That explained why I didn’t hear her snoring at night.
“You might have noticed that it’s quieter at night than the first two times I slept over.” She smirked at me.
“Nope. I didn’t notice a thing,” I said, returning her smile.
"Does it weird you out?" Her mouth tightened slightly, and she gazed up at me through her lashes. The woman I fell a little bit more in love with every day was uncharacteristically self-conscious.
“Honestly, it did take me by surprise because I wasn’t expecting it. But no, it doesn’t weird me out.”
She bit her bottom lip to suppress a grin.
"Unless," I mused, and she looked at me with her brows furrowed. "You're planning to blow up Gotham City."
“Shut up.” She tilted her head and narrowed her eyes. I was happy to see a smile curling the edges of her lips.
“Or planning to build a giant space station capable of blowing up planets?”
“Are you done?” She laughed.
I made an exaggerated thinking face. “I’m trying to think of one for the guy fromMad Max: Fury Road…”
“Immortan Joe?” she answered deadpan.
“Yes! That guy!”
She rolled her eyes and pressed the mask over her nose and mouth and growled in a deep voice, “Mediocre!”
I burst out laughing, and she dropped the mask to shush me. "Thanks for letting me stay here," I said as I crawled into the bed next to her.
“Of course.” She smiled. “How would I explain to CJ that his brother came to Barbados to become a hobo?”
"Goodnight, Lisa." I slipped under the covers, and she put her mask back on. "Is that a forehead strap? Hot!" I teased her again, and she giggled.
“Shut up before I make you sleep in the bathtub.”
cole
twenty-three
Sexy Darth Vaderwas still asleep when CJ and I woke up, so we joined my family for breakfast. The kitchen island was set up like a mini breakfast buffet, and I filled one plate for myself and CJ since he always found what was on my plate more interesting than his own.
Mom and Dad were eating on the deck. RJ took his breakfast into his room. Kimberly was sitting in Adam's lap at the dining room table, so I assumed that they made up. I strapped CJ into his chair and rolled it onto the deck to join my parents.
“Good morning.” I bent down to kiss Mom on the cheek and squeezed Dad’s shoulder.
“Well, if it isn’t Thing One and Thing Two,” Dad exclaimed, then laughed while he tickled CJ under the chin.
“Hey, baby.” Mom handed CJ a blueberry from her plate. “Where’s Lisa?”
“She’s still asleep.” I settled into a chair and began slicing my scrambled eggs into finger-sized chunks.
“Does she usually sleep this late?”
I had to think about it. With only one exception, Lisa was usually up way before CJ and me.
“Why don’t you go check on her?” Mom said, correctly reading my expression. “We’ll keep an eye on the baby.”
With my breakfast abandoned, I went back into the bedroom. Lisa was still in bed but no longer asleep. She'd removed her mask and turned off the machine, but she was still under the covers. I crawled into the bed next to her.
