“Okay,” I mutter uncertainly, wondering what she’s up to.
I half expect her to jump on me once my back is turned, or to walk up and shove her hand down my pants. After waiting for a few minutes, she says, “Done.”
That surprises me more than anything else she could have said or done. I turn around to see her in a T-shirt—mine—and nothing else. Thank God I haven’t lost my mind. She’s still trying to seduce me.
“That’s a hot look, Bo,” I tell her appreciatively, moving toward her, and her eyes widen.
“It’s your shirt. I didn’t want to wander around in my pajamas because they’re so... slinky. And we have to go through the hallway to reach the upstairs. Come on.”
What? Did she really just say that?
Body snatchers. She’s apparently been hijacked by an alien lifeform. There’s no other explanation.
“Bo, you okay? You’re acting all kinds of weird.”
She frowns, and for a second, she looks so unsure of herself. “I am weird,” she says with an awkwardly executed shrug. “I suppose I felt like it’d be more fun to talk tonight since these walls are so thin.”
Her voice is small, uncertain, and fragile. It has me worried.
“If you want to talk, then let’s go talk. It’s just... One of your rules is very little conversation.”
She shrugs, her eyes still on the floor. “Things change.”
I can’t help but smile. Is Bora The Impossible seriously wanting to talk to me? I can play this game. In fact, I welcome it. I feel like a creep every time I sleep with h
er, especially knowing I’m breaking it off with her as soon as we get back.
Yes, I’m an asshole, but at least I’m nice before being an asshole. Usually.
“Let’s go talk.”
The smile I get when her eyes come up is definitely giving me pause, and my chest tightens in response. There’s another smile I haven’t seen before. Damn.
I follow her through the hallway to a string that hangs down from the ceiling. She points up, and then she grins again.
“I’m too short. You’ll have to pull it.”
I reach up, grab the string, and the door flops down, bringing a ladder with it that I’m not expecting.
“Shit,” I screech, jumping out of the way. I never hear it clank when I thud to the ground, and I look behind me to see Bo watching me with one eyebrow raised as she holds the ladder in the air.
“All you have to do is catch it,” she says with a teasing grin.
“I just lost man points, didn’t I?” I grumble, trying to laugh at myself, even though I’d rather curse the damn ladder.
“A few. Come on,” she says, motioning me onward with her head as she puts the ladder in place with practiced ease.
After offering one last glower to the ladder that can’t respond, I follow her up, expecting to get a nice view.
What the… Shorts? She has shorts on under my shirt? Body snatchers are definitely involved.
She pushes open another door that swings back, and she surfaces. Just as I catch a taste of the fresh waft of ocean air, she flops down on a patio couch that is just a few feet away in a squared off section of the roof.
“So much better,” she says with a sigh.
I go to join her, making sure to wrap my arm around her shoulders. Damn, it’s perfect out here.
The sun has set, the waves are gently crashing, and the air is crisp. I needed this getaway.