I quickly brush my teeth and turn on the hot water. As I’m stepping in, Mark enters behind me. “You’re lucky I could smell you still, or I’d have thought you were running.”
I laugh. “Maybe after a shower. I’m disgusting.”
“Uh, maybe never,” he deadpans. “You promised, and you’re a bonded woman now. I’ll go all caveman on you and drag you back by your hair.” A grin threatens at the corners of his mouth.
“That sounds really kinky, but I gotta be honest with you, sex is genuinely the last thing I want at this moment,” I say, dipping my head back under the spray and letting it run over me.
“Oh, I don’t know.” He watches me through the glass shower doors. “Might not be so awful,” he says, eyes traveling up my body. He’s nude, and I can clearly see that part of him is still somewhat interested.
“If you don’t at least let me get clean and feed me first, I will literally claw your eyes out,” I warn.
He laughs. “Fair enough.”
He finishes up his own pre-shower necessities and then slides in beside me. We’ve actually done this a fair number of times before. Mostly silently, of course. But sometimes when you have sex multiple times in one night, you need a shower in between. I reach for the bottle of my shampoo that at some point had magically appeared, like my favorite energy drinks in the fridge. Just another thing I had willfully ignored because I didn’t want to face what it might mean.
“When did you buy this to keep here?” I ask, squeezing a large dollop into my palm.
“A couple weeks after we started, I think?” He flushes slightly and rubs the back of his neck. “I had this random thought in court that your hair wasn’t shiny and soft-looking, and I realized it was because you’d showered over here the night before. So the next time I was at your place, I looked to see what you used. That shit is ridiculously expensive.”
It’s my turn to laugh. “Yes, it is. I don’t think I ever properly thanked you.” God, I am stupidly in love with this man.
“I can feel what it means to you in the bond,” he says quietly.
“Good. And when the idea is a little more appealing than it currently is, I’ll show you in other ways too.” I stand on tiptoe and kiss him gently.
We finish showering, and I strip the bed while Mark works on ordering us something to eat. Since I don’t have any clothes with me, I snag abutton-down out of his closet and toss it on. “Hey babe, can I use your phone to email Shelby?” I call loudly. “I need to tell her where I am and see about getting some clothes.”
He leans against the doorframe. “If the alternative is keeping you here in my shirt like that, then the answer is no.” He holds the phone out to me, and when I reach for it, he grips my wrist and pulls me to him.
He kisses me thoroughly, almost reverently, until I’m breathless and beginning to lightly perfume.
“The code for my phone is 051291,” he says, pulling away finally.
“Just going to give me that so easily? What kind of lawyer are you?” I tease.
“The same kind that signs contracts without reading them, apparently. I have nothing to hide. Plus, how else are you going to learn my birthday?” He flicks my nose and heads back to the kitchen.
I unlock the phone and open his email, quickly drafting one to Shelby telling her I was with Mark and I’m feeling much better. And that I was in desperate need of a supply drop as soon as possible.
Almost instantly, it rings, and Shelby’s name flashes on the screen, with “Ava’s EA” in the company section of the contact. It makes me smile for some reason.
“Hello?”
“I like how you email me that like I didn’t already figure out where you were,” she says with a laugh.
“How?” I ask, settling crisscross applesauce on the bed.
“I knew you wouldn’t have gone to a clinic like Alfred had Jack and Mateo believing. Which really only left one spot. Though I did cross-reference the route the car service took you to verify.”
“Shelby, I think the word you meant to use instead ofcross-referencedishacked,” I say dryly, “since I can’t imagine they gave that information up willingly. Though if they did, I am going to have a field day taking them to court.”
“Psh. Whatever. If Mark goes across the hall to Mrs. Choi, she has a bag for you with some clothes and toiletries.”
I scrunch my face in confusion, and almost as if she can see me, she continues. “You all weren’t exactly subtle with your heat. When I came by, she was practically guarding the elevator and making sure no one approached Mark’s apartment.”
“Are you kidding me?” I ask, embarrassment making my face heat.
She laughs. “Nope,” she says. “It’s cute, though. I explained who I was and gave her the bag.”
