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“You’re not going to shoot us in the back, are you?” the bigger guy asked.
“Turn around,” I repeated.
They did and I stepped closer. It was hard to decide who to cuff first. I was fairly skilled at self-defense, but they each had eighty or more pounds on me. I assumed it was better to cuff the larger guy first, so I set a hand at the center of his back, his heat radiating into my palm through his flannel. I felt the play of his muscles as he moved, starting to face me. “There’s been a—”
I grabbed his right arm at the wrist, bent it at the elbow to bring it behind his back in an arm lock, preventing him from turning around. With his wrist at his spine, I pushed it up toward his head, which would have his shoulder coming out of joint if he didn’t bend over. Instinctively he did just that, and I slapped one handcuff on his wrist but kept the arm pinned behind his back.
“Wait a minute!” the other guy said. “There’s been a mistake.”
I raised my weapon in my free hand and pointed it at Mr. Black Hair, but kept a tight hold on the bigger guy. “Don’t move.”
Mr. Black Hair froze but smiled, revealing a damned dimple. I blinked, mesmerized by his gorgeousness.
“All right. I won’t move. Careful with the gun,” he said.
Once again I bristled.
“There’s no need for handcuffs,” Bigger Guy said, his voice calm as he tried to slowly turn once more. I raised his wrist higher, making him groan at the discomfort.
“On the ground,” I told him, my voice just shy of shouting.
At first he wouldn’t go, but a little torque on his arm and Bigger Guy dropped to one knee, then the other, his body hitting the hardwood floor like a tree falling in the forest. I sat on his back, straddled him as I grabbed his other wrist and got him cuffed. I spun about on Bigger Guy’s back so I faced his feet, aimed the gun at Mr. Black Hair. No way was I taking my eyes off him.
“Don’t even think about blinking,” I warned.
He lifted his hands a touch higher, slowly shook his head. “No, ma’am.”
The front door opened, and Poppy came in, tugging off her winter hat. She made it three steps before she saw us. Her eyes went wide, and her mouth dropped open. “Holy shit.”
No one moved for a few seconds; then Poppy burst out laughing. “Oh, this is awesome.”
“Pops, tell your gorgeous friend to put her gun away,” Mr. Black Hair said.
Poppy held up her hand and kept on laughing. Tears slid down her cheeks. “Oh no. I’ve got to get my camera.”
“Pops!” Mr. Black Hair shouted.
“Fine. Eve, meet my brother, Shane. The guy you’re sitting on is Finch.”
I glanced up at Mr. Black Hair—Shane. He winked at me. Winked!
“You’re her brother? Why the hell did you come through the window?” I asked. I felt the cold air pouring in now that my adrenaline was fading. I knew Poppy had a brother, but I’d never met him before. Poppy wasn’t one for family photos about her house, and I had never known what he looked like. Until now.
“What was it going to be this time?” Poppy asked. “Ping-Pong balls in my bathroom? Plastic wrap the toilet seats? Ice cubes filling the fridge? Shampoo in the washing machine?”
“Nothing bad,” Shane said. “Only two hundred balloons in your bedroom.”
I saw the small helium tank on the floor by the window, most likely the first thump I’d heard when I was in the bathroom. Shane had to have been the second.
I climbed off Finch, put my hands on my hips. “You’re here to prank? Can’t you do that by using the door?”
Shane shrugged, then grinned. “We couldn’t risk setting off the alarm.”
That made complete sense. Sneak in through your sister’s window.
“It’s a birthday thing,” he added, as if that explained it all. “Mine’s in June, and this year Poppy put hundreds of caterpillars in my truck. I couldn’t find them all before they turned, and I had butterflies in there for a week.”
“That was a good one,” Poppy said. “I wondered when you were going to attack. Totally backfired though. Suckers.”
