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“Nooo!” Parker shrieked, ju up and down The lu, then across her ass and around to the other side, and with that, Parker ripped open her pants and there it was, a e and terrified and Parker heard a screah the air—her screa through the air, and landed in the pile in the tub
Parker ripped off the jeans, di, and ran out of the house, through the grass and right up onto the hood of her car “Bugger! Bugger! Jeesh!” she yelped Her jeans were clutched in her hand What if there were more in there? What if a whole faht now? Once there was a faainst the warainst the car, cracking the at the re Her skin On her ass!
“Hey, Parker” ca “Parker?”
She looked up, her breath stuttering in and out of her chest
Thing One Thing One was here
“Hi,” he said, as if she wasn’t ?”
“There was a mouse in my pants”
He raised an eyebrow and smiled “Lucky mouse”
Her breath caught Wrong thing to say Wrong “It’s pretty trau One,” she snapped “Unless you like that sort of thing”
“Oh, hey, sorry, princess,” he said, approaching her car “Didn’t edy”
“There was a h, okay? I mean, do you see that house? That’sor anything, even when that fricking bird flew into ht but a mouse— I…I can’t have Nicky here! That place is infested!”
“Okay, okay,” he said “Settle down You are aware that you’re not wearing pants, right?” Another quirked eyebrow “Not that I’”
She looked down at hi She could murder him and throw his body in the water Or she could put on her pants She took a shaky breath “I’er to put them back on In case the mouse had cousins”
“Well, here LetOne took the jeans froorously Checked the pockets, too “Nothing”
“I saw it It was there It ran all the way up this leg, then across my butt, then God knohere it was headed” His mouth twitched Did he think this was funny? This was not funny! “It’s not funny, Thing One”
“Well It’s gone now” He looked down She suspected he was s Idiot
“It’s in the tub,” she said, giving the jeans a last shake before pulling theo find it Maybe it’ll crawl up your pants and we can compare notes”
“Hoas your trip up?” he asked, and really, what kind of a question was that when they were sitting in front of a hovel?
“It was lovely, Thing One This house, however, is a sty”
He looked at the house for a longI’m here, then”
Right It suddenly dawned on her that he was here A fa moved in Parker’s chest She looked away, but no, there was the mouse-infested house The harbor Better Nice view
“All right Let’s see e’re up against”
Thing One went into the house, and Parker heard a few clunks and thunks She sat on the hood of the Volvo, her panic fading gradually into the occasional shudder A rodent running up her leg…there was a sensation a person wouldn’t forget, right up there with an episiotomy
Her father’s attorney e, she noticed he looked…different It took a ure out why
He wasn’t wearing a suit First time ever she’d seen him out of— Well, this was the first time ever she’d seen him in jeans and a T-shirt, that was for sure
Parker looked away and cleared her throat “So what are you doing here, Thing One?”
He sat on the hood next to her “Since I’ this dump, Parker, you think you could call me by my real name?”
“I see her old vibe back Good
He serous, those eyes “Again?”
“Is it John? Jason?”
“It’s James James Francis Xavier Cahill”
Goose bu “So what are you doing here, James?”
“Your father asked me to come up”
Right Jaive hi for a minute, just pulled her knees to her chin and wrapped her ar?”
“He’s okay”
She’d bet her left arot hed “So This place Did you kno bad it was?”
He shook his head “I calledto ask about a security code, and he told me it was kind of a dump I didn’t think it’d be this bad, but I can help you out”
She really needed the Arineers, from the look of it “So law school trained you to overhaul a house, Thing One? I know you’re good at e trust funds, but carpentry?” There Hopefully that would erase the edge he’d gained fro seen her hysterical and in her panties
He gave her a look of his own “Nothing I did was illegal, Parker Your father had the right to do what he wanted with those trust funds, because you gave hi him have full authority over every penny And even if I’d wanted to say soe prevented me”