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his T-shirt over his head and kicked his shoes off. “No. He has his own bedroom. You only have one bedroom, so he doesn’t know where to sleep.”
    “Like you.”
    “Honey, I know exactly where to sleep.”
    His jeans hit the floor, and I told myself to look away, but I couldn’t force myself to do it. Diesel naked was a masterpiece of male perfection. I was tempted to turn the light back on, but I was afraid that would be too obvious. He dropped his boxers and slipped under the covers next to me.
    “This thing that happens when two people with special abilities get together. You want to explain that to me again?” I said to him.
    “One of them loses all their special abilities. No way of knowing ahead which one will be the loser.”
    “And just exactly what is it that triggers this power outage? I mean, does there have to be penetration? Does there have to be an exchange of body fluids?”
    “Exchange of body fluids is a given, beyond that it’s a gray area.”
    “How about contraception? A condom would contain body fluids. What then?”
    I could feel Diesel smile. “You want me bad.”
    “I do not! That’s ridiculous. I’m just asking.”
    He slid his arm around me and nuzzled my neck. He was warm, and he smelled great, and I liked the way he felt pressed against me.
    “How about we just fool around a little,” he said.
    “Is that allowed?”
    “Probably.”
    “Is that probably like the I probably can defuse the alarm system ?”
    “Yeah, it might be similar.”
    I heard rustling in the dark room and realized Carl was creeping across the bed, trying to get closer to Diesel and me, trying to find a place to sleep. At the same time, there was movement at the foot of the bed. Cat was uncurling, slowly stalking Carl.
    “Maybe you can find a place for Carl to sleep,” I said to Diesel. “I don’t think Cat likes having a monkey in his bed.”
    “They’re fine,” Diesel said. “They’ll figure it out.”
    “Yes, but …”
    YEOWL .
    EEeeeee!
    Cat pounced on Carl, and Carl went postal. There was alot of screeching and hissing and growling and monkey bitch slapping. I dove under the covers, and I felt Diesel roll over me. I peeked out and saw he had Cat and Carl by the scruffs of their necks, holding them both at arm’s length.
    I switched the light on, and Diesel marched out of the room, still holding Cat and Carl. Minutes later, Diesel returned to bed and shut the light off.
    “Is everything okay?” I asked him.
    “I have Carl on the couch in the sleeping bag, and Cat is in his bed in the kitchen.”
    “Was anybody bleeding?”
    “Not that I could see.” There was a beat of silence. “Now that I’m back in bed, would you like me to demonstrate some of the things we shouldn’t be doing?”
    “No!”
    Carl and Cat had saved me from doing something stupid. And it had the added bonus of seeing Diesel with the light on. Sweet dreams tonight.
    I was snuggled into Diesel when I woke up. He was still asleep, so I carefully eased away from him and shut the alarm off before it rang. Cat had returned to the foot of the bed. No sign of Carl. I grabbed clothes and tiptoed into the bathroom. I showered and dressed, and Cat and I went downstairs.
    Four hours later, I was in the bakery kitchen helpingClara make meat pies and Diesel strolled in, carrying the painting wrapped in the bedsheet.
    “I need you to babysit this,” Diesel said. “There’s a problem I have to solve, and I don’t want to leave this unguarded in your house.”
    “Put it against the far wall and make sure it’s covered. I’m up to my elbows in bread dough and meat filling here.”
    “I’ll be back before you leave today,” Diesel said, propping the painting against the wall. “Call me if there’s an issue.”
    He went out the back door, closing and locking it behind him.
    “What’s under the sheet?” Clara wanted to know.
    “A painting. We sort of borrowed a Van Gogh yesterday.”
    “A real Van