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"They have to be," Joey decided "She just isn’t old enough to have kids that age"

"No, she isn’t," Nicole agreed and then shrugged "Still, even if she was thirteen when she "

"She doesn’t look a day over twenty-five," Joey said firmly

"I know Nice huh?" Nicole said enviously She’d probably look forty when she was thirty-five

"Yeah, that’s what hforever"

"Or you can look like a fan tester," Nicole said dryly

"A fan tester?" Joey asked with confusion

Nicole nodded "You know, the whole toointo a high-powered fan" She pulled the sides of her face back with her hands so that her mouth and eyes were pulled into wide slits

Joey chuckled, but then asked, "Do you think she’s had face-lifts?"

"Marguerite?" Nicole asked, letting go of her face She shook her head and turned back to her search "Nah I think she just has sos again and wandered back to her "What are you looking for?"

"I bought these sonarin front of her and grabbing another

"You have rimace

"No At least I don’t think so," she added "But I’d like to keep it that way"

"Oh" He grabbed the bag nearest hih it "Are these them?"

Nicole had just found two of thelanced up and nodded when she saw that Joey was holding up half a dozen ot to her feet, hetable she kept her paint brushes and other paraphernalia on and grabbed a pair of scissors to begin cutting open the packages "So where are we plugging these in?"

Nicole smiled faintly at the "we" and leaned up to kiss his cheek as she reached his side "You’re a star, Joey Thank you for helping ing the a deal," he assured her

"But I appreciate it," she said simply

Joey snorted and shook his head "God, how did you end up so pathetic?"

"Nice," Nicole said, s him in the back of the head when he set down the scissors to pull out two of the little white repellent gizrinned and said, "You spent too ed that nice gene frorow You should have spent ene, I could have encouraged that in you"

The words surprised a laugh from Nicole and she ruffled his hair affectionately "The very fact that you think you’re a selfish asshole means you aren’t"

"Ha! Got you fooled," he said with aht her arlanced down She’d pushed up her sweater sleeves while searching, revealing the bottoe, dark bruise on her ar the sleeve further up

Nicole blew her breath out and gri out of Canadian Tire earlier tonight"

"That’s more than a spill," he said quietly

"It’s just a bruise, Joey I’m pretty sure I have several more of those My hip and knee are both sore as heck and feel stiff, and I think I must have wrenched " Nicole shrugged and tugged her arht and toood story to tell"

"Hmm" He didn’t look impressed "Well if you don’t feel better toive you sofor clumsiness"

"Ha, ha," Nicole said dryly "Co these in"

"Where are we putting the the little ite to plug one into the socket by the door "We’ll do the kitchen last You can distract Jake while I plug one in there I don’t want hiht quit"

"We wouldn’t want that," Joey said with amusement