“Help.”
I picked up his stick and handed it back to him, something I did about twenty times a day when he was out of his cage.
He chirruped and leaned into my hand. “Pretty bird!”
I gave him exactly two and a half head pets—all he’d allow. “Yes, you’re very pretty.”
“I love youuuu,”he cooed in a singsong voice.
“Love you, too, Amos.”
“Amos, Amos, Snack Bitch. Treat?”
“Maybe later,” I told him.
He flew to his favorite perch in the middle of his jungle, keeping up a steady stream of inane chatter that had become a sort of white noise for me, and I let him have his fun until Theo texted that he was waiting outside. I put Amos back in his enclosure, grabbed my purse, and blew him a kiss as I locked the door.
“Sunshine,” Theo drawled as I slipped into the passenger seat.
I chose to ignore the nickname because I could tell reacting to it gave him some sort of sick pleasure.
“That suit looks familiar,” I said instead. Tonight’s was black, but I recognized the fabric and cut. “What’d you do, buy the one I recommended in every color?”
His jaw flexed in annoyance.
“Aw, you did, didn’t you?” I teased as he pulled away from the curb.
“I would have chosen differently if I’d known we’d be so matchy-matchy.”
My eyes roved over him. He wore a black shirt beneath the suit jacket, fully embracing the monochrome look, and annoyingly, it worked for him, making the bold lines of his face that much more apparent.
I was in a black sheath dress that I’d borrowed from my mother’s closest. It wasn’t my usual style, but it would do. Silk, whisper-thin, backless. Thank god I had such a small bust and could pull it off with nothing but a thong and a pair of pasties underneath.
“At least they’re the same shade,” I said.
He dropped his voice. “Black like your soul.”
“You’re not funny.”
“Tell that to the witch’s cackle you let out the last time you were in my car.” He sent me a disturbed look. “I’ve been hearing it in my nightmares.”
“It was a pity laugh.”
“Oh? Like that pity orgasm you begged me to give you?”
“I did not.Youwere the one begging for it,pearvert.”
“What?”
Goddamn it. Blake hadn’t been speaking to me—he was still mad I’d taken on his debt—and I hadn’t gotten a chance to tell him about my favorite new Mom word, so of course I’d gone and blurted it to someone else.
“Nothing,” I said.
“Is that how Georgie pronounces it?”
I snapped my head toward Theo, wondering how he’d guessed.
He shrugged. “You’re a decent mimic of her.”
