“Bella is really good at hide-and-seek!” He rolls his lips, fighting a smile, and I smack his hand away. “I’ll get fired if I call them again and it’s not a real emergency.” Though I do believe most of this night could qualify.
“Relax. I disabled that feature.”
He’s had it disabled the whole time. That’s why it’s not transmitting.
“I’m here to steal something,” he whispers. “I’m not going to call the police. Give me some credit.”
I take a step back. Right, bad guy. Can’t forget that exclusive-to-him definition. I can’t believe I almost kissed him! I will not be making that mistake again.Thisis his life. Danger and crime. Why, oh why, are women putty in the hands of an attractive bad boy?
Ishouldcall the police. I need to.
“He’ll be back,” Soren says.
I rub my head where it’s starting to throb. “Please tell me you’re attempting to quote Arnold Schwarzenegger?”
“I’m serious,” Soren says. “You guys should get out of here. Surely the Hartwells own places all over the city.”
If they do, I’m not privy to that information. Wait…
I see what he’s doing. He’s trying to get rid of us so he can make off with the painting. The thieving, horrible man. Was this his escape plan all along? Or didhe come up with this scheme while we were innocently baking cookies? “Oh, you would like that, wouldn’t you?” I ground out the words.
You think you know someone… and then you realize they are still a thief.
“Yes. I’d like you to be safe.” His words are clipped, a muscle in his jaw flexing.
“So why don’tyoucall the police? Maybe that was a delivery man. How am I to know? Bella orders things all the time.”
“It’s midnight on Christmas Eve,” he says, deadpan.
That is a little suspicious, I’ll admit.
“So, what do we do?”
“We set a trap!” Bella interrupts.
I forgot she was here. What has she heard?
Soren shrugs, as if the idea has merit. But I’m not about to let her get caught in the middle of this mess. As far as she knows, this is like one of her movies. Not real.
“Ta-da!” I yell as I grab Soren’s hand and lift it high above our heads. “End scene.” I yank him down, making him bow with me.
I catch Soren’s eye as we hang upside down at our waists. The look on his face clearly saysare you insane?I cut our bow short and stand, pretending to be exhausted from the show.
“That was… a performance?” Bella asks, her chin tilting to the side in suspicion.
“This whole night has been,” I say brightly. “Yep, this guy right here is actually my brother.”
Soren coughs.
That might have been too far.
Bella looks between the two of us. “You guys look nothing alike.”
“I got the good genes,” I say.
“I saw you almost kiss.”
I lift a shoulder. “Weird family.”
