“No, she’s my baby sister.”
I hadn’t seen that coming either, but now that I thought about it, I guess she did look like The Centurion. I was going to have to ponder that one. “At first, I thought you and Leon were twins. You look a lot alike.”
“He’s a year older than me.”
“Are you the closest to him?”
He thought about it for a second and tipped his head.
“So Achilles, Athena, and Odysseus all work for the same business?”
“Yeah. Everyone that works on that floor is family.”
What was the family business? Was it the Akita Corporation? I wanted to ask and hoped he would say, but he didn’t. Fine. Maybe I’d overhear something tonight. “Is there anything to worry about with them?” I patted the little knife I’d snuck into my underwear. I hoped it didn’t stab me in the thigh.
“No.” Alex trailed off, obviously noticing what I thought I was hiding from the way he sighed. “Still?” he muttered, almost sounding disappointed.
“I’m not going to stab you with it,” I told him. “It makes me feel better, all right?”
He grumbled. Then he sighed, and a moment later he said, “There’s something for you in the glove compartment.”
I looked at him before remembering why I wasn’t supposed to focus on him for too long and focused back out the windshield. “What?”
“Do I have to repeat the entire thing or…？”
I rolled my eyes before stopping and wondering if that might mess up the eyeshadow that it had taken me three tries to get decent. “Sometimes I think I do miss you being pissed off and just grunting,” I muttered. “But please, repeat the whole thing. I don’t think I heard you correctly. There’s something in the glove compartment?”
The man I wasn’t supposed to be looking at, who was dressed in a suit that looked like it had been made specifically for him, sighed. “Something for you.”
For me? “Really?”
“That’s what I said. You bought me that cookie; we’re even now.”
“Just so we’re on the same page, a gift isn’t a gift if you expect something in return.”
Alex didn’t say a word.
“And again, just to be on the same page, I wasn’t expecting anything. I got you the cookie because you’d said that one night that you wanted a cookie when I said I wanted Cheetos. You got me the Cheetos already.”
“Did you argue with your grandparents as much as you argue with me?”
“Hell no. I’d go into my room and talk into my pillow so they couldn’t hear me. My grandma was old, but her stink eye was just as good as yours, and she was scarier than you.” I peeked at him again for a split second. “And you’re the one who likes bickering. I just like giving you a hard time because I think you enjoy it.”
Got him.
“Open the damn glove compartment, Gracie.”
Leaning forward, I opened it almost timidly. Inside, there was a slip of paper that was his insurance card—the name on it said ALEXANDER SHōTA AKITA—and a small, brown, rectangular box.
Why I wanted to ask if that was his real name explained everything that was wrong with my life.
I mouthed it out and shot another quick look at his profile.
I could see it. It was classy, just like him. Most of the time.
Putting the card back, I took the box out, slid another glance toward Alex who was still focused on driving down the longest brick driveway in the world, and I took the top off.
There was a multi-tool inside. A Swiss Army knife on steroids.
“For me?”
He slid me a quick glance. “No, it’s for the other demon that insists on sleeping in my bed.”
Now he was calling me a demon, and I was about it. “That was you who went into the room when I was asleep and got into my bed.”
“You’re still sick, aren’t you?” he asked.
I swear… “How long can you hold your breath for?”
His eyes flicked toward me. He’d put his blue contacts in again. Was that a tiny, itty-bitty smile on his mouth? “A long time.”
Oh boy. I plucked the tool out of the box, noticing how light it was. What the hell was it made out of?
“It’s safer than you carrying around that knife in your underwear. Take it out before you stab yourself. I don’t want to hear you crying again.”
I snorted as I tossed it up and down, wrapping my fingers around it, squeezing it tight. A little beam of light shot out from the tip. It even had a flashlight!
I swallowed, tossing it up one more time.
I was not going to cry.
I was not going to cry.
I was not—
“Don’t even think about it.”
I pressed my lips together, and it took me two tries to finally say, “That’s what I’m trying to do, and you’re not helping.” I clutched the multi-tool tighter and tried again, ignoring the fact that my voice still sounded all breathy and weird. “Thank you, Alex. This is wonderful. I love it.”
“I know it is.”
I was starting to think if he stopped being a smart-ass, I might miss it a little. “I’ve been worried about the knife in my underwear since I sat down,” I admitted. “Thank you.”
His entire upper body turned toward me. “I was joking. You really put it in your underwear?”
“I’m not Lara Croft. I don’t have a thigh holster for it.”
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw he faced forward again, and I let myself glance over at him for longer than a second. I had a perfect view of the smooth edge of his jaw. His hair was styled nicely to the side with some hair products. He’d put some effort into tonight, that was for sure.
Keeping my shit together and ignoring the GQ model beside me, I started shimmying the dress up my hips and unbuckled my seat belt. His dark eyes flicked over, but I ignored him until the skirt was high enough, then I snuck my hand up the outside of my thigh and carefully pulled the knife out from the band holding it down. Then my hand went back in and I slipped the multi-tool in the same spot. It wasn’t exactly an easy reach, but that was all right. It was lighter than the knife, but I’d keep checking it to make sure it didn’t fall out.
“You might be the most distrustful person I’ve ever met.”
“I don’t have a purse, otherwise I would have put it in there.” And I wasn’t really relying on the knife to save me but more as a backup plan if we got into a pickle. I was never going to leave myself unprepared again. I’d even taken a knife from his kitchen and stuck it between the mattress and base of the bed. I would put it back if he noticed. “Thank you. I love it.”
“I heard you the first time.”
I groaned, but it was his light huff that instantly reminded me he was just being a pain in the ass.
That he was joking.
This man who bought me a multi-tool to make me feel safer.
Oh boy.
“No crying,” Alex muttered in his Superbutt voice.
Time to change the subject then. “Is your mom going to hate me?” I managed to ask. “I don’t think your siblings liked me very much yesterday.”
He didn’t even think about it. “Yeah.”