He winks at me. “It’s a surprise.”
I narrow my eyes at him. “Fine, but if you show up with any more sex toys, the rule is you have to use them.”
He bursts out in laughter. “You’re always on, aren’t you? You make it hard to be a gentleman.”
My smile turns mischievous. “You think you’re a gentleman?”
“I’d like to be for you.”
Again, cryptic. The kind of gentleman that holds doors, or my legs over his shoulders?
I throw back the covers and swing my legs over the side of the bed, making a point to stretch in a way that lifts my tank top just slightly. Taio’s gaze dips for half a second—just long enough for me to notice—before he forces his eyes back to my face. I file that reaction away for later.
“All right, I’m ready to be wowed. Take your time, I’m going to take a scalding-hot shower first.”
As if on command, Black Cat rises to his feet, ready to follow me into my en suite bathroom.
“You’re not going to watch her shower, you little perv. Out, now.” Taio points sternly to the hallway, and I swear on my life Black Cat laughs at him.
Despite his hissing protests, Taio marches across the bedroom and scoops up the cat like a naughty toddler. He plants a quick kiss on my forehead, which should feel nice but it sort of feels dismissive. And let’s be honest, I’m ready to move past forehead kisses by now.
A thought strikes me as he leaves. I pad to the door on bare feet, poking my head out into the hallway. He’s already halfway down the hall, Black Cat dangling from his grip, still snarling.
“Hey, Taio?”
He pauses, glancing back over his shoulder.
“Did you actually lose Black Cat?”
The guilty twist of his expression tells me everything I need to know before he even opens his mouth. “I might have sent him in first as a sacrifice to scope out the situation. He volunteered, enthusiastically. He really likes your bed.”
“So…did you hear anything? While I was talking to my sister?”
He shakes his head, looking confused. “Nope.”
“Okay, good. See you soon, then.”
“Sounds good.” He takes a step forward, then spins back around. “Oh, and, Tweety, before I forget. That kiss earlier? It was the perfect amount of tongue.”
chapter 14
Charlie
Taio has been gone for forty-seven years. Shocking, I know. But it’s true. I’m now an old maid with silver-streaked hair and I most definitely missed the rest of my tour all because I was waiting on a boy.
I’ve checked my phone approximately nine hundred times, watching the minutes tick by while my hair air-dries into what will inevitably be a frizzy disaster. I should’ve blow-dried it. I should’ve put on something cuter than these old sleep shorts and this oversized T-shirt, yet another with Tweety Bird on it sayingI tawt I taw a puddy nap.Terrible pun. Also, I think I own too many Tweety shirts.
I should’ve done literally anything other than sit here vibrating with anticipation like a golden retriever waiting for its owner to come home.
The shower helped. Lava hot, long enough to prune my fingers, steam thick enough to fog the entire bathroom and leave droplets running down the marble walls. I stood under the spray and replayed the kiss for the hundredth time—the way his hands felt in my hair, the desperate pressure of his mouth, the soundhe made when I pressed closer. That low, rumbling groan that made me wet.
And then we took ten steps backwards with that stupid forehead kiss. That patronizing little peck that felt more like a pat on the head than actual affection. Like I was a child being sent to bed after staying up past curfew.
I’m spiraling. I know I’m spiraling. But forty-seven years is a long time to get “supplies,” and my brain has already cycled through seventeen different scenarios, ranging from “he got lost” to “he’s reconsidering this entire situation and is currently booking a flight back to New York.”
Forty-eight years now.
And now I’m battling glaucoma.
