Chapter 22
“Is there a reason why you’re interrogating me?” Kristen asked, wondering about the sudden interest in Tristan and Emily.
“Is that what I’m doing?” Garrett murmured absently as he glanced to his left, drawing her attention to a small bookcase filled with what appeared to be boxes of crayons, markers, coloring books, and board games.
“It’s either that or you’re trying to piss me off,” Kristen said, watching as he stood up and made his way over to the bookcase to grab something off the top shelf.
“Probably a little bit of both,” Garrett said as he dropped back down on the bench across from her with a deck of cards in his hand.
“And the cards?” Kristen asked with a pointed look at the deck of cards in his hand.
“Will make this easier,” Garrett said, meeting her gaze as he deftly slid the deck of cards out of the box and into his hand.
“And what exactly is this?” Kristen asked, watching as he tossed the empty box on the table and began shuffling the cards, all while keeping his gaze locked on her.
“Catching up on old times,” he drawled as he finished shuffling the deck and placed the cards in the middle of the table.
“Is that what we’re doing?” Kristen asked, watching as he cut the deck and held it up, showing her the ten of hearts before putting the cards back on the deck.
“Unless you have a better suggestion,” Garrett said as she reached over and cut the deck, revealing the queen of hearts.
“We could renegotiate the terms of our agreement,” she said, placing the cards back on the deck.
Nodding, Garrett said, “We could do that,” as he reached over and cut the deck, revealing the ace of spades.
“Two hours for every hour that I use you for my own nefarious needs isn’t going to work for me,” Kristen said with a heartfelt sigh and a sad shake of her head, making his lips twitch as he placed the cards back on the deck.
“And going to the mall, playing mini golf, and watching the game with me every week?” Garrett drawled as she took her turn, revealing the three of hearts.
“Will result in wasted manpower, hours, money, and time since they’ll never find your body,” Kristen said, making him chuckle as she placed the cards back on the deck.
“You want the usual?” a middle-aged woman asked, pulling out a small notepad from her apron as she made her way to their table.
Never taking his eyes off Kristen, Garrett said, “And a cheeseburger platter with extra tomatoes and no pickles and a chocolate milkshake with a shot of hot fudge for the lady, please.”
“You got it,” the waitress said, writing it down on her notepad as she walked away.
“Come here a lot?” Kristen asked as she watched him cut the deck.
“I don’t sleep well,” Garrett said, showing her the eight of spades.
“Guilty conscience?” she asked, taking her turn.
“Something like that,” he said as he took in the queen of hearts. “I’m willing to renegotiate the terms of our agreement.”
“I’m listening,” Kristen said, placing the cards back on the deck.
“We keep playing, high card gets to ask a question. You have to tell the truth or the game is over and you automatically lose,” Garrett said, taking his turn and revealed the ten of diamonds.
“Do I get any skips?” Kristen asked, knowing better than to agree to anything without giving herself an out.
“Two,” Garrett said, placing the cards back on the deck.
“Four,” she countered, taking her turn.
“Two,” Garrett said, glancing at the two of clubs in her hand before taking his turn and revealing the six of diamonds.
“Fine. Then, I get to decide the terms of our deal,” Kristen said, meeting his gaze as she took her turn.
“How about this?” Garrett said as his gaze flickered to the five of spades in her hand. “If you win, we’ll go back to the original deal, for every two hours that I allow you to use my body for your nefarious ways, I get one hour of your time.”
“With vetoes,” Kristen amended.
Nodding, Garrett said, “With vetoes.”
“And if I lose…”
“Then, the roles are reversed and for every hour that I allow you to use my body for your nefarious needs, you owe me two,” Garrett said before adding, “with no vetoes.”
Slowly nodding, Kristen placed the cards back on the deck as she thought that over. For a moment, she debated changing the terms so that if she won, she didn’t owe him any hours so that she could finish this book without being forced to spend time with him, but...
There was something seriously wrong with her.
“Fine. How do we decide who loses?” Kristen asked as their waitress returned with their food.
“Whoever loses ten rounds first,” Garrett said as several double-cheeseburger platters were placed in front of him along with a Coke.
