“Shopping?” He points at me. “And you want me to believe he’s taking you to a restaurant?”
“We don’t—” I motion between Green and me to let him off the hook. He needs to know we don’t have shit going on.
“Have time to stand around here and chit chat.” Green beats me to the punch as she slides over to me and hooks an arm through mine. “You promised, and I’m going to have a very difficult time choosing something to wear to Bonefish.”
She pouts, and for a second, I envision her lips against mine.
Then I shake that fuckery right out of my head.
What the hell?
Did she say Bonefish? Because, seriously, I hate seafood. Wait a minute. What the hell am I saying? I’m not taking her out.
Nick belts out a laugh as I try to figure out Green’s play here. “Good one,” he says. “You almost had me there.”
“No, it’s true,” Green assures him, unwilling to give up the ploy. “He lost a bet.” Her sex kitten smile disarms Nick enough to let her continue. I’m in awe of how quick to the draw she is, and I’m curious now. How far will she take this?
“See, he told me I couldn’t do more tequila shots than him last week at the Bull’s Eye. I assured him I could; he said we should make it interesting. I said okay. Ba-da-bing ba-da-bang, I won, and now he’s buying me an expensive dinner.”
My mouth is open; I feel the tug at my jaw. I also feel a slight sense of being impressed.
She’s good.
She’s very good.
“And champagne,” she adds with a quick glance my way.
Nick’s amusement booms throughout the parking garage. His hand slips away from my chest as he bends over in full-on belly laughter.
While he’s not paying attention to me, I take the opportunity to mouth over to Green, what the fuck are you doing?
You’re welcome, she mouths back.
Nick stands and wipes tears from his eyes.
“Oh, bro,” he wheezes with the laughter. “When you make an ass of yourself, you don’t screw around.”
I’m not amused.
With either of these two.
“All right, all right, can I go now, Mom?” Granted, I could tell Green she’s a lying sack of shit, Nick to go screw himself, and that I’ll call our mother when I damn well feel like it, but like I said earlier, I’m not in the mood for a debate my love life.
Nick punches me in the arm. “Have a good time.” He waves to Green with further chuckling ensuing. “Great meeting you.”
She smiles. “You too, Nick.”
He points. “Take it easy on my brother tonight, Emma.”
She tilts her head and flashes him an evil grin. “Now, Nick, what’s the fun in that?”
The way she says it has me adjusting my crotch because I can only imagine what Green might find fun.
A little bit of that Dom/sub action shit with whips and chains, maybe?
Role playing?
Whoa, boy.
Good thing I don’t fucking scare easily.
Nick’s girly giggles can still be heard even when he’s a good fifty feet away. When I can’t see him anymore, I shove aside my sexual daydream and turn my eyes to Green.
“I’m not even gonna ask what you’re doing here.”
“I was—”
“And, hello, don’t you already have a boyfriend you can go torture somehow?”
“He’s not my—”
“And I take it back. What the fuck are you doing here, Green?”
“What are you doing here?” she retorts with a chirpiness that makes me want to punch a wall or push her up against one.
Either or.
“Work. And what the fuck was that anyway?” I wave an arm back toward my brother.
“Um, I’m pretty sure that was me saving you from some sort of family drama.”
I stop short. She was spying on me?
“From what I could tell, that is.”
My arms cross. My eyes zero in on her. “How long have you been following me today, Green?” Because another stalker is all I need. Really.
“I wasn’t. I happened to be covering the death of Donnie Leary. The drug addict who was on TV this morning?”
Drug addict?
“You believe everything you see on TV?”
“Mostly.”
Figures. “Why am I not surprised by that?”
“Are you saying he wasn’t a drug addict?”
This is ridiculous.
“Didn’t know him.”
“Really? Because I was interviewing some bystanders and saw you hanging out with those police officers over there.” She hooks a thumb over her shoulder.
“And?”
“And you seemed to be in the middle of a pretty heated conversation with them.”
I reach a hand inside my jacket. My pocket’s empty.
Dammit. What did I do with it?
I could really use a drag right about now.
“I assume you were talking about Mr. Leary.”
“I don’t have time for this shit.”
Must have left it on the counter, this morning. Damn, the Chevelle is so close I can almost touch it.
It’s right there.
“Why was the conversation so abruptly ended as soon as your brother arrived?”