Page 257 of Romeo

“I did not take that long.”

“Fiona.”

Another soft laugh. “I’m in bed.”

“Well, shit.”

“What?”

I stared at the ceiling, enjoying the picture forming in my head far too much. “That improves the conversation considerably.”

“I’m reading.”

“So you said.”

There was a pause, and I could practically see her narrowing her eyes at the phone. “What exactly are you imagining?”

I laughed under my breath. “You really want to open that door?”

Her inhale answered before she did. “Jasper.”

“Christ, I love calling you.”

“You keep saying that.”

“Because every time I say something you aren’t ready for, you make that little sound.”

“I do not make a sound.”

“You just did.”

“I breathed.”

“Baby, if that’s how you normally breathe, you need a doctor.”

Her laugh burst through the phone, warm and helpless, and I found myself smiling like an idiot at the ceiling. After everything King had dumped on us downstairs, hearing Fiona laugh felt better than it had any right to.

“What are you wearing?” I asked.

The laugh disappeared into a sharp gasp.

I barked out one of my own. “That. Right fucking there.”

“You did that on purpose!”

“Absolutely.”

“You’re terrible.”

“You knew that.”

“I forget sometimes.”

“Then I’m doing you a service.”

She sighed dramatically enough that I knew she’d probably rolled her eyes too. “A T-shirt and shorts.”

The picture in my head sharpened.