Ortega pulled outta Mae and rolled over, lying on his back and catching his breath...
Beside him, Mae's breathing was steady.
Wait.
Was she asleep?
Ortega sat up and examined Mae, who was fast asleep in her apron, blotched with body juices.
Slowly, he stood up and began to move about the room...
Where is it?
He opened her wardrobe. Closed it, feeling a strong sense of déjà vu...
He avoided looking at Mae the entire time.
He tiptoed and parted the beaded curtain...
Not wanting to go far, his head poked outta the beads, and he looked around the store...
Mae's purse was nowhere in sight. At least from his current position...
Ortega clenched his fists... Goddamnit.
"You won't find it," Mae drawled behind him.
He snapped at her sprawled form shifting on the bed.
Ortega's brows rose.
"Find... what?"
"You can't play dumb with me... I know you're looking for the keys."
Ortega grimaced. "The only key I'm looking for, Mae... is the one to your heart."
Mae propped her face on her knuckles as she lay on her side, her expression shadowed.
"You need to stop using trash lines."
Ortega click his tongue and looked up at the ceiling...
Shrugging off her lingering gaze and wondering what to do next.
How to play or pretend so she doesn't get the wrong idea...
But Mae could already see through him...
And she had the knife to cut the web of bullshit he'd spin, no matter how thick.
Every beat that passed between them felt like eternity, and the more time went...
The longer the day got older...
Ortega couldn't afford to wait...
So far, he'd been making stupid moves...
He needed a way to make Mae believe she had the upper hand while he played her under...
But first... he needed to change his level of approach.
Mae would suspect if she knew he was acting like he was all too cool with this all of a sudden.
Ortega sighed and went to retrieve his clothes from the dryer. He wore them forlornly.
When he came back, Mae was sitting on the edge of the bed
Dressing up too.
Her expression forlorn as she looked into the distance.
What was she thinking about?
He wondered, but then she said,
"Bron will be showing up in a short while."
"What?" Ortega's eyes bulged, then his heart began to hammer.
"No. You told me he was gone for days, even... Why would he come back now..."
Mae didn't know what to say. She just shrugged. "He texted me."
"Shit. Okay. Give me the keys then."
Mae scowled. "You're that scared?"
"Of course I am!"
He caught himself before he lost it completely.
"What's wrong with you, Mae..." He rubbed his forehead. "You're acting... Fuck. I don't know..."
Fuck this.
He walked outta the room. Mae called after him. Ortega didn't stop, just kept going...
Then he stopped, realizing she held the fucking keys.
"This is the worst goodbye," she said, playing with her fingers. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have done... What I did."
"Why, though?"
This was what Ortega was most curious about, and he was patient enough to let her weigh her words in the silence that followed. He watched her closely, and if he hadn't met predatory Mae, he would have mistaken the woman before him for a different person. Her expression looked strained, and she sighed helplessly.
"I don't know. I just couldn't think of something not extreme."
"That's..." Ortega didn't know what to say.
A lot had happened in the past few hours, and he was deadbeat tired.
Mae's eyes suddenly brightened. She held a finger out to him.
"Wait here."
She rushed into the backroom and came back holding her purse, already digging into it.
For a while, she rummaged through...
Then his heart did a somersault when she pulled out—
A phone?
What was she doing with a phone? He needed the key, and he needed it ASAP.
He looked at it closely...
Realizing it was brand fucking new.
Ortega's brain short-circuited.
Mae gingerly walked over to him and offered it.
"Here," she said. "It's yours."
Ortega blinked. "Mine?"
"Yeah," she said... a small smile playing on her lips...
"Before you left... I wanted to surprise you..."
Ortega said nothing, just looked at her with his mouth wide open. A warm, comforting rush filled him.
"Thanks... I wasn't expecting this."
That, he meant.
"It's nothing," said Mae.
Ortega eyed her now, hoping there were no strings attached, feeling foolish for even harboring that kind of hope.
His gaze asked the silent question.
She answered with a shrug that would have been innocent if he didn't know her.