“Hope you like breakfast burritos.” Noah settled in next to her with a wink.
Breakfast burritos. Of course. She almost laughed out loud at her crazy presumptions. The bundles were not drugs. The packages in the closet were not bricks of cocaine. Noah was not a dealer. Nor was he an amateur pornographer. She was being ridiculous and now that she had a minute to think about it, she felt guilty for the stolen brick in her purse. Not guilty enough to say that she wouldn’t rip it open and find out what it was the minute she had a chance, but contrite nonetheless, and unfortunately for Jaylene, she’d never had a good poker face.
Noah raised a brow. “You look guilty. And I bet I know why.”
No, no. There was no way he could know why. Could he? Was it the hidden cameras? Drug dealers probably invested in things like that, even if he was innocent of the porn charge.
But before she could worry further, he said, “You moved.”
“What?”
“You moved. I told you not to move. Didn’t you get my note?”
Relief flooded through her. “Yes, I got your note. But I had to pee.”
Noah unwrapped a burrito and handed it to her. “And peeing required putting on clothing?”
She took the burrito from him, deciding it was an act of kindness rather than chivalry, and poised it before her mouth. “Maybe I was feeling a bit … rebellious.”
“Hmm.” Noah studied her with a pleased glint in his eyes. “Guess we’ll have to follow up breakfast with a spanking.”
The butterflies of anticipation danced in her belly. He wouldn’t see any complaints from her. Whatever he was, she was going to enjoy every last moment before she knew.
* * *
Lacy bounced the brick up and down in her palm then sniffed the length of it before tossing it back to Jaylene. “It’s not drugs.”
Jay caught the brown-paper package she’d confiscated from Noah’s closet in her lap. “How can you be so sure?”
“Because I am,” Lacy said with finality, leaning back into her armchair.
“I don’t think it’s drugs either,” Andy piped in. “It would be heavier. And shaped different. That feels like a book.”
Jaylene pursed her lips. She’d spent most of the day with Noah, talking and sexing. Then, when he’d politely dismissed her so that he could get some work done, she’d once again tried to ascertain exactly what that work was. As always, he was elusive. She’d left frustrated and without answers. For some crazy reason, she felt like the brick she’d stolen held a clue to Noah’s secrets. But rather than jump to conclusions—as she was often apt to do—she’d decided that she could use a little insight from some of her women friends. The Dawsons were the nearest thing to women friends she had, both in physical proximity and in the relationship sense.
Jay hadn’t given them much. She’d told them she was dating the new neighbor, that she’d found this brick in his closet, that he’d acted suspiciously whenever his job was mentioned. She’d shared her concern that Noah might secretly be a drug dealer.
Lacy rolled her eyes at that before she’d even examined the brick. Now she said, “So since you know it’s not drugs, you can sneak it back into the box where you found it and he’ll never be the wiser.”
Andy, who stood leaning behind Lacy’s armchair, gasped. “Without opening it? No way.”
Lacy tilted her head over her shoulder in her sister’s direction. “This is exactly what gets you into so much trouble, Andy. You have no sense of ethics.”
“You know what?” Andy moved to the couch as she spoke and sat next to Jay. “I’m sitting over here. Jaylene gets me. Don’t you, Jaylene?” She patted Jay’s knee.
“Well…” After the Blake Donovan debacle, Jay wasn’t claiming to get Andy at all. She evaded that conversation by focusing on the package in her lap. “I do want to open it. I mean, if it’s not drugs, what will it hurt? And I know there’s something he’s hiding from me. If he’s not going to tell me, what choice do I have?”
“That’s what I’m saying.” Andy shifted so she was facing Jay, watching her as attentively as a child watching another open a Christmas gift.
“You are bad, bad women.” Lacy shook her head disapprovingly, but she also peered over with curious eyes.
Andy winked encouragingly. “Bad is the new good. Come on; open it.”
Even without the prodding of her friends, Jay knew she wouldn’t simply put the package back where she’d found it without finding out what it was. She knew it was wrong and she chided herself as she slipped her finger under the clear tape and unwrapped the brown paper from around the item it contained.