Marc (Bowen Boys, #4)(34)
“There is nothing wrong with my equipment, I’ll have you know.” He stood up and looked down at her. “What are you going to do, wait for me to bring it to you on a silver platter? Not going to happen. And if I cook, you have to clean up. Share and share alike, I think. Come on.”
They walked hand and hand to the house. It didn’t bother her as much as she thought it would to be naked and doing this. She had never been so happy in her life. She realized that they’d left the doors opened, and worried that someone or something had gotten in while they were gone.
“Smell the room. Do you smell anyone else?” She did as he asked as he handed her one of his shirts from the clean clothes on the washer. She pulled it over her head and brought the sleeve to her nose.
“I can smell you on this shirt and in this room but…nothing.” He nodded as he pulled on the bottoms to the shirt she had on. “You wear pajamas?”
“Only when someone comes over to stay the night. About two weeks ago I had an all-nighter with my team and Dennis stayed here rather than drive all the way back. We were working on a case.”
The phone rang as he was pulling out things from the refrigerator. He asked her to answer it. She tried to get out of it, but he insisted she’d have to sooner or later, and now was as good as time as any.
“Hello, my dear. It’s George…the older one, not the baby. Though I’m thinking that he’ll be answering the phone on his own soon enough. It’s those Bowen genes, you see. They make for a much smarter panther than most.” He laughed, as did she. “I don’t suppose Marc is lying next to you, is he? I need to speak to him.”
“We’re in the kitchen, not the bed.” She felt she owed him for his teasing her. “Actually, we didn’t even use the bed last night. We’ve decided to have sex on every piece of furniture that is in here and out. And surfaces too. No wall too thin for us. Of course, we may need to replace the coffee table. Not as strong as it looked, I’m afraid. How long do you suppose it will take us?”
She glanced at Marc, who was holding his hand over his mouth and laughing so hard that he was bent over from it. His dad was sputtering on the phone so badly that she was sure he was soaking the sucker. She handed the phone to Marc when he could breathe normally again and sat on the counter to listen.
“She said…. Oh my, she is…Marc, I think….” Poor George seemed to be at a loss for words. “I think I will call you back. Whatever I had to say is…I just can’t remember.”
She laughed with Marc as he put the phone back on the charger. “I think you just got my dad the best he’s ever been gotten. I’ve never heard him so dumbfounded in my life. I loved it. I love you.”
“I love you too.” He stilled and looked at her. “I do. You make it hard sometimes, but I think I’ve loved you all my life. Well, maybe wanted to love you all my life.”
He pulled her off the counter and handed her a bowl. “Mix until I tell you to stop. It’s time you learned to cook something besides noodles in a plastic bag.”
“I can cook. I just choose not to.” She glared at him when he swatted her ass. “I’ll learn to cook just so I can know which poisons to mix with your food if you hit me like that again.”
He laughed and went to the phone when it rang. He picked it up smiling, but after speaking to someone on the other end, his entire body language changed. She put down the bowl when he motioned her closer. He put his finger over his lips and put the phone on speaker.
“What did you say she looked like again? I’m not really very sure, and you can understand that I don’t want anyone to get into trouble if I don’t have the right information.” He wrote a large question mark on the blackboard next to the phone as he asked the caller to repeat himself.
“Oh yeah, sure. Understand that completely. She’s tall and sort of on the thin side. Not too skinny, just like one of those pretty fillies that you see on that channel that has animals. Dark hair and sort of black blue eyes. Not bruised, mind you, but the color. She sort of has this…well I don’t want to say she’s a bitch, but she can be mouthy when it suits her.”
Jonny grabbed the table and shook her head. They’d found her. When she tried to back away, Marc grabbed her and pulled her to him. His whisper in her ear was low and urgent. She nodded when he handed her the chalk. He’d asked her who it was, and told her that he wasn’t there. He promised her she was safe. She wanted to scream at him that she wasn’t worried about her but only his safety, and that of his family. Trembling, she went to the chalkboard.
“Harris Manning, aka, henchman.” He nodded and pulled her back into his arms. She tried not to listen to Harris talk to Marc, but she was too close to the phone not to hear him.
“She’s been out for near a month now. Don’t know what her family is gonna do when they find we misplaced her again. I’m guessing the doc here is gonna make her take something to keep her a little less a flight risk, if you know what I mean.”
Marc laughed when Harris did. “Yes, I believe I do. But the person you described doesn’t ring a bell. I mean, if you give me your number I could call you if I hear or see anything.”
“Nah. I can call you. I might not have any service. You give me your number and I’ll call you in a couple of days and we can see if you remember anything.” Marc smiled at her when she heard the small beep.