AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“He’s back in town?”
“It’s a video chat,” I explain.
“August!”
“That I’m going to end right now,” I say. “Sorry.”
I rush toward the kitchen and come to a screeching standstill in the doorway, because the place is filled with some kind of fog. My eyes start to water immediately. What the hell is happening?
“Fucking chilies!” I gasp.
“Whoa,” Caleb says from behind me.
I run to the stove and pull the pan away. My eyes are burning like a motherfucker, and my nose starts to feel like the inside is on fire. Acrid smoke fills the kitchen.
That’s when the fire alarm goes off, tying the whole thing up in a nice bow.
“This isn’t exactly how I planned for our date to go.” I look up at the windows of my apartment. The firemen have left, and the windows are still open to air the place out.
Caleb turns his gaze toward me, lips twitching.
“Wait a minute. You weren’t trying to create homemade tear gas to spice the evening up a bit?”
I close my eyes and shake my head.
“That was an accident. Did you know chilies do that?”
“Kind of. Dried chilies in oil that has reached its smoke point gets you airborne spice, which is basically low-level tear gas.”
“Awesome,” I mutter and rub my hands together. I forgot my gloves upstairs, and now my fingertips are getting icy. It’ll take at least a few hours for the air to clear in my apartment, so I can’t get back up there to get them unless I want to cry some more. Burning chili fumes are not kind to the retinas.
“Well, shall we move this along, then?” Caleb asks.
I gape at him. “I tried to gas you and you still want to spend time with me?”
He shrugs. “I like living on the edge. So far you’ve stolen my phone—”
“Hey!” I poke my finger into this chest. “I did not steal it.”
“Then you stood me up.”
“You never told me where you lived, so it’s not as if I could have made it anyway,” I argue.
He snorts. “As if you would have shown up. Not after stealing my phone. I’ve heard you shouldn’t return to the crime scene, and I have no doubt a seasoned criminal such as yourself can abide by that rule.”
“Oh my God,” I mumble.
“And then you kidnapped me while I was a teeny bit inebriated,” Caleb continues.
I give a resigned nod. “A solid summary of the events as they happened. You clearly have very bad taste in men and no ability to detect red flags in a relationship.”
He steps closer. His smile is all crooked charm. “And then you tried to gas me. I don’t know about you, but this all just screams ‘good time’ to me.”
He’s getting closer and closer, eyes shining with amusement and something else that makes my heart beat quicker and my toes curl in my shoes.
“And now you’re going to kiss me in the middle of the street,” he says, voice going all husky, eyes searching mine as he closes in on me, surrounding me with his presence.
“Am I?”