“Is that with or without the skips?” Kristen asked as her food was placed in front of her. “Thank you,” she said, never taking her eyes off the man sitting across from her while he debated his answer.
“Without,” Garrett said, watching her as the waitress placed straws and extra napkins on their table. “Thank you, Mary.”
“You’re welcome, sweetheart. Just let me know if you need anything else,” Mary said, and with that, she walked away as Garrett gestured to the deck of cards. “Ladies first.”
Keeping her eyes locked on him, Kristen popped a steak fry in her mouth before she reached over and cut the deck, revealing the nine of spades before placing it back on the deck.
She watched Garrett copy the move, popping a fry in his mouth before he reached over and cut the deck, revealing the queen of diamonds.
“Looks like you win,” Kristen said, grabbing the bottle of ketchup off the table and squirted an unholy amount over her fries before handing the bottle to him.
“And it looks like you lose,” Garrett said, accepting the bottle as he considered her for a moment and-
“Why aren’t you married?” he asked, making her lips twitch.
“Trying to get all the skips out of the way?” Kristen asked, watching as he squeezed ketchup into a neat puddle next to his fries.
“Something like that,” Garrett drawled while she sat there, debating using her skip now, but she knew that if she did, he’d force her to use her second skip on the next question so that she didn’t have any choice but to answer all of his questions.
“Nobody asked me,” Kristen drawled, watching his lips twitch as he ate another fry.
“Fair enough,” Garrett said as he took his turn, revealing the jack of spades.
She tore her straw open and placed it in her glass before she took a sip as she reached over and took her turn, enjoying a sip of the creamy treat as she held up her card, revealing the king of hearts.
“Who was she?” Kristen asked, pausing mid-suckle to ask him the question that she’d been wondering about for a while now.
She watched him go still before he forced himself to relax as he said, “Skip.”
“Chicken,” Kristen said, taking another sip before she reached for the deck, this time revealing the seven of hearts.
“Probably,” he murmured, taking his turn, revealing the four of clubs.
“Why did you take me camping?” Kristen asked, deciding to start with something easy while she waited to see where he was going with this game and there was no doubt in her mind that they were playing this game for a reason.
“Because I wanted a chance to show you that I’m not a complete asshole,” Garrett said, cutting one of his burgers in half.
“And the reason why you took it upon yourself to teach me everything there was to know about camping?” Kristen asked, picking up her burger and took a bite.
“Are we doing follow-up questions?” Garrett asked, picking up half of his burger.
“You never said that I couldn’t,” Kristen pointed out, taking a bite of the incredibly juicy burger and nearly groaned even as she found herself wondering if he did it on purpose.
Garrett was thorough, detail-oriented, and strategic. He thought everything through at least ten times in his head before he even considered making a single move, anticipating any possible loopholes, which left her wondering why he left this one.
“True,” he said, taking a bite of his burger. “I wanted to help you with your book.”
“It did help me come up with fifty-seven new ways to dispose of your body,” Kristen said, nodding solemnly as she reached for the cards and held up the two of spades.
“I’m sure it did,” Garrett murmured, waiting for her to put the cards down before he reached over and took his turn, revealing a four of diamonds. “Why didn’t you tell me that I was Tristan?”
“Because it wouldn’t have changed anything,” Kristen said, already reaching for the cards.
“It would have changed everything,” Garrett said, watching her as she cut the deck and held up the king of spades.
“You really think so?” Kristen asked as she placed the cards back on the deck.
“Yes,” he said with absolutely no hesitation as he reached over and cut the deck, revealing the nine of hearts.
“Why did you quit your job with a prestigious law firm, where rumor has it, you were set to make partner to buy a house that was on the verge of being condemned?” Kristen asked with a look that dared him to lie to her.
“Revenge,” Garrett admitted, watching her nod as she thought that over.
“And you really think that you would have believed me if I told you the truth sooner?”
“Yes,” he said, gesturing for her to take her turn.
“Why is that?” Kristen asked, taking a sip of her milkshake as she reached over and cut the deck, revealing the ten of hearts.
“Because it would have changed everything,” Garrett said, taking his turn after she placed the cards back on the deck, revealing the queen of spades and-
“Are you Emily?”