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His mind clicked back into place. “Oh. Boobs. No, it’s fine. I’ve seen those before.”
She grinned and reached out to pat his knee. “Good for you, Hill!”
He laughed at her unexpected reaction. “You’re weird, Lockley.”
She nodded and turned back to the TV. “Yeah, I get that a lot. All right, now that we know you’re not going to clutch your pearls over the R-rated parts, we’re good to go.”
She leaned over and clicked off the lamp, plunging them into near darkness, and hit Play. The iconic fast-paced music even he was familiar with started up, a glowing jack-o’-lantern appearing on the screen. He watched intently as the movie opened with the view of a house, presumably from the killer’s point of view.
The killer was spying on the couple inside as they were making out. Hill swallowed a bite. “Uh-oh. Guessshe’stoast.”
“Poor nonvirgin,” Andi agreed.
Hill sipped his drink, his muscles tightening a little as the killer snuck inside and up the stairs, stalking the girl.
“And here are the previously promised boobs,” Andi said, gaze on the screen, fork paused halfway to her mouth.
“Right out of the gate with the nudity. Hello, seventies cinema.” Hill winced when the killer attacked the girl. “This music is intense.”
“Music can make a horror movie. And the use of silence, too. This movie does both really well.” She kept her eyes on the screen, and he watched her profile in the blue-silver light. “It’s a tool filmmakers have that I don’t get to use in my books. I wish I could force people to listen to a certain soundtrack while they read my books.”
“Your books are scary enough on their own,” he said before he could think better of it.
She turned her head, confusion there, and hit Pause on the movie. “You know my books?”
He groaned inwardly. If he was worried about her thinking he was a stalker, he’d just given her a checkmark in the YES column. He forced a shrug. “I saw one of yours when I was walking through The Dog-Eared Page earlier today. I figured I’d give it a try. I’m about halfway throughThirsty. You’re good at what you do. It’s creepy as shit.”
“You’re reading one of my books,” she said as if still processing that.
He narrowed his eyes, trying to pin down her tone. “Is that bad?”
She pursed her lips as if her frown got caught halfway there. “No, it’s not…bad. It’s… I don’t know. I feel a little strange when someoneIknow is reading one of my books. It’s this weird vulnerability thing. Like you’re seeing my secrets or something—even though I know that’s dumb when the book is out there for any stranger to read.”
“I can stop.”
She waved her fork at him. “No, no, it’s fine. I know I’m being weird. Just don’t tell me if you hate it. I won’t ask you what you thought when you’re done.”
He smiled at her flash of insecurity. “I already know I’m not going to hate it. It’s really good—and darkly funny. And if it helps, I don’t know you well enough yet to recognize any secrets that may be encoded in there. Except that maybe you got really pissed at someone in high school and secretly wish for some serious revenge.”
Her expression flattened.
“Oh no,” he said with a laugh. “Did I actually guess right?”
She stared at him for a second and then scoffed. “Who didn’t get pissed at someone in high school?”
He lifted his drink. “Truth.”
She gave him one last look and then turned back toward the TV. “Okay, stop trying to distract me with flattery to get out of the scary movie. We’re doing this.” She hit Play. “Let’s meet baby Jamie Lee Curtis and her fashionable tights.”
