Page 73 of Look at Her and Die

“It is for a fantastic cause,” I reported. “Every single penny that they make at that ball pays for all the under privileged kids, like my brothers and sisters and me, to go to a safe and productive camp every summer. I went there. It was the only reason I got to eat some summers.”

He was silent for a few seconds and then, “If you go, I’ll go.”

“Deal,” I said. “I have a lot of money to blow. It’s my turn.”

Instead of replying, he reached for me and pulled me closer, my thighs straddling his.

“Ready to ride, princess?” he asked.

Princess.

I still wasn’t sure how to feel about that nickname.

The first time he’d used it, it sounded condescending.

But the more he used it, especially in situations like these, the more I’d come to love those syllables coming out of his mouth.

“Ready.” I smiled, then bent my head down to kiss him.

Despite our helmets knocking together, the kiss was still sexy as hell and all-consuming.

By the time I pulled back, there was loud clapping from the same neighbor that was across the street.

If I wasn’t so desperately happy, I might flip the guy off.

“Anything new and exciting happen after I brought you home yesterday?” he asked as he pulled back to stare down into my face.

I gave him a rundown of the day after I’d left him, ending with what my next steps were.

“And I want to spend it, but I know that it’ll draw attention.” I sighed. “I am going to move out, though.”

“What about your siblings?” he asked as he helped me climb on behind him.

I sighed again. “They’ll be coming with me.”

“Your mom’s okay with that?” he asked.

“Not necessarily.” I shrugged as I threaded my arms around his solid torso. “I’m just going to have to do it slowly, so it looks like a normal next step. The lawyer wants us to try to make it stretch out into about a six-month period.”

I tried not to address Harrington as anything but my lawyer.

I noticed that it was a sore subject for Posy, and tried not to broach it if I didn’t have to.

It was the quickest way to kill the mood, and it sucked when Posy clammed up tight.

That was one thing that we didn’t talk about.

His family.

“Are you still okay with going to the clubhouse with me?” he asked. “We can grab something to eat before we go. Usually they have food, but we’re already a bit late. There’s no telling what’ll be left.”

I’d offered to go with him earlier, but he’d admitted that he really couldn’t until he got all the animals taken care of. Truthfully, it worked out better for me because I had other things to be doing besides sitting at a party. Like staring at my bank account balance, questioning whether I should pinch myself again or not.

Something that was still so overwhelming that it startled me each time I remembered it’d happened.

“I’m more than ready,” I said. “How do you feel about Taco Bell?”

He scrunched up his nose. “Usually, I’d say gross. But today it does sound pretty good. Plus it’s fast, and easy.”

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