“He’s very cute. Just like you.” She gives Ice Pick’s nose a little boop with her finger, which is enough to turn his face the same shade of red as the bear.
It’s harmless flirting, but she’s very convincing. For Ice Pick’s sake, I hope he knows that this is just part of her job. Making men feel special is what pays her bills.
But then she loops her arm in his and motions for me to lead the way like I’m some sort of guide for them. “Take us to the popcorn, Aven,” she says with a flutter of her mascara-coated lashes.
I swallow the bit of jealousy roiling in my gut. This is fucking Ice Pick we’re talking about, not some sex symbol. She’s as likely to make out with him as she is to make out with a sewer grate. Not that I care either way.
“Oh, wow!” Quinn says behind me. “You’re so much stronger than you look.”
I glance back just in time to see Quinn squeezing Ice Pick’s doughy arm. Rolling my eyes, I face forward again. Nope, not bothered at all.
Ice Pick chuckles and says, “Thanks. I’ve been working out.”
Like hell he has. I wake up an hour before Quinn each day just so that I can get down to the hotel gym and keep my physique in check, and I haven’t seen his mustache on so much as a treadmill.
“After the popcorn-eating contest, we plan to meet up with some of the others at the pool. I hope you’ll join us,” Quinn titters in that sickeningly sweet voice. Great. Now she’s trying to make this a fucking party.
“That’s an invite I can’t refuse,” he says with a laugh.
Fabulous. Wonderful. I can’t fucking wait.
My fists clench at my sides as I pick up the pace. The food booth is just ahead, and I want to get this shit over with so that I can steer her back to the resort. Seeing her all over Ice Pick is just pissing me off for no good reason, and I can’t take much more of it.
“Aven, wait up!” Little footsteps pitter-patter behind me, growing closer once I finally stop walking. “What are you doing? Why are you being extra icy today?”
I search my brain for a reasonable excuse because the truth is too unreasonable. I cannae very well tell her I have a crush on her against my will and that seeing her paw at Ice Pick is crushing my soul.
“If you’re all overhim, Desmond might lose interest,” I say without thinking.
Her slender shoulders nearly touch her ears as she shrugs. “Let him. I think I’ve found a new hobby I’d like to explore, and his name is Ice Pack.” She looks over her shoulder and gives Ice Pick a little wave as he continues plodding closer. “My special green suitor will keep me safe. Hell, I might not even need you to protect me anymore.”
“Green...?” My lips slam shut. “You thinkhewas the man in your room last night?”
She giggles and tosses her honey-colored hair over her shoulder. “Don’t try to play dumb now. He’s super shy, just like the guy from last night. You also hinted that someone I wanted to meet would be at the popcorn event, and then you said you figured he’d be there. I just put two and two together.”
“This isn’t a math problem, lass, but if it were, you’ve properly bungled it.” I point toward Ice Pick, who’s stopped walking to get something out of his shoe. “That man is about two feet shorter than your bloke, and I dare say a good many brain cells fewer. Not to mention that spare tire around his middle.”
She swats my arm hard enough to leave a stinging pain behind. “Don’t body shame,” she whispers.
“It’s the facts, lass. You don’t know what he looks like. Hell, you cannae even say his blasted name.”
“Yes I can,” she says. “It’s Ice Pack.”
Now I nearly do laugh. “No, it’s not. Ach, you can’t even get this much right. It’s IcePick, lass.Pick...like the tool.”
The truth of my words hits home, and her shoulders sag. “What do I do now?”
“You start listening to me and stop listening to that warm spot between your legs. This isn’t one of your books. These are real killers, and you aren’t one of them.”
She sets her jaw. “I beg to differ. You saw what I did last night. I took a life and didn’t even bat an eyelash, and I’m more than ready to do it again.”
“Isaw it, sweet thing.” Ice Pick finally reaches us and gives her bottom a smack. She jumps from the force. “You were beautiful. I watched you in the room with that green guy, too. Maybe Jim will give me my chance tonight.”
“Oh. Maybe.” Quinn smiles at him and tries to scoot a few inches to the left, but he scoots with her.
I could save her now. I could.
But I won’t.