Page 9 of Just a Little Wicked (Wicked Sisters #2)

He was staring at her as he absently rubbed his palm with his free hand, but her question jolted him into action. He slid his cell phone from his front pocket and dialed a number. A moment later it began to ring through the Bluetooth in his fancy truck.

“Erik, you better be calling to give me raise.” The voice that came through was instantly recognizable, and Winter couldn’t help but grin.

Charlotte Hernandez was Erikson’s co-host on Grimm Reality , a vegan, and eternally devoted to the neon colors of the eighties.

Her favorite was lime green, and Winter almost never saw her without an article of clothing in that color.

Charlotte also had no qualms about giving the two brothers the exact shit they deserved, and that was another reason Winter liked her so much.

“You make as much as me,” Erikson groused.

Charlotte sighed. “I’d argue I do more research, but you do more location scouting and investigating.”

Winter’s eyebrows shot up her forehead. She’d known Connor had investigated for the show, but she hadn’t realized Erikson did too. She’d thought he was the goofy younger brother who only showed up when it was time to film.

Erikson was scowling at the console. “You’re on speaker. I’m here with Winter Celeste.”

“Sister of the bride! How are you?”

“I’m good, thank you. Yourself?”

“Oh you know, just working myself to the bone while this idiot takes off time for a wedding. The nerve.”

“Did you find anything on Atlantes?” Erikson interrupted.

“How badly do you want to know?” Charlotte asked. Winter heard a small pop. Even though it was early in the morning, Charlotte was chewing gum.

“It’s crucial that we find him,” Winter said. She would have explained why, but unlike Erikson and Connor, Charlotte, along with the rest of the world, didn’t know about Wickeds.

Charlotte must’ve heard the gravity in Winter’s voice because she said, “I managed to track down mention of someone named Atlantes in Lubec, Maine.”

Erikson met her eyes. “Where is that?” he asked Charlotte.

“It’s about as far northeast on the coast as you can go.

What I found isn’t a lot to go on, Erik.

You only gave me a single name to look up.

” Charlotte popped her gum again. “I scoured the Internet until I finally found a Facebook post with that name. Someone had uploaded an old yearbook photo from Lubec High School and written “Atlantes” under it—no tag of course, because if his real name is Atlantes, he doesn’t have any social media. ”

“It’s somewhere to start,” Erikson said. “Who uploaded the photo?”

“Lucas Gillis. And before you ask, yes, I have his most recent address, because let me tell you, this Atlantes might not have social media, but Lucas practically lives his life online.”

She rattled off an address, and without writing it down, Erikson said, “Thanks, Char.”

“I’m just a lowly servant at your beck and call.”

“Charlotte, you just got a thirty-three percent stake in the show.”

“Oh yeah,” she said cheerfully. “I forgot. Good luck you two.” She hung up before Winter could thank her.

Erikson typed the address into the GPS on his phone and scowled when he saw it was a two-and-a-half-hour trip. “How big is this state, anyway?”

“Too big,” Winter muttered. She didn’t want to share the cab with Erikson and his woodsy-bergamot aftershave any more than he wanted to share it with her.

She put the truck in gear and pulled onto the main route while Erikson, surprisingly, tucked his phone into his pocket and watched the scenery pass.

She’d expected him to sink into his phone and get lost in scrolling for the next couple hours.

Most people couldn’t stand to be bored anymore, but Erikson didn’t seem to be bored.

He appeared content absorbing the view of towns passing by and the occasional flashes of ocean crashing in the distance, the frothy white the only pop of color in an otherwise gray day.

After half an hour of silence Winter said, “Let’s listen to music.”

He turned his gaze on her, his eyes slowly refocusing. “What do you want to listen to?”

He’d managed to surprise her again. She’d assumed he’d just put on his favorite songs and leave her to suffer through his likely terrible taste in music.

She had her preferences, but she wasn’t going to admit them, so she said, “Whatever you want.”

A few moments later the beautiful, sorrowful sounds of Rachmininoff’s “Vocalise” filled the empty silence.

Winter turned toward him, her lips parting as the violin’s notes swept into the cab, aching and expertly played.

This was one of her favorite pieces, but there was no way he could know that.

He was aware that she played the violin to cope with her visions, but he couldn’t know how much she cherished this particular song.

It was the song her mother had loved to hear her play most before she’d died and Winter’s deadbeat father had abandoned her and her sisters to their two aunts.

His blue eyes were intent, studying her every micro-expression. Then, just as the intensity of his attention began to sizzle across her skin, his gaze lightened and he winked at her. “Do you like it? I picked the first violin song I saw on Spotify.”

