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“Sure, but Hazel wanted a sulfate free shampoo, and I did this research last night. You basically have three options with different varying ingredients. It’s best if I list them and we discuss each one individually.”
I double blinked at them and then blinked again as they talked about the stupid ingredients in shampoo. If that’s really why they came, I suppose it wouldn’t be that big of a deal if I left Hazel semi-unsupervised. I’d still be able to see her from my spot on the couch, so they couldn’t kidnap her and make her do something stupid. She didn’t need anymore deadly business.
What a waste of time. I grunted to get their attention.
“Just make sure it smells like peaches,” I said before turning on a heel, stalking back to the living room and taking a seat on the couch to watch the encryption software. The completion bar sat at ninety-seven percent. Almost there.
I stared at the screen pretending it held my focus and even going so far as to wave my fingers over the keys as if I was typing when I pulled the device into my lap. I might let them have Hazel’s attention, but that didn’t mean I wouldn’t eavesdrop.
Especially when my ears picked up the topic of their conversation. They weren’t discussing peach shampoo.
“Look, I’m a married woman now, but it’s cute how he plays the whole jerky guy thing,” Tabitha said, sipping her coffee.
I only saw the back of Pearl’s head but she waggled a finger at Hazel. “That’s the women in this town. You like the bossy types.”
Hazel laughed so lightly I barely heard it. “He’s really a nice guy when you get to know him and he’s cute. Isn’t he?” she asked sounding like she’d just asked her best friends in the cafeteria lunchroom.
It made me ridiculously happy. I ran my palms together, thinking of the ways I’d reward her later as I smiled at my laptop screen.
Soon I’d finish this part of the plan and move on to the next phase of whatever awaited us.
CHAPTER17
HAZEL
The back door opened, banging against the wall, and before either Corbin or I ran, a voice called out, “Lucy, I’m home.”
He relaxed, but I didn’t find Cyrus visiting as reassuring as his twin. Not that Cyrus did anything to upset me or even to be rude, but I found something about him off-putting. He smiled a little too brightly.
I trusted him in the sense that he didn’t want to kill me—I’d lowered my trust standards significantly in the last two days—but I never fully believed the laid-back personality he worked so hard to project. Something in his eyes hinted at more. I just never wanted to find out what.
“At least it’s not more of the bakery girls,” Corbin mumbled under his breath as he stood from the couch where we’d been sitting together.
Again, I wasn’t sure I agreed with his assessment. More girls with coffee and muffins wouldn’t suck. Although, when I finally stood and followed Corbin from the living room to where his twin waited, I found him loaded down with plastic shopping bags.
He dropped the bags on the floor and the top of a cookie package tumbled out. Maybe he wasn’t such a bad guy after all.
“Are those double chocolate cookies?” I asked, pointing in their direction, trying not to be too obvious in my question.
Both the brothers looked at me and their expressions were oddly similar.
“Yes, I bought two packages,” Cyrus said, his smile that too bright one that freaked me out. Why were his teeth so white?
Corbin stepped in front of his brother, and I was happier when he was the one in my sight. “I told him they were your favorite.”
I closed the distance between us, grabbed onto his shoulders, and placed a soft kiss on his cheek. “Thank you, Corbin. That was really nice of you.”
I didn’t need to ask him how he knew they were my favorite cookie choice because I’d gone on about them for almost five minutes the other day. The way the chocolate melted in your mouth and the flavors. It was nice to know he listened.
A loud gaff came from behind him. I leaned to the side to see around Corbin’s body and stared at his twin.
He twisted up one eyebrow, and it froze on his forehead. “What am I, chopped liver? I’m the one who did the grocery shopping. I risked my life to go to the supermarket and buy these cookies.”
Corbin wheeled on his brother, masking his own expression. “No one is trying to kill you.”
Cyrus dropped a half-gallon of milk in the fridge and closed the door. “Wrong. If they’re trying to kill you, they’re trying to kill me. Did you forget we look alike?”
He had a point, but I’d always be team Corbin so I kept my mouth shut because that’s what a good girlfriend did. I wasn’t one hundred percent sure I classified Corbin and me as girlfriend and boyfriend yet, but I said it in my head that morning and didn’t have an immediate panic attack so I dealt with it.
