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Blue’s cell rang. She snatched it from her jeans pocket. He waited. “You found her?” she said. “Where was she?” He took a deep breath and leaned against the doorframe.
“But we looked there.” She wandered back into the bedroom and sat on the side of the bed. “Yes. All right. Yes, I’ll do that.” She flipped the phone shut and looked up at him. “The eagle-ette has landed. April found her asleep in the back of her closet. We looked there, so she must have waited till we left to go inside.”
The front door opened downstairs, and heavy, measured footsteps sounded in the foyer. Blue’s head shot up. She jumped to her feet and spoke in a rush. “April said to tell Riley’s father that she’ll keep Riley at the cottage for tonight, and he can stay here in the house, and he should wait until morning to talk to her.”
“You tell him.”
“I don’t think…The thing is—”
More footsteps from below. “Anyone here?” Jack called out.
“I can’t,” she hissed.
“Why not?”
“I just…can’t.”
Jack’s voice carried up the steps. “April?”
“Crap.” Blue’s hands flew to her cheeks, and she rushed out, but instead of going downstairs, she dashed into the master bedroom. Only seconds later—too short a time for her to have undressed—the shower went on. That’s when he realized the fearless Beav had gone into hiding. And not over him.
Blue stalled as long as she could in the bathroom, brushing her teeth and washing her face, then she sneaked out to grab her yoga pants and BODY BY BEER T-shirt. Finally she managed to creep outside without being detected. Tomorrow morning, if Jack was still here, this idiocy was coming to an end, and she’d behave like a grown woman. At least Jack Patriot’s appearance had been a diversion from her real problem. She stepped inside the gypsy caravan and stopped cold. Her real problem had come for a visit.
A surly-looking gypsy prince lay sprawled on the rear bed, the oil-burning lamp on the table casting a golden glow over him. He’d propped his shoulders against the side of the wagon, cocked one knee, and dangled the other calf over the side of the bed. As he lifted the beer bottle to his lips, his T-shirt rode up to reveal a taut wedge of muscle above the low-riding jeans. “You, of all people,” he said with a disparaging sneer.
Feigning ignorance would be wasted effort. How could someone who’d known her for only a few days see through her so quickly? She lifted her chin. “I need a little time to adjust, that’s all.”
“I swear to God, if you ask for his autograph…”
“I’d have to speak to him for that to happen. So far, that hasn’t been possible.”
He snorted and took a swig of beer.
“I’ll pull it together by tomorrow.” She pushed the chair back under the painted table. “You got out here awfully fast. Did you even talk to him?”
“I told him about Riley, pointed in the direction of the bedroom, and then politely excused myself to find my fiancée.”
She eyed him warily. “You’re not sleeping in here.”
“Neither are you. I’ll be damned if I give him the satisfaction of driving me out of my own house.”
“And yet, here you are.”
“I came to get you. In case you’ve forgotten, those bedrooms don’t have any doors, and there’s no way I’m letting him see that my beloved doesn’t sleep with me.”
“In case you’ve forgotten, I’m not your beloved.”
“For now, you are.”
“Once again, my virginity vow seems to have slipped your mind.”
“Fuck your virginity vow. Are you working for me or not?”
“I’m your cook. And don’t pretend you’re not eating. I saw what you did to those leftovers last night.”
“Yeah, well, I don’t need a cook. What I need is somebody to sleep with tonight.” He gazed at her over the rim of the beer bottle. “I’ll pay you.”
She blinked. “You want to pay me to sleep with you?”
