“Yeah, your car. Right. Well—”
Zeth shoves his hips up into my hand again, pressing his now rock-solid cock into my still-pinned hand. “Yeah, that’s entirely my fault, Dr. Romera. I wanted to go off-roading and I didn’t want to damage your vehicle. I appreciate a well-maintained car, y’know. And it’s not often you see a station wagon in such pristine condition. That wood paneling…” Zeth puffs out his cheeks, and my dad makes a delighted sound of approval. Little does he know that Zeth isn’t in love with his wood paneling. The truth of the matter is that Zeth hates his freaking car and hates the seventies wood paneling most of all.
“Well, I have to say it’s great to meet a fellow car enthusiast! So where did you leave her?”
Why the hell is he not questioning me more about Alexis? I want to scream at him for being so callous but I’m too freaking stunned. That damned car. Meanwhile, the lies continue to pour forth from Zeth’s mouth without a hitch.
“Back at my parents’ place in San Jacinto. My friend Michael’s going to bring it down for you within the next couple of days. I hope you don’t mind?”
“Oh, no, not at all.” My dad beams at Zeth, completely unfazed by the out-and-out falsehood that just popped out of his mouth. Seems as though this has been a morning for them. I’m simply dumbstruck by the idea that I’ve just witnessed Zeth lying, when he said he always told the truth. Always. Like it would be a cardinal sin for him to do otherwise. Not that a man like Zeth would be much bothered with cardinal sins, as far as I’m aware. He’s done much, much worse than lie in the eyes of the church. And society in general. He doesn’t seem too bothered about that.
Lacey reappears in the kitchen, her small bag slung over her shoulder, bulging with unevenly shaped objects. She drops it at her feet, exhaling deeply and smiling at the group. “So,” she says. “This has been fun, huh? We should probably go now.”
We’ve been driving in almost complete silence for five minutes before Sloane speaks. “Do you really think that was appropriate?” she asks, tapping her fingertips against her bare knees. From the back of the car, Lacey pauses in her gentle humming and leans forward.
“Think what was appropriate?” she asks.
Sloane and I answer at the same time.
“Nothing.”/ “Sloane was playing with my dick under the dining table.”
Lacey slumps back into her seat, gasping in a scandalized fashion. “No, Sloane. No, I don’t think that was appropriate behavior at all.”
Sloane’s face reddens, either from embarrassment or rage, I’m not sure, but she curls her little doctor hands into fists and raises them high enough to make me think she’s considering hitting me. The prospect of being wailed on by Sloane does remarkable things to me; I give her my most salacious smirk. “Bring it, angry girl.”
She scowls, lowering her fists. “Do you think you could at least tell me where you’re driving to right now? I notice we’re headed north. There’s not much up there apart from Seattle, and I know you're not seriously taking me back there.”
She doesn’t realize that Seattle is the only place we can go. We could travel anywhere in this country and it wouldn’t matter—Charlie would find me. Charlie would find the both of us. No, the only option is to go home and face the music. I have to do my best to get her on board with the idea while not frightening the shit out of her at the same time. “What’s up, Sloane? I thought you liked your job. Your house. Don’t you wanna go back to that?”
She wrinkles up her nose, looking up at me with such blatant incredulity that I think she might start laughing. She doesn’t, though. She just shakes her head slowly.
“Are you completely mad? Have you forgotten about your ex-employer? Ah, but then again you were nice and safely out of the picture when he started sending people around to my house to kill me. Not much of a surprise that you'd want to head straight back to your crazy sex pad as soon as my sister’s found.”
Ahh, if only she could see inside my head. She’d have been surprised by my little Sloane Romera no longer needs you bit earlier. Actually fuck that. That would be a nightmare. “I don't live in my crazy sex pad. And I haven’t forgotten about Charlie, either.”