“You have a strange effect on me,” she told him.
Jack put his hands on his hips which made his shoulder muscles bulge. Davina swallowed hard.
“Why don’t we go inside and discuss that?” he said.
She had to bite her lip to stop from saying yes.
“Bad idea. Very bad idea.”
Jack’s shoulders slumped as she sighed heavily.
“You’re probably right,” he said. When he looked into her eyes she felt ensnared. “There’s something about you, Davy,” he told her, with what seemed like genuine bewilderment. “Something I can’t put my finger on. I know you’re up to something. I’m sure of it, yet when I get this close to you other things pop into my mind. Other questions I want answered.”
Davina’s heart beat so ferociously she was sure it was trying to break out of her chest. Don’t ask. Just don’t ask.
“What other questions?” she said.
He gave her a bemused smile.
“Right now I’m seriously wondering what’s keeping your dress up.”
She looked down at her strapless dress, then looked up to find her cleavage had his full attention. The spell was broken. Men.
“Take your gardening gear and leave.”
Jack sauntered down the steps to the garden.
“I’ve decided that I like it here.”
“You need to spend some time in your own life, at your own house.”
“This is my house, princess.”
Davina made a little strangling noise, when what she really wanted to do was throw a full blown tantrum.
“You know,” he said over his shoulder, “you were a lot friendlier when we first met.”
Against her will her cheeks burned.
“And you were a lot more cooperative.”
“If you want that sort of cooperation again, just say the word. But this time I’ll be the one tying the scarves.”
With that he disappeared into the overgrown garden. With a frustrated grunt Davina let herself into the house, making sure she locked the door behind her. He was messing with her head. She peeked out the window and clenched her fist. She thumped the glass. When Jack looked around she shouted at him.
“Put some clothes on!”
His smug little smile made her want to pummel him.
Or throw herself at him. Instead she dropped the curtain and gently pounded her head against the wall. Maybe that way she could knock some sense into herself.
The house was suspiciously quiet for the rest of the afternoon. Jack wandered around and tried to look like he was gardening. He had no idea what he was doing. He’d lived in a concrete apartment block his whole adult life. His outdoor space consisted of a balcony big enough for a treadmill. He randomly pulled up plants hoping they were weeds and listened to Davina’s activity through the device in his ear. So far it had mainly consisted of banging doors and cursing him. He smiled against his will. That woman did funny things to his brain. When she was around logic left him and he found himself thinking with Mr Big. Mr Big didn’t care that she was growing drugs. Mr Big only wondered how she managed not to fall out of her dress. He looked down at Mr Big in disgust.
It was getting dark. So far there was no sign of the visitors she’d mentioned. Now and then the net curtains would twitch and he knew she was watching him. He wondered if she’d called and cancelled. Either way it didn’t matter, he couldn’t garden in the dark. So he pretended to pack up and made a big deal out of driving away. As soon as he was out of sight from the house, he parked behind a bush and waited. Wishing he’d brought a snack.
It wasn’t long before three cars passed. Jack wrote down the details. A few minutes later the two scooters from the night before arrived. He was beginning to regret putting the bug in the kitchen, because all he was getting was static. The passenger door suddenly swung open. Jack resisted the urge to put a hand over his racing heart.
“I thought I’d find you here,” Andy said as he climbed in.