Or you could just talk to them. You know, be normal. That’s the new quest, right? To be normal.
She drank the coffee slowly. She still felt half-dead.
What she needed was some of her special chocolate. The stuff that had enough caffeine in it to really kickstart her brain. She hid it up high in case Reuben surprised her with a visit. He claimed too much caffeine was bad for her.
Lies. All lies.
Setting down her drink, she climbed up onto the counter. Then she reached for the top cupboard. The one Reuben would never guess she’d use, and opened it.
“What the hell are you doing?”
Turning, she saw Brick striding into the room, a scowl set on his face. But then again, when didn’t the man scowl?
“Get down.”
She shook her head. She didn’t have her chocolate yet. She reached back into the cupboard, searching around with her hand. Where was it?
Two big hands wrapped around her waist and pulled her down to the floor. Juliet glared up at him, hands on her hips.
Brick glared back. “Were you trying to break your neck?”
Yes. Yes, of course, that had been what she’d been doing.
He must have seen some of her sarcasm in her face because his eyes narrowed and he pointed at the counter. “No climbing onto things.”
She grabbed her whiteboard.
How else can I reach up there?
“How about you ask me to get it?”
And what about when he wasn’t here? Well, she guessed once he left, then his rules were no longer in effect.
There’s a bag of chocolate up there. Can you please get it?
She added a sugary sweet smile to her request.
“Why is there chocolate up there?”
She just stared at him. Was he getting it or not? She wasn’t in the mood for twenty questions.
Even he had to go onto tiptoes, but he grabbed the bag and she nearly clapped her hands in delight.
He read the front of the bag. “Two pieces of chocolate have the same amount of caffeine as one cup of coffee.”
She attempted to snatch the bag from his hand, but he held it above her head.
Oh, he didn’t just do that. The jerk.
He pointed at her iced mocha. “You can’t have that drink and this chocolate.”
Why not?
She held out her hand and tapped her foot.
You’re not my doctor.
He scowled then handed over the bag. She grabbed a piece of chocolate and then offered him some.