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"Cleaning," Laila thought of another

"That was one She had scared off six housekeepers by the tiazed around her at the beautiful August evening with the sun low through the trees and thiswith her She wished she could enjoy it even a little but the fear held her heart in its unforgiving grasp "Why so many?"

"Um" Wes winced and Laila knew she’d inadvertently stuuessI don’t want to know"

"She had a bad habit of not picking up after herself"

Laila weighed whether or not to tell Wes what she wanted to tell hiht as well Her uncle tried to shield her from the truth about him and her, but her aunt never had

"I have read her books You don’t have to pretend she’syou know"

"Normal?" Wes supplied

"Vanilla," Laila said "You read even one of her books and you learn the words"

Wes exhaled with obvious and profound relief

"Thank God I wasn’t sure what you knew and what you didn’t"

"I know enough to know that I wouldn’t go sneaking around in her bedroom without body armor on first"

"It’s not that bad, I promise I lived with her She keeps most of the stuff in her closet Sometimes I’d find snap hooks between the couch cushions One ti wheel That sucker hurt And ripped a hole in hed and the sound bounced off the road and into the trees

"And she had this big long bag," Wes said, stretching his arms three feet wide "Kept it in her office most of the time She told me not to open it unless I never wanted to look her in the eyes again"

"Did you open it?"

"Nope" He shook his head and Laila’s heart juht in Wes’s hair She felt the h it But she restrained herself He probably wouldn’t like soht now "I liked looking her in the eyes"

"I think I could have, anyway, even after opening the bag My uncle, on the other hand" She let her voice trail off and Laila found herself blushing

"I guess you know about him, too, then" Wes crossed his arms over his chest