Page 75 of Things We Fake
“No,” I said.
“Yes!” Jesse said at the same time, grinning like the salt water crocodiles I was talking about last night.
Cam stepped closer, folding his arms. “Should we get it inside before the entire building sees it?”
Too late. Mrs. Vicars’s door creaked open, her face appearing in the crack.
“What’s going on out here? Something broken?”
“No, Mrs. Vicars,” I said quickly. “It’s just a mix-up. Nothing to see.”
Jesse winked at Cam. “There’s definitely something to see.”
Cam finally let out a low chuckle, shaking his head. “Let me help.”
“I said it’s not mine,” I insisted, my voice rising as Rose and Iris from 3C peeked over the banister, whispering to each other like a pair of nosy sparrows.
“Let’s get this inside before someone starts filming,” Cam said.
Jesse grabbed one end of the box, and Cam grabbed the other, leaving me to trail helplessly behind as they carried it into my apartment.
As soon as the door closed, Jesse turned to me. “Your day just got a lot more interesting.”
I stared at the box as though it might explode. “I’m calling the delivery company to figure this out. Someone’s trying to humiliate me.”
Jesse plopped down on the couch, picking up the pretzel bag.
Cam leaned against the doorframe, his arms crossed. “So you didn’t order this, Sue?”
“Of course not. It must be a mix-up, a mistake of some sort.”
I groaned, sinking onto the couch next to Jesse. “What do I even do with it?”
Jesse tilted her head, examining the pictures on the box. “Well, you could always keep it. You know, for science.”
I elbowed her in the ribs. “It must be some practical joke from someone with a twisted sense of humor.”
Jesse frowned. “Who would go through such trouble—and expense? This thing can’t be cheap.”
A single name popped into my head, accompanied by a vision of perfectly manicured nails and a Medusa tangle of red hair.
“Britt,” I said through gritted teeth.
“Who?”
“Never mind. Jess, will you please excuse Cam and me? We need to figure this thing out.”
Jesse cleared her throat in a dramatic manner as she stood. “Sure. Have fun, and if you need help I’m sure it’s got instructions.”
She winked as she headed out. She stopped to give Cam one last piece of advice. “Make sure you help her… figure things out, or someone else will.”
He cleared his throat. “Thanks. Noted.”
My face grew even hotter, which must have been some sort of record. “Ignore her. She got kicked in the head by a mule when she was a kid.”
Cam closed the door behind Jesse’s chuckles. He looked amused, which pissed me off even more. Once we were alone with the sex swing and its box full of dirty pictures, the air between us seemed to growuncomfortable.
Cam scratched his jaw, where that end-of-day stubble gave him a dangerous edge. Paired with dark slacks and a white shirt with the sleeves rolled up, he was doing sinful things to basic office wear.
