seat next to mine. Mac sits in the one across from us. “If he’s into you, then be yourself.”
“He’s into the protection and money our partnership could provide him.”
“I don’t know.” Mac takes the bottle of water from Suzie. “He seemedreallyinto you last night. He was willing to get rid of a dead body for you. That’s the equivalent of taking out the trash as a married couple.”
Bonte snorts a laugh. “Okay, that was funny, but I need more details about last night.” She leans back in her chair. “And don’t leave anything out.”
