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thirty-six
By noon, most people had gone home. Constance had opened up her massage chair and given postworkout care to anyone who wanted a little relief before they left. She listened to all the exhausted chatter going on around her while she worked. Sean hung out and chatted with Sunny, and from the snippets Constance could overhear, Sunny was thanking him for helping with the arson investigation, which he’d taken the lead on. Zoe and Hobbs were last, both rising with satisfied, sleepy expressions.
“Marry me, Red,” Zoe said, stretching her arms high over her head.
“She’s all mine,” Hobbs argued, tossing his empty beer bottle into the recycling bin. He’d popped it open about two minutes after the workout and screamed, “Carbs!” at the top of his lungs before he’d chugged half of it down in one go.
“Move over.” Rhett ordered them both out of the way and plopped into the massage chair. He rested his face in the cradle with a satisfied grunt. His long, large body dwarfed the chair and Constance had to raise the face cradle to its highest level to accommodate his torso without making him hunch.
“Something tells me you get plenty of massages,” Hobbs muttered, but he gave a good-natured smile on his way out. “Later, people. Enjoy the rest of your day.”
“I’m going to head home, too,” Sunny said. “You people are crazy and I’m going to take the longest bath of my life, then sleep until dinnertime. Plus, Buddy is waiting for me. I’m not going to lie. I’m in love.”
“You better be talking about me.” Pete came up behind her, slid his arms around her waist and lifted her up.
“I totally meant the dog.” Sunny broke into giggles. “But only you would understand that. So—” she turned around in his arms and hugged him close “—that’s why I love you, too.”
“Glad you had fun, guys.” Rhett stuck up a hand without lifting his face from the massage chair.
Once they were all gone, Constance pressed her palms to Rhett’s back and leaned forward, giving him all her weight. She worked on him for about ten minutes before the sweet scents of his sweaty body, so close to hers, made her shiver inside. She slid her hands up under his shirt, gently caressing his back. He made a satisfied sound in the back of his throat. “Why don’t we go back to your place,” she said, “and do this right.”
Rhett sat up with a curious grin on his face. “My place?”
“Yeah. I’ve never seen it. You should take me to your place.”
“Oh, yeah? What’re we going to do there?” He climbed out of the chair and stretched.
Constance stepped in close and arched an eyebrow at him. “For starters, you’re going to let me see Humphrey. I want to know how he’s doing.”
“He’s awesome.” Rhett’s voice got quiet. “Made himself right at home.”
“Where’d you put his cage?”
“At the curb. For the trash.”
“Are you kidding?”
“No. We did it together.” Rhett swiped some residual sweat from his forehead. “Walked out to the curb with that ugly metal hunk of shit. Humphrey followed behind, no leash. I set the cage down and told Humphrey he never had to get in it again. He sat down and leaned against my leg. We stared at it awhile before he got up and went right back into my house. I am not shitting you.”
Constance felt her eyes well up.
Rhett smiled, like he saw right through her. “When I went back inside I found him balled up in my recliner. We fight over it every night.”
Constance giggled through her tears. “I hope you let him win.”
Rhett’s hand went to her hair, where he carefully removed her ponytail holder. “No need. He wins all on his own, fair and square. He may look small, but he’s tougher than all of us.”
“Of course he is.” Constance tipped on her toes and gave Rhett a gentle kiss on the lips. “He’s a dangerous breed. You better watch out.”
Rhett laughed softly and kissed her back. “I’m not scared,” he said. “Not with you around.”
“Hey, guess what?” Constance leaned back and smiled. “I finally found your nickname.”
“What?” Rhett’s face spread into a big smile. “No way. What is it?”
“How would you feel—” Constance danced her fingertips around his waist, to the bare skin at his lower back “—if I called you—” she pulled him roughly against her “—sweetie?”
“Hmm,” he mused. “I like where you’re going. But I’m not sure it fits. We’d be living a lie.”
