Crow casted Rikki an estranged look as she struck up a conversation with Penelope. Just like before, he found it difficult to tell what exactly the other thief was trying to do, but he did know that he didn’t trust her. She had proven to be too manipulative for that. Whether she was trying to get some sort of information out of the knight or if she was simply trying to stay between them by preventing them from having any time alone, her motives couldn’t have been pure.

As Rikki began questioning Penelope about Gavin, he tensed slightly and glanced at the knight, hoping she wouldn’t mention anything about the fact that the man was her former suitor. He wanted to keep the other thief in the dark about that knowledge for as long as possible, since he didn’t know what she would do if she learned the truth. After her last attempt to separate him from Penelope, he felt quite certain that she would just find some way to use Gavin against them.

Fortunately, Penelope seemed quick to realize that it was risky information to share as well. Crow relaxed as she referred to the other knight as her friend and snuck another subtle glance at Rikki to see if she would buy it.

“A friend, huh?” Rikki mused, studying Penelope’s face in a way that set Crow on edge. Having lived with her for over a year, he had learned that she was incredibly sharp and not easily tricked. He held his breath. While Penelope hadn’t been lying in her statement that Gavin was her friend—she had made it clear, much to Crow’s annoyance, that she wanted to continue to be close to him even though they were no longer courting—it wasn’t the complete truth. He just hoped it would be enough to satisfy Rikki’s curiosity.

After a moment, the female thief’s analytical eyes drifted back to Gavin’s back. “He’s quite the handsome fellow,” she commented, turning back to the other woman with a devilish smirk. “You know… we should find some time later to get to know each other better. I’d love to hear more about your ‘friendship’ with that man.” She leaned a little closer to the knight and lowered her voice. “You absolutely must tell me how he is in bed.”

Crow faltered at that. He shot Rikki an annoyed look, “Gods, you just assume the whole kingdom is sleeping around, don’t you?” He shook his head. “Men and women can be friends [i]without[/i] being physical with each other.” He emphasized the word in the hopes that she would realize he was including their own relationship in that statement.

Rikki looked up at him with amusement in her dark eyes. “Really?” she purred. “Because you certainly haven’t kept your hands off me, and we’re ‘just friends.’” She laughed. “I’m sorry, but I just don’t buy it. Whenever you put two attractive people in a room together, someone’s bound to make a move on the other.”

“That’s not true, and you know it,” Crow rolled his eyes and slid his arm around Penelope’s waist, casting her a fond smile. “I haven’t touched you since we got together.”

“Oh really?” Rikki grinned at him mischievously. “Are you sure you want to hold fast to that claim?”

Crow narrowed his eyes at her warily, “What are you talking about?”

She shrugged, examining her nails as if their conversation was uninteresting, “I happen to recall a certain kiss that happened between us not that long ago… and I’m fairly sure you two were already together at the time.”

Crow flushed scarlet as he suddenly remembered the incident Rikki was talking about. He had nearly forgotten about the morning when he had mistaken the thief for Penelope and met her lips in a thoughtless kiss—one that he still regretted and had hoped the knight would never find out about.

She grinned at his reaction, “Face it, Crow. It’s just human nature for men and women to be drawn together like that.” She turned to Penelope with a victorious gleam in her eyes. “Isn’t that right?”