Now I really felt like a louse.
We drove the rest of the way in silence, lost in our thoughts. When I stopped in front of the house, Rayford opened the door and bounded out, smiling from ear to ear. I wondered how long he’d been standing inside waiting for us to show up, peering out the windows like an anxious mother.
“Miss Bianca!” he said, opening the passenger door. He grinned at her with his entire body. “So good to see you again!”
For once I was glad of Rayford’s indestructible cheer. It visibly lifted Bianca’s spirits.
“Rayford.” She took his extended hand and allowed him to help her out of the car. Then she hugged him.
He looked as surprised as I felt.
“Why, Miss Bianca,” he said, chuckling and patting her back. “You’ll make an old man blush.”
She said something to him that I didn’t catch, then pulled away. I got out of the car as fast as I could, convinced I’d miss something important, but Rayford simply took her hand and put it into the crook of his arm and led her into the house.
I frowned at his back. The old goat just usurped me!
“So tell me how it went with your mama and Mr. Boudreaux,” said Rayford, gazing down at Bianca affectionately as they walked down the hall and I followed behind like an obedient dog, trying not to sniff too closely at her heels.
“It went great,” Bianca said, wonder in her voice. “She really liked him.”
Rayford threw a glance at me over his shoulder that said, Maybe she’s got a screw loose.
I made a face at him. He turned back to Bianca, suppressing a smile. “Of course she did. What’s not to like about Mr. Frownypants?”
I almost choked on my tongue, until Bianca laughed so heartily that I instantly forgave him. “Let’s take the elevator,” I said when Rayford headed for the spiral staircase to the second floor.
Bianca looked startled. “Elevator?”
“The master of the house enjoys installing unnecessary technology,” said Rayford, like I wasn’t two feet behind him. He patted her hand. “But now that you’ll be staying here, maybe you can talk him into finding a more useful hobby.”
“Disposing of dead bodies,” I muttered under my breath.
“Here we are!” Rayford stopped in front of the sleek brushed silver elevator doors, pretending like he hadn’t heard me. He couldn’t miss the glower I sent in his direction, however, or the Leave us alone! I transmitted directly into his brain.
After almost thirty-five years of knowing someone, telepathy is a given.
In one of the most unfortunate turns of phrases I’d ever heard, he said, “I’ll leave you two rabbits to it!”
He pressed the “Call” button on the elevator and went on his way down the hall, his footsteps and jaunty whistle echoing off the marble.
We got into the elevator. When the doors slid shut, Bianca said doubtfully, “Rabbits?”
I sighed. “I’d fire him, but he’s my only friend.”
“I’m your friend, too,” she said.
When I looked down at her, she glanced away and started to chew the inside of her cheek.
Friends. That should have made me happy, but it didn’t. It made me want to break something. Which is how I realized this lie of convenience was much more to me than just a business deal. I raked a hand through my hair and blew out a breath.
Bianca said quietly, “Was that the wrong thing to say?”
“No. Of course not. Why do you ask?”
“Because when you get really aggravated, you stab your hands through your hair.”
“I do?”
She nodded. “And you bristle. You literally get larger somehow. It’s freakish. Also you make some very unnerving animal sounds and have serial killer eyes.”
“What a charmer,” I muttered, crushed.
“It’s not all bad,” she said, looking at the ceiling.
My ears perked up, but I didn’t want to sound too eager, so I said with utmost disinterest, “Do tell.”
“Well. Um. You smell amazing. After you stopped murdering me with your eyes and I got past all the hair and your generally disheveled, hobolike appearance, it was the first thing I noticed about you.”
What a strange tingle that was, skittering over my skin. I didn’t dare speak and prayed for the elevator to go slower.
My silence prompted her to add, “And you have a really beautiful voice. If you ever decided not to be a layabout rich person, you could have an incredible career as a phone sex operator.”
Holy fuck. She thought I had a sexy voice.
For a second I stopped breathing. After my lungs remembered what their normal function was, I said, “Layabout?”
The elevator doors opened. Neither of us moved.