Charades And Champagne

28

Disentangling herself from Joshua wasn't easy. And Zoe only managed to do it by reminding him yet again how hungry she really was – a lie that he bought readily enough.

        It wasn't like he had any reason to protest anyway. In his eyes, her kinky outfit switch showed her willingness to cooperate. Which was exactly why she'd done it.

        Now Joshua was happy. And trusting.

        Meaning, his guard was down.

        And what she was about to do next totally DEPENDED on his guard being down.

        When he'd flashed his phone at her earlier, she saw something that confirmed her suspicions about it. It had the fingerprint unlock feature on the back.

        It wasn't like she hadn't seen his phone before. She'd just never paid any real attention to it.

        Well, at least now she knew for sure. That fingerprint unlock feature was going to save her ass tonight. Oh sure, she already knew that Joshua would never unlock his phone for her willingly.

        But who said anything about willingly?

        She took a bite out of her pizza as she sat and waited for Joshua to come back. He'd disappeared into the kitchen to get them both a drink and Zoe was making use of his absence to go through her plan once more.

        The pizza was good. She briefly wondered where it was from. Not Al's since it was still closed. Maybe she'd ask Joshua about it. If she could even bring herself to remember.

        "Hey babe." Joshua's voice snapped her out of her daze. He'd come back. There was bottle and two champagne glasses in his hands.

        "I brought champagne. I mean there's other stuff, but if I remember correctly, you preferred champagne," he said with a sly wink.

        She had no idea what he was talking about. Although – that wink and the smile that preceded it should have been her first clue to quit while she was ahead. But since she was still obsessing over the finer details of her plan, she didn't notice either of them.

        "Oh ... er, thanks Joshua," she said, offering him a bright smile even though it was a well known fact that she didn't drink.

        Joshua's sat down opposite her and began filling the two glasses. Zoe tried not to look too eager as he passed her one of them with a rakish grin. Her hand clutched the small evening bag on her lap tightly. Hopefully that would help her concentrate.

        Doing her best to look cool and collected in front of Joshua, she traced her index finger over the rim of the glass.

        "So babe," Joshua said conversationally. He was doing a lot of grinning, she noticed. "How about a toast? To the beginning of a new relationship maybe?" Zoe's heart skipped a beat.

        Oh no you don't.

        "Later Josh," she said, waving dismissive hand as she picked up another slice of pizza. "No one stands between me and my stomach. And this pizza is to die for. Where's it from anyway? I thought Al's was closed."

        Joshua chucked. "It isn't from Al's. There's this new Italian food place that opened up near here. I order in practically everyday."

        Zoe eyed him, curious despite herself. "Everyday? What about your mom? Doesn't she cook?"

        "My mom, cooking? Yeah right," Joshua scoffed disdainfully. "She's not even at home half the time and even if she was, I doubt she even knows how to cook anymore."