The Detective and Her Bachelor

Chapter 13

I kept touching my lips like a lunatic. Like they had somehow managed to change in the last two minutes. But nothing was different. It was all in my mind. My lips were fine. My brain was the part of me with problems.

I pursed my lips in the mirror. They looked the same. But felt different. Like they had been kissed with sunshine and an addictive quality that left me itching for more. 

I yanked my face away from the mirror, irritated with myself. 

Delle... seriously. Stop being weird.

Helping Bianca had been the right decision, but the consequences left me frazzled as I snuck out of the mansion. I followed a map that Nat had sketched out, struggling with my focus as my hand went up to my lips again of their own accord.

Nat had given me a five-minute window, where they were going to be doing "maintenance" on the cameras of a specific hallway. A task that would slowly take out each camera one by one throughout the house while everyone was out at the pool. The camera blackout would give me a chance to get out without being seen. 

And I had to be back in three hours, during a five-minute window while they worked on a set of cameras in another section so I could sneak back in. It was a one-time offer. One I was planning on using well. 

In short, I couldn't afford to be distracted as I snuck out. But the way Ace's hands had pulled me closer, the way his lips felt against mine, the way he had looked at me, all left me breathless and confused. 

No, not confused. Irritated. He shouldn't have kissed me back. Shouldn't have pulled me closer. Shouldn't have looked at me the way he had. He should have just stood there, shocked and flustered. Not... wanting me back.

Pulling my black hoodie tight against my red curls, I climbed the wall surrounding the front of the mansion and landed in a roll on the other side before ducking into the shadows on the sidewalk, breathing for the first time in days. It felt good to be back in my jeans and normal shoes. 

Rolling my shoulders, I moved quickly around the corner, itching to put as much distance between me and the not-so-fake chaos I had stumbled into. 

Pulling out my phone I called Decker as I moved, amused when he picked up on the first ring. "Woah quick trigger fingers there Decker. Miss me much?"

 He was silent for a moment. "Falls?" 

"I'm out. I have three hours before I have to be back. Are you here?" 

There was a pause before shuffling ensued on the other end of the phone. "Ten blocks away." I heard a door slam. "Head east. I'll pick you up." 

"Kay," I replied, enjoying the sound of a familiar voice on the other end of the phone. But it was short-lived as his irritating personality suddenly shined through.

"Just make sure you aren't followed." 

I snorted. "I'm not a newb. If anyone is, I'll lose them before I find you." 

"Just make sure," he replied dryly, hanging up. 

Rolling my eyes, I shoved my phone in my pocket and hurried down the street, pulling my hooding higher over my face. 

I had been tailing people and going unseen for years. And his suggestion that I was less than capable make me bristle. But that was who he was. Paranoid, cautious, and rude. 

As I turned the corner, I spotted a figure behind me, moving at a similar pace, and swore. Decker having any probability of being right made the entire situation that much more irritating. Like I need to give Decker another reason to be smug!