The smile I pasted on my face was as fake as the Louis Vuitton bag I’d once bought off eBay. It’d lasted all of two weeks before it’d begun falling apart, but damn, it’d looked good for the first day.
Remy didn’t look convinced, but just as he opened his mouth to challenge me, Toby let out a cry.
Looking torn—something I’d never seen when it came to his son—he sighed. “Finish packing, and I’ll go and deal with Tobe.”
With a salute that got me a glare, I continued stuffing what I needed in the bags and then pulled out my backpack to put my laptop and notebook in. They were still in the garbage bag on the couch, so I wandered through and stopped when I saw Remy looking into it.
“I’ll just—”
Glancing over his shoulder, Remy interrupted me. “Why are your laptop and a notebook in a trash can liner?”
“I didn’t want it to get wet,” I told him honestly. “I moved to the couch after what happened in my bedroom. I figured if it happened through here, at least they’d be safe from the water in the bag.”
Nudging him out of the way, I took both items out of it and put them in my bag, making sure the laptop was in the special section for it that had a padded divider to protect it.
“You really look after your laptop, huh? I just put mine in my bag when I go away.”
He had no idea how much I relied on the device and how much I’d be lost without it. One day, I’d buy myself a proper computer and a desk, but this was the best I could do until then.
“This is a laptop backpack that I got off Amazon. It’s got a special compartment with extra padding that keeps it safe. See?”
I showed him the area, even though he’d just watched me put the computer in the bag. “I don’t usually need to carry it with me, but I like knowing that it’ll be safe when I do take it places.”
“Makes sense. That’d be a good bag to use when I have to go places with my computer and Toby. The laptop could go in its place, but these compartments on the front of the bag would be perfect for his bottles and shit.”
“I can confirm they are.” I may not have needed to transport my laptop often in it, but stuff for Toby was a whole different subject.
Remy stared at it for a moment and pushed some hair off his forehead.
“Figures you’d have that covered, too.” It wasn’t said offensively, more like he was making a note of it for some reason.
Surprising me, he tapped me on the butt, making me jump. “You need anything else? I can always get the guys to box some of it up and bring it over later if you do?”
Looking around the place, I shrugged. “Not really. This is all just superficial stuff. If they need it out of the way while they do the repairs, I’ll come and box it all up and store it in my car.”
“You take Toby, and I’ll take the bags out,” he offered, trading me the backpack for his son. I say traded, but in reality, Toby lunged for me, and I had no other choice but to relinquish my hold on the strap of the bag to catch him.
Following behind him with Wrecker at my feet, I took one last glance around the place before I closed the door. Nope, there definitely wasn’t anything else that I needed to bring with me.
Instead of continuing over to where his vehicle was parked at an angle like he’d stopped it in a hurry instead of the calm way he usually parked, parallel to the house, Remy stood there watching me. It seemed like he was waiting for me to do something.
When he didn’t move, I threw my free arm up. “If you’re waiting for me to do a magic trick, you’ll be disappointed. I can’t even shuffle a deck of cards without them shooting out everywhere.”
“Aren’t you going to lock that?”
“The door?”
Remy growled something under his breath. “Yes, the door. Aren’t you going to lock it?”
“Well, no,” I said slowly. “I don’t have anything worth stealing in there, and the guys need to get in to fix it.” Remembering the pots and bowls of water, I turned to go back inside. “Wait, I need to get rid of the stuff I used to catch the water last night. They could trip and hurt themselves, or they might start stinking the place up.”
Grabbing my arm gently to stop me, Remy shook his head. “The guys are capable of not stepping in them. You’ve also got a soaking wet bed and mattress—if anything’s going to start stinking, it’ll be that first.”