“It’s not a date,” I grumbled, trying to breathe at a normal rate. I flipped my hair over one shoulder — drawing a glare from Fae, who’d spent nearly an hour curling it to perfection with hot rollers — and grabbed my purse from the small table near the door. Narrowing my eyes in what I hoped was a badass manner, I dropped my voice an octave lower to emphasize how serious I was about this endeavor. “Let’s do this.”
Fae and Simon burst into simultaneous fits of hysterical laughter behind me. I cringed at the sound and turned slowly to face them, my brows arched.
“Her face!” Simon gasped out between laughs. “Ohmigod, did you see her face? She’s like, ready for battle!”
Fae had tears running down her cheeks, streaking her mascara into watery trails of black, and was clutching her stomach as she fought to regain breath. “Her face? What about that voice!” Her laughter turned into a snort. “Jack Bauer has nothing on you, Lux!”
“I hate you both.” I glared at them each in turn. “And if I die, well, I hope you feel really terrible that the last thing you ever did was make fun of me.” At that, I turned and faced Sebastian, whose lips were twitching dangerously.
“You laugh, you die,” I threatened, brushing past him and yanking open the door.
“Not laughing,” Bash promised in a strangled voice.
“Wait, wait,” Simon called breathlessly, rushing forward and leaning against the doorframe as we made our way down the hall. “Lux, you better not die, because… well…”
I stopped and turned to face him, awaiting his apology.
“We really need to return that dress toLuster.” He grinned. “If you die, we’ll be in deep shit.”
I flipped him off and turned on my heel, listening to the fresh round of cackles erupting from Fae and Simon. When I heard a much closer laugh bubble up from the man standing next to me, I turned my glare in his direction.
“Not aword, mister.” Despite my best intentions, their laughter was getting to me. Holding my stern face was a struggle.
Bash tried to nod solemnly but soon lost the battle against hilarity. Within seconds, a chorus of laughter exploded out of him, echoing through the hallway and harmonizing with Fae and Simon’s giggles in a melody of mirth even I couldn’t deny.
“Such children, all of you,” I complained, even as a grin stole across my face and a solitary giggle escaped my lips.
***
Unfortunately, Bash’s amusement quickly fled as the severity of the situation once again descended on us. He grew quiet as soon as we climbed into his Land Rover, his eyes lingering on the hemline of my skirt and the treacherous amount of cleavage threatening to burst from the confines of my neckline.
“Might as well be naked,” he muttered under his breath.
“Excuse me?” I snapped, clicking in my seatbelt. “What was that?”
Bash started the car and stared ahead in silence, his jaw clenching and unclenching every few seconds as he tried to reel in his spiraling frustration. He shifted into reverse and backed out of the parking spot. Within minutes, we were rolling smoothly into the flow of evening traffic, headed for the Upper East Side.
I stared out at the passing city, thinking about the night to come, and my stomach churned with fresh nerves. Before I knew it, we’d nearly reachedLabyrinth. When we turned onto E. 65thSt., Bash glanced over at me.
“I don’t know who we’ll see in there or what will happen. We’re going in blind, so we need to stick together. No going off by yourself, no heroics. As far as the members inside are concerned, you’re nothing but arm candy— don’t speak unless spoken to, don’t call any unnecessary attention to yourself. The less they notice you, the better you can observe them without detection. And, trust me, you don’t want to be on their radar if you can avoid it.” Bash grumbled something indecipherable under his breath. “I don’t care if we haven’t found anything — if either of us senses any kind of trouble, we leave. End of story.”
I nodded in agreement.
When we pulled up at the valet, Bash leaned over into my space, slipped one hand around the back of my neck, and pulled me toward him with little tenderness. His lips landed hard on mine, crushing them in a rough kiss that I knew would leave my mouth swollen and bruised. His tongue invaded my mouth in an abrupt onslaught that left me no time to prepare and utterly unable to even begin to return his kiss. And as quickly as he’d begun, it was over, leaving me dizzied and breathless. His hands released my neck and I fell back against the smooth leather seat, attempting to catch my breath and staring at him with wide eyes.
He cupped my jaw lightly, his thumb skimming over my well-bitten bottom lip. “I had to do that, at least once. Just in case… things don’t go well in there.”
A warm feeling spread through my chest and my throat went dry. Nipping at his thumb with my teeth, I tried to bring a smile back to his grim face. “Don’t say things like that. It’s going to be fine. And, if it’s not, well… I’ll make it up to you.”
His wolfish smile appeared.
“Not likethat, you pervert.” I huffed. “I meant I’d buy you a beer or cook you dinner.”
“You cook now?” he asked, surprise evident in his eyes.
I laughed. “I can reheat take-out leftovers. Does that count?”
His laughter joined mine, filling the small space with joy and chasing away our apprehension for a brief moment. Eyes warm on my face, he leaned forward once more and touched his forehead to mine. “Let’s go,” he whispered against my lips.