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“Shhh…” He yawned again. “Go back to sleep, Lila. Just for a little longer.”
Lila knocked his arm away. “I can’t, Tristan. I still need to finish my list. Oskar’s still out there somewhere. So are the missing girls.”
“You’re no good to anyone if you’re exhausted.”
“I’ll sleep after I find them.”
“With me?”
Lila laughed and slid out of bed, leaving the warm sheets and Tristan’s body behind. “One thing at a time,” she said, eyeing the pile of clothes near the door.
“That’s vague.” Tristan turned on a lamp, wincing. He fiddled with the controls, and the bright light in the room faded to a welcome dimness.
“I can’t find Oskar and the girls and figure out this too. Cut me a break.” She knelt on the floor, finally finding her underclothes and digging through the pile for her trousers.
“You have to live sometime, Lila.”
“Tell that to Oskar, and the kidnapped—”
“I know. I just meant—”
“I know what you meant.” She turned, annoyed to find Tristan’s hungry eyes following her every move. “Stop looking at me like I’m breakfast.”
“Then stop looking so delicious.”
Lila found her palm and scrolled through her messages. “Great. I’m to breakfast with my father. He gave me six weeks to look into the oracles, and he already wants an update.”
“That will be hours away, and you didn’t even have dinner. Let me make you something to eat,” he said, slipping out of bed. “Maria taught me how to make pancakes. Sort of.”
“Sort of?” Lila turned her eyes away, not wanting to stare after she’d just chastised him for doing the same thing.
“I asked her how to make them. Instead of teaching me, she cooked a bunch downstairs, tossed them in bags in my freezer, and told me how to heat them up. I think she’s scared of me.”
“It’s Maria. Maria is afraid of mice.”
“I would be too with those beady eyes and whiskers. Come on. Eat with me before you go.”
“I’ll eat later. I need to go home now.”
“You’re not eating much lately. I don’t like it.” Tristan helped her up and wrapped his arms around her. He smelled so good, felt so warm against her, both of them still mostly nude, both of them ready for another round.
Gods, what if she walked out now and it never happened again?
“Do you want to leave? Is that it?”
“No, I don’t want to go home. I just have a great deal to do.”
“You could work from the shop.”
“I work better from home. There are too many distractions here.”
“One of these days, I’m going to hop that wall and find you.”
“Don’t even joke about that,” she said, pulling away.
But Tristan didn’t let her go. He held her even more tightly. “Then come back tonight. I want to keep being with you. I miss you when you aren’t around. I know I need to stop telling you that. I know it bothers you, but I can’t help it.”
But it didn’t bother her. That was the problem.
