"You want to know if the senator forced himself on me?" she asked.
Okay, that was cutting right to the heart of the matter. She managed to ask that without even flinching. This woman, just when I thought she couldn't impress me more, she did.
What did I say to that? I decided to respond to her direct approach with a direct approach of my own. "Yes, did he?"
She sighed out her nose and looked down toward the expensive rug on the floor in front of the couch. I knew exactly how much it cost because I ordered it for Forrest when I designed this place. It was still one of my favorite projects. I loved the way it turned out. Of course I did. He'd let me take free reign with it. My favorite kind of client.
Also? Sable looked like she was going to say yes, he had, in which case I was going to find a way to resurrect him from the dead and kill him again. More slowly and painfully this time. Woody set that bar pretty high. Everything he'd done to the man looked like it hurt like a bitch. Whatever, I'd think of something.
"No, he didn't," she said finally.
I was relieved for about half a second.
"But?" There was more she wasn't saying.
Her lips moved. For a while nothing came out. Her brow was creased in a tiny frown, sorting out her thoughts and maybe summoning up the courage to continue.
"Woody and I…" she said slowly.
My eyebrows twitched. "Sometimes being in dangerous situations makes people feel things they otherwise wouldn't," I said carefully. They wouldn't be the first people to fuck while under pressure. Not even close if books and movies were to be believed.
The sides of her mouth drew back. "It's not that."
It was my turn to try to get my head around what she was saying. Had I completely misunderstood? I thought she was saying they fucked. If she wasn't, then what was she saying?
No, I was almost certain I was right, but if it wasn't in the heat of the moment, then…
"Oh shit," I whispered. "He was pretending to hate you. That asshole told him to fuck you, didn't he?"
"Yeah, he did," she whispered. "He thought Woody forced me. He watched while we…" She shook her head, her deep swallow audible.
"I can't decide if I should punch Woody or cut off his balls," I said. I could do one, then the other. Now, what order was I was going to do them in?
She put a hand on my forearm. "Don't blame him. I didn't hate it. I… We did what we could to protect ourselves and each other. And it was kinda, I don't know, hot. I mean, I would have preferred to do it under different circumstances, but…"
"Right, of course you would have," I said slowly. Punching Woody in the nuts might suffice.
She smiled and squeezed my arm. "Please don't punch or cut him anywhere. He killed five people for me."
I gave her a sidelong, teasing look. "If I didn't know better, I'd think you were falling for him. Or at least hating him a bit less than you used to."
"It's a fine line," she said. "It's fair to say Woody and I are complicated. I don't know how I feel about him."
"Under the circumstances, I think that's perfectly rational," I told her. "Woody is a complicated dude. Most of the time we wouldn't have him any other way. Sometimes he can be a pain in the ass. Believe it or not, sometimes Forrest can be a pain in the ass too."
I know, shocking right?
"But not you?" She cocked her head at me.
"Absolutely not," I said with a laugh. "I'm the epitome of a perfect gentleman."
If you believe that, I have a nice bridge to sell you. Some real estate on the moon, perhaps? What about a return trip to Mars?
"Of course you are," she said sweetly. “So, that's it. That's what happened to me. To Woody too." Of course she'd think about him as well. He was probably hating on himself right now for taking part. I would be. I'd feel violated, used. I might have to cut him some slack for a while.
"I know that was hard on you," I said. She seemed to be treating it like it wasn't the big deal it really was. "You spent too long with the control taken from your hands. It's not okay you had to do it again. I wish I was there to stop it."
I could have let Forrest go back to the auction by himself, then… I don't know what. I would have thought of something.