page29 (1/2)
Since she had, it must mean — he was pretty sure that it did mean — that she preferred Nick And if she really did…
Mae’s eyebrows had co a bit
“Oh really,” she said, her voice amused and incredulous “A complete innocent, are you?”
“Definitely,” Nick assured her, letting his voice slide low “You can try corrupting me if you like”
Mae di for it”
“No, no,” Nick drawled “Release me, you monster Your wicked ways shock ely attractive”
The boat purred into life, lurching away fro between one wave and the next Nick shut his eyes in a brief flash of nausea
“I feel I should warn you,” he said after a et sick or pass out”
“Uh,” said Mae “Sexy”
Funnily enough, it was this exciting news that peeled her off the door Nick had been starting to think she was glued to She ca her iPod out of her pocket and fiddling with it, unwinding the earphones coiled around it
“Maybe what you need is a distraction,” she began
On impulse Nick reached up and pulled her down to the bed Mae h, and he rolled her over and under hiirls sometimes liked him to
He looked down at her, then leaned in close, feeling her shiver at his breath on her ear, and murmured, “Maybe”
The old; he saw the flash in her eyes under suddenly heavy eyelids and s his weight, and a sway of the ship and a breath lifted her hps against his Her breath turned into a shiver, traveling slowly along the length of her body, and she lifted her hands and ran her pal the tense swell of his arms
He probably shouldn’t be doing this Alan liked her, and he ry forever Alan was his brother, and he shouldn’t be doing this, but Alan had let hiet sick and Mae preferred him
It was all warold and that absurd pink, the curves of her and the ruether because he was starting to slip out of consciousness
Mae pushed hi an arm over his eyes
“I’d hate for you to get the wrong idea about me,” he said “Under normal circumstances, I swear, I would have copped a feel”
“I was about to suggest that soht be in order anyway,” said Mae, valiantly pretending that she was not out of breath, her voice waro
She put one of the iPod earpieces in his ear, and the other presumably in her own, and settled back down on the pillows The boat rocked theht have found soothing if he hadn’t felt so ill, and he fought to stay awake as he heard music that sounded in a faint faraway fashion like the drums of the Goblin Market
“That’s kind of nice”
“Maybe we can go listen to them sometime,” Mae murmured
“Maybe,” said Nick
Mae was a eight that tilted hihtly to her side of the bed, possibly less because of her weight than because that here he wanted to be The sunlight painted dusty gold streaks against the blackness before Nick’s closed eyes, and the drums beat in a rhyth, and as he finally lost consciousness he felt her hand lightly pushing back a strand of his hair It was pointless, but like the music, it was kind of nice
The last thing he wondered hether this counted as her asking him out
11
Answers
THE STREET IN DURHAM WHERE MARIE’S SISTER LIVED felt familiar to Nick He are that he’d never been to Durhanize the city, but as he pulled his battered car in line with the shining clean vehicles at the pavee, it occurred to him that he knew the street
It re to school friends or girlfriends whose naardens, fresh paint on the doors, and a general sense of well-being about the whole area Here, suggested the bloo flowerbeds, people were comfortable, families were secure, and above all, children were sheltered
Nick kneas an illusion These people hurt each other as ic ever invaded their lives, they would be helpless
Maybe it was an illusion Alan wanted, though This place was certainly a contrast to the shabby house Merris had found for them yesterday, close to their old house so they could hunt any ht direct there It was squeezed between a Chinese takeaway, bearing a broken sign with letters that sizzled and flickered, and a derelict house, its boarded s staring and blank as dead eyes
Alan irl He must have wanted a home like this Nick looked at the house in the same way that he would have sized up an enehtly painted door and leaned heavily on the bell
If it had not been for her anxious eyes, Nick would not have thought this was the right woman Natasha Walsh was blond, thin in an attenuated way, and much older than he had expected her to be
“Are you — who are you?” she asked
p>
Since she had, it must mean — he was pretty sure that it did mean — that she preferred Nick And if she really did…
Mae’s eyebrows had co a bit
“Oh really,” she said, her voice amused and incredulous “A complete innocent, are you?”
“Definitely,” Nick assured her, letting his voice slide low “You can try corrupting me if you like”
Mae di for it”
“No, no,” Nick drawled “Release me, you monster Your wicked ways shock ely attractive”
The boat purred into life, lurching away fro between one wave and the next Nick shut his eyes in a brief flash of nausea
“I feel I should warn you,” he said after a et sick or pass out”
“Uh,” said Mae “Sexy”
Funnily enough, it was this exciting news that peeled her off the door Nick had been starting to think she was glued to She ca her iPod out of her pocket and fiddling with it, unwinding the earphones coiled around it
“Maybe what you need is a distraction,” she began
On impulse Nick reached up and pulled her down to the bed Mae h, and he rolled her over and under hiirls sometimes liked him to
He looked down at her, then leaned in close, feeling her shiver at his breath on her ear, and murmured, “Maybe”
The old; he saw the flash in her eyes under suddenly heavy eyelids and s his weight, and a sway of the ship and a breath lifted her hps against his Her breath turned into a shiver, traveling slowly along the length of her body, and she lifted her hands and ran her pal the tense swell of his arms
He probably shouldn’t be doing this Alan liked her, and he ry forever Alan was his brother, and he shouldn’t be doing this, but Alan had let hiet sick and Mae preferred him
It was all warold and that absurd pink, the curves of her and the ruether because he was starting to slip out of consciousness
Mae pushed hi an arm over his eyes
“I’d hate for you to get the wrong idea about me,” he said “Under normal circumstances, I swear, I would have copped a feel”