“I’m sorry. I didn’t know you’d gone to bed already. I was hoping to catch a movie or something with you.” He still wasn’t turning around, and had his head bent over the sink. Was he sick?
Rose approached closer. “What’s wrong with your voice?”
“Nothing, I’m fine.” He must have sensed her coming closer,because he turned his head away from her. What was wrong with his ear? “Go back to bed. Please, Rose.”
“Not happening,” she snapped. “Either turn around and face me, or I’ll make you.”
Keys let out a string of curses. “I really don’t want to.”
Rose crossed her arms over her breasts. “Why not?”
“Because I did something stupid thinking to surprise you, and now I’m really, really regretting it.”
A part of Rose thought about taking pity on him, but curiosity won out. “What did you do?”
Keys still had his head turned away from her, his neck in what looked to be an extremely uncomfortable position. “I got some bad advice, okay. I just… I thought this would be easy, and then I could wake you up for a midnight picnic or something stupidly romantic. And now I just need to find a bag to put over my head so I can leave without you seeing me.”
“Keys.” Rose spoke his name softly, almost coaxing. “Tell me what you did, or better yet, show me.”
“Fuccccck,” he groaned. “Okay, fine. But you better not laugh.”
“I swear,” Rose vowed.
Keys turned, leaning back against the counter in front of the kitchen sink. White sticks stuck out of both nostrils and his right ear. His left, which had been facing her, did not have a stick but it did have a greenish goo coating it. Under his nose, over the hair on his top lip, was a piece of plastic with a fake mustache on it.
Rose closed her lips, biting down on them with her teeth in an effort to at leasttryto keep her promise. But when her laughter couldn’t escape her mouth, it came right out her nose, causing her to lose her composure as well as her balance as she fell on her ass in hysterical laughter.
CHAPTER 9
This was the most humiliating, degrading, and embarrassing moment of Keys’ life. And, of course, because the universe had to have the last laugh, it had to be witnessed by the woman Keys was head over heels in love with. Beyond the sheerpainof his bad decision, Keys was so mortified that he wanted to die. Just have the ground open beneath his feet, and swallow him whole.
Groaning at the pure mirth that was Rose’s hysteria, Keys hunched over the sink and just prayed to any deity listening that this was only a dream. A nightmare. He was not, in fact, caught breaking into Rose’s apartment with the grand idea ofwaxinghis nose and ear hairs with the kit he had delivered less than an hour ago.
Nope. This wasn’t happening. Thiscouldn’tbe happening.
“I’m going to go,” Keys barely managed to mumble.
Turning, he saw Rose now flat on her back on the ground as she gripped her ribs, tears streaming from her eyes. As horrifying as this experience was for Keys, he paused his exodus when he realized that this was the happiest he’d ever seen Rose. Theunsympathetic, joyful, uncontrollable laughter might be at his expense—but she was happy.
And fuck, she was beautiful.
She’d been in Mount Grove for three days.Three!And they’d barely spent any time together. Hell, they’d spent more time communicating when she’d been hiding thousands of miles away on the other side of the continent. It was one of the reasons he’d been hoping to catch her before she went to bed tonight.
In her defense, this was probably the first place she felt safe enough to actually relax and get a full night’s sleep since she was eighteen, maybe nineteen, years old. Which Keys was thrilled about for her, as well as proud of himself for being able to provide such a space for her. He wanted her to get as much sleep as she wanted and needed.
But he still missed her.
Sliding down the white wooden cabinet, Keys came to rest on his ass by her bent feet. Honestly, the situationwashilarious. He just wished it wasn’t at his expense, but even he could admit that if it was anyone else but him that this had happened to, that he would be right on the floor next to her.
Realizing that the first stick he’d attempted to pull free was still attached to his hand, Keys tried to shake it off, but this only resulted in Rose laughing harder.
“Stop! Stop!” she begged, holding her stomach. “I can’t breathe!”
The sound of her laughter was so delightful to Keys that he couldn’t help but start to join her. But their combined humor was loud enough to draw the attention of little ears, too.
“Mommy?”
Rose shot upright, her legs tangling with Keys’ until they were laid over his knees while she hastily turned on the floor to find Oscar standing in the doorway of his bedroom. Like Rose, who wore a tank top and short pajama set, Oscar was dressed for bed.
