Every once in a while, the light bulb goes on over my head and I realize
that Morelli's been holding out on me. Okay, it's more than once in a
while. It happens a lot. Morelli sends me running in circles while he's
working a larger case that involves my skip. I've gotten better at
reading the signs with Morelli and I can usually tell just as I get in over
my head that Morelli knows more than he's letting on.
I didn't know Sparrow nearly as well as I knew Morelli, but when I pointed out the dried bloodstain where we found Stinky's body and Sparrow sighed heavily, the light started to go on at about 40 watts. He turned to me, grabbed me by the waist and lifted me up, seating me on one of the crates crowding the hold.
"You know who the killer is, don't you, Sparrow?"
Sparrow moved closer to me, his arms trapping me on either side, and blocking me with his body. "Aye, my bonny badass. I believe I might at that."
"Are you going to share?" This was the first time he didn't remind me he was Captain Sparrow, savvy, and it convinced me I was right.
"No, I don't believe I will."
"What? Why the hell not?!" And how had he figured it out so quickly? I tried to concentrate, but he was moving even closer to me and that's when I realized he was trying to distract me from something behind him. "What are you hiding?"
His face was maybe an inch from mine and he batted his chocolate brown eyes innocently. "Me? Hiding something?"
"You. Hiding something." I tried to look around him but stopped me by gently pressing his lips to mine. And then it wasn't so gentle and it was enough to make parts of me tingle. But it wasn't enough to distract me from the fact that Sparrow knew more than he was letting on. I tried shoving him back, but he had me pretty well incapacitated. Okay, I could have kneed him in the crotch, but that seemed like overkill. Not to mention that maybe I might actually want those parts functional, if I was going to be stuck here in 1689. So I yanked on one of his dreads. Hard.
"Owwww!" He jerked away from me and shot me a look. "What did ye do that for?"
I propelled myself off the crate and past Sparrow before he could stop me. There were no smoking guns, literally or figuratively. Just more crates. I was missing something that would probably have been obvious to Anamaria.
"I told ye I wasn't hiding anything, love." Sparrow took my arm and turned me away from the crates.
Okay, so whatever it was involved those crates. I twisted around and saw what I'd missed. The crates had been opened and sloppily nailed shut again. All of the other crates in the hold were nailed like they'd never been opened. "What was in those crates, Spa -- uh, Captain Sparrow?"
"Call me Jack, love. I like it when ye call me Jack. Stephanie."
Sparrow's voice was silky, with more than a hint of bedroom in it. Just the sound made my nipples hard. It was my turn. I leaned forward and ran my hand over his chest and purred, "What was in the crates, Jack, darling?"
"Booty."
"Say what?" And then I remembered that before the Seventies, booty something other than what you shook on the dance floor.
"Blunt. Loot. Swag. Plunder. Savvy?"
"Oh, I savvy alright, Sparrow." I savvied that he wasn't going to tell me a blessed thing. I was going to need Ana's help.
***********************
FYI - Janet Evanovich has posted the first two parts of Chapter One of Ten Big Ones on her website, www.evanovich.com.
I didn't know Sparrow nearly as well as I knew Morelli, but when I pointed out the dried bloodstain where we found Stinky's body and Sparrow sighed heavily, the light started to go on at about 40 watts. He turned to me, grabbed me by the waist and lifted me up, seating me on one of the crates crowding the hold.
"You know who the killer is, don't you, Sparrow?"
Sparrow moved closer to me, his arms trapping me on either side, and blocking me with his body. "Aye, my bonny badass. I believe I might at that."
"Are you going to share?" This was the first time he didn't remind me he was Captain Sparrow, savvy, and it convinced me I was right.
"No, I don't believe I will."
"What? Why the hell not?!" And how had he figured it out so quickly? I tried to concentrate, but he was moving even closer to me and that's when I realized he was trying to distract me from something behind him. "What are you hiding?"
His face was maybe an inch from mine and he batted his chocolate brown eyes innocently. "Me? Hiding something?"
"You. Hiding something." I tried to look around him but stopped me by gently pressing his lips to mine. And then it wasn't so gentle and it was enough to make parts of me tingle. But it wasn't enough to distract me from the fact that Sparrow knew more than he was letting on. I tried shoving him back, but he had me pretty well incapacitated. Okay, I could have kneed him in the crotch, but that seemed like overkill. Not to mention that maybe I might actually want those parts functional, if I was going to be stuck here in 1689. So I yanked on one of his dreads. Hard.
"Owwww!" He jerked away from me and shot me a look. "What did ye do that for?"
I propelled myself off the crate and past Sparrow before he could stop me. There were no smoking guns, literally or figuratively. Just more crates. I was missing something that would probably have been obvious to Anamaria.
"I told ye I wasn't hiding anything, love." Sparrow took my arm and turned me away from the crates.
Okay, so whatever it was involved those crates. I twisted around and saw what I'd missed. The crates had been opened and sloppily nailed shut again. All of the other crates in the hold were nailed like they'd never been opened. "What was in those crates, Spa -- uh, Captain Sparrow?"
"Call me Jack, love. I like it when ye call me Jack. Stephanie."
Sparrow's voice was silky, with more than a hint of bedroom in it. Just the sound made my nipples hard. It was my turn. I leaned forward and ran my hand over his chest and purred, "What was in the crates, Jack, darling?"
"Booty."
"Say what?" And then I remembered that before the Seventies, booty something other than what you shook on the dance floor.
"Blunt. Loot. Swag. Plunder. Savvy?"
"Oh, I savvy alright, Sparrow." I savvied that he wasn't going to tell me a blessed thing. I was going to need Ana's help.
***********************
FYI - Janet Evanovich has posted the first two parts of Chapter One of Ten Big Ones on her website, www.evanovich.com.