The air whooshed out of Winter’s lungs, and the death grip she had on the wheel eased. He hadn’t purposely picked her most-loved song. Of course he hadn’t.

“It’s fine,” she muttered.

“High praise, coming from you. Tell me, what does it take to get a real, enthusiastic response from you? Have you ever, I don’t know, smiled?”

She glowered out the windshield. “I smile. But unlike some people who grin and flirt with every breath, I save mine for when it’s deserved.”

Erikson splayed his palm over his chest. “Are you implying that I grin and flirt with every breath?”

“Yes.”

He sighed. “You’re right. People love me. It’s a real curse.”

Winter didn’t know why she bothered talking to him.

“I’m starving. Let’s get something to eat.”

“We just had bagels,” she pointed out.

“No, you had a bagel.”

She frowned. “There was only one in the bag. I assumed you ate yours before you got to the inn.”

“They only had one bagel left at the bakery. Pull over at the next Dunkin’ Donuts. You can have more coffee,” he cajoled.

Her scowl intensified as she stared out the splattered windshield. He’d given her the last bagel. Why? She’d never taken Erikson Grimm to be the gallant or considerate sort.

She would have stopped for food anyway now that she knew he hadn’t eaten, but the promise of more coffee was an added bonus. She’d already drunk the other two cups, the empty paper containers an eyesore in the otherwise pristine interior.

Ten miles later, she pulled into a Dunkin’ Donuts drive through and bought a large black coffee while Erikson ordered not one, not two, but three breakfast sandwiches.

“How can you eat so much?” she asked as she turned back onto the road.

The sky was overcast, and without the brilliance of autumn leaves or the soft down of snow, the bare branches of the trees they passed were dull and uninspiring.

She shivered and turned the heat up in the cab, blasting it through her vent while Erikson immediately turned his own vent down.

“I’m big.”

She assumed he meant it as a sexual innuendo, but she wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of reacting.

Besides, he really was big. If she had to guess, she’d say he had a foot of height on her.

Winter had always bemoaned her short stature.

She wished she’d been born with a few more inches, like Holly, but no: she and Missy had entered the world more than a month early, tiny and dusted with red hair, and they’d stayed tiny.

She’d never let her size hold her back, though. Her school guidance counselor had once suggested that she was overcompensating for her size after she’d punched a girl for making fun of Missy. Winter had muttered that maybe Jessica White was just a bitch, and she’d been suspended for two days.

“Let’s make a deal: you don’t reference your penis for the next three days, and I won’t break your nose.”

Erikson’s eyes twinkled as he swallowed a bite of egg and ham sandwich. “I was talking about how tall I am, but it’s interesting where your mind went. However, since I’m a gentleman, I promise I won’t talk about my massive dick for the next three days.”

“You’re aware that when men claim they have a massive dick, it’s almost always the opposite?”

“Huh.” He took an enormous bite out of his sandwich, finishing half of it in one go, and crumpled up the wrapper. “I didn’t know that.”

She waited for him to offer to show her his dick to prove that he was different, but he just smirked and unwrapped his second sandwich.

Before she could wonder why he was so nonchalant about the insult, his phone rang. On the cab screen, Connor’s name appeared.

“What are you going to tell him?” she asked.

Erikson dropped the sandwich back on the wrapper and pulled his phone from his pocket, frowning at the name. He didn’t answer her before accepting the call and switching it from Bluetooth to the phone. “Connor.”

From across the cab, she could hear Connor’s voice through the phone, deep and worried. “Erik. What the hell, dude? You texted that you found Winter, and since then you’ve ignored all my other texts. Is she all right? Are you on your way home?”

“Yeah, she’s fine. We’re taking a little trip before we come home.”

There was silence on the line. “A trip?” Connor asked incredulously.

“We need to do something. I’m helping her with something,” Erikson clarified. “Nothing to concern yourself over. Tell Holly she’ll be at the wedding.”

Winter flinched. Erikson wasn’t lying per se, but she had no doubt Connor could tell he was holding something back just from Erikson’s too-casual tone and vague answers.

Connor was ruthless and intuitive, and he knew his brother like the flat of his own palm.

So she was unsurprised when Connor said, “Tell me what’s wrong. Right now.”

“There’s nothing wrong.”

“You’re keeping something from me.”

Winter caught the gleam of mischief in Erikson’s eyes, and knew she wasn’t going to like whatever came out of his mouth next.

“Fine. When I caught up with Winter, one thing led to another and we just couldn’t resist the attraction between us any longer.

We need a few days to get it out of our system, if you know what I mean.

So chill, Con. Enjoy the last couple days before the wedding, while I enjoy Winter. ”