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“I forgot my glasses.”
“And you call yourself an artist?Pfft.”
“Actually, I call myself a cop with artistic hobbies.” His smart-assed grin dimmed a little as he tapped the cloudy back windows. “Can you even see out of these?”
“Sure.” I shrugged. “The van swap was a little uneven, but there’s so much about this bus to love. The canvas awning is retractable along the side, providing the perfect place to get some shade on a hot day. Like on the beach. I have a small portable grill and—motherfucker!”
TEN
His dark eyebrow spiked.“Your vocabulary is amazing.”
I stomped around to the front of the bus and snatched the piece of paper I’d noticed tucked under the windshield wiper. “Does he ever take a day off?”
Mav plucked the ticket out of my hand with a windy sigh. “Yes, and he gave us our free pass already. What number is this?”
“I don’t know since I never intend to pay them. I have a bag partially full. He can suck my—”
Mav laid a finger over my lips. “Don’t offer him things you haven’t given to me yet. I can also write you tickets, you know.”
“And you can also never get one single solitary sexual favor from me again.”
“Trying to unduly influence an officer of the law is punishable by fine and possible jail time.” He stepped closer until the toes of his sneakers bumped mine, taking every advantage of our height difference to gaze down at me with one of his molten stares. “I’d hate to see you cuffed.”
“I feel like that is a lie since you keep mentioning them.” I cocked my head. “What makes you think I’d be interested in such games?”
“Hope?”
I had to laugh. How one man could be so irritating yet sexy as hell with that boyish streak that ran a mile wide, I did not know. “Keep hoping, pal.” I patted his chest just for the chance to cop a free feel. And I felt zero shame over it. “Want to come into my palace?”
“Do I have a choice?”
“Sure. You can stand out here in the blazing sun while I get changed and fix my hair.”
“Get changed? You carry a bag of clothes around with you?”
Apparently, he’d failed to grasp the reality that except for the occasional nights with friends or crashing with my sister or at my parents’ place in Syracuse, Ilivedin the bus.
Sure, I showered and made food elsewhere, but mostly, it worked for my needs.
Just as I’d mostly lived in the van before. Tabitha wasn’t exactly privy to that either, since I took showers when she wasn’t home. I hadn’t really hidden my living situation, but she assumed I had an actual place I was fixing up and just hadn’t shown off yet. I kept talking about the she shed I intended to build on my new property. But I was reasonably sure she didn’t get I’d belivingin it, not just using it for yarn and a cool drafting table and whatever else most chicks put in those things.
Maybe a cabinet for hard liquor.
“It’s good to be prepared.” I opened the door of the bus and waved him inside. “After you. Make sure you duck.”
“Holy crap, I feel like I’m back in tenth grade,” he muttered, climbing the steps. At the top, he braced a hand on the ceiling and looked around in a mixture of wonderment and shock. “You actually do have a sleeping bag in here. I thought you were messing with me.”
“Nope.” My voice was unnaturally cheerful to combat the argument I knew was imminent. “All true. Sit on a cushion. They’re surprisingly comfy. And grab a crystal if you feel moved to. All the cushions have pockets with a crystal inside.”
He slid me a look. “So you’re woo-woo like Lu and Tab?”
“I’m woo-curious.” Since he wasn’t moving, I chose an orange cushion with sodalite in the pocket and hooked my iPad into the charging station.
Which naturally knocked out my amigirumi vampire from where I’d tucked it.
He picked it up, turning over the tiny crocheted figure, his dark brows knitted together. Then he spotted the small cube next to the bed with its top half tipped off, revealing, um, many more little figures inside.
“Stress relief,” I said with more of my false cheer as he rooted through them, though I had not given him permission. He didn’t seem to care. “I curl up in bed and watch some YouTube on my tablet and crochet until I can sleep. Some nights it takes longer than others. Plus, I have this blanket to finish making.” I pointed to the other cube on the other side of the bed with the blanket spilling out.
