Page 24 of Man Hands
I guide her to the door. We open it and stepoutside.
Then the world explodes intolight.
16Giant ManTruck
Brynn
It takesa while for my lust-addled brain to make sense of the blinding lights washing over me. They’re flashbulbs. Lotsofthem.
“Look over here, Tom!” a voiceshouts.
“Who’s the lucky girl?” anotheryells.
“What the…” Beside me, Tom is flustered too. But he shakes it off faster than I do. “Brynn, honey, this way.” One of his brawny arms steers me around the side of the building. “The red truck,” he saystersely. “Go!”
Apparently I’m good at taking directions. For the second time in a week I take off running just because someone urged me to. I break for the truck, and its taillights flash as I approach, signaling that it’sunlocked.
“Hey, Brynn!” a voice shouts from the mob behind us. “What’s your last name, littlebunny?”
“Don’t answer that,” Tom barks. He’s right behind me. The way Tom is parked, it’s the driver’s side of the truck that’s facing us. Tom catches my hand in one of his, then yanks the driver’s sidedooropen.
It’s sort of amazing that he’s able to whisk me right off the ground and onto the seat. I’ve never been whisked before, and it’s nice. It really is. Then he pats my hip and I like it so much that for a moment it escapes me that he wants me toscootover.
I scoot, sliding across the macho leather seats of Tom’s giant ManTruck.
He’s seated beside me and cranking the engine not a second later. The locks click down with a thunk, and he throws on the headlights. A pack of paparazzi shield their eyes from the glare. He revs the engine, and they scatter. It’s sort of a Keystone Cop kind of thing, all this scattering, and even though things are a little intense right now, I laugh. Because that’s what I do with intensity. Laugh right in its face. Take that, inten— And we’re moving. I forgot we were having a moment, but Tom saying, “That’s right, assholes.Move,”remindsme.
The truck heaves forward. The tires screech, and a moment later we’ve left them all behind in the dust. I hear a couple of themcoughing,even.
Wedrive.
Or rather Tom drives, and I sort of breathe heavily. I have to admit, his alpha-ness just then was sorta hot. In English departments, there aren’t paparazzi or big trucks, and I think that’s really a shame. “Wow,” I say, and Imeanit.
“I know,” Tom says, “I’m making excellent time.” Leave it to a man to be conscious of making good time. Though he is hitting all the lights just right. I’m still kind of woozy from remembering him list all the rooms of his house where boinking should happen. Would happen. Would be happening imminently. But as my lust dials back from eleven to, say, a nine, I realize that he looks tense. “Okay, is that whole scene…normalforyou?”
“No, not at all. Not since…” Hecringes.
“Since when? I didn’t even know they had paparazzi in Michigan. I thought they maybe shriveled up inthecold.”
“I thought that too,” he says through gritted teeth. “That’s why I’ve beenhidinghere.”
“Hiding?” Oh god, maybe Tom is some kind of psycho serial killer. “Hiding fromthecops?”
“No! Did they look like copstoyou?”
Maybe. The kind in silent movies. But I don’t say that out loud. Sometimes my imagination runs away with me. A tiny bit. Just enough to make life interesting. “Why are all those people with cameraschasingyou?”
He glances into the rearview mirror. “I have no idea, but it can’t be good.” He reaches for his phone in the cup holder and hands it to me. “Can you look at my texts? My agent’s name is Patricia. Whatever’s going on, she’d be the onetoknow.”
I take the phone, and indeed, there is a string of texts lighting up the security screen and I don’t suppose that psycho serial killers are willing to hand off their phones. This is somewhat comfortingtome.
“The passcode is H-O-M-E,”hesays.
I tap that in. “Your first message is from Braht. It says:What color are her panties this time?” Ugh. “You told him about my Easterpanties?”
“They were the only clue I had! Next time, leave behind yourbusinesscard.”
The man makes a good point. “Your next message is from Patricia. She says:That’s one way to tell the world that you’re back on themarket.”
