Realization had her chocolate-colored eyes springing wide. “Oh my God, you’re serious.”
He nodded, spinning a lightning-fast glance around the lobby to make sure the elegant space was still empty of anyone other than Marcus, who was still a few steps behind them and just out of earshot. “I’m afraid so.”
“You aren’t going upstairs with me, Walker. This isn’t up for debate.” She flashed a quick give-me-a-second look at Marcus—who had remained impressively reaction-free at the obvious monkey wrench Kellan had just tossed into the party-of-two plan—linking her arm through Kellan’s to lead him farther into the lobby. To anyone passing by, they might look like a couple meeting up for a late-night outing to a bar or an upscale club, her game face was that good. But Kellan could feel the tension in Moreno’s body all the way through his suit jacket and shirt sleeve, which meant he had to proceed with extreme caution if he wanted to get anywhere with her.
But he still wasn’t backing down on the truth. She wasn’t going upstairs without someone on her hip.
And if that someone had to be him, then so be it.
“You’re absolutely right,” Kellan said, murmuring quietly in her ear as they pretended to admire an ornately framed painting on the lobby wall. “It’s not up for debate. I’m here, and I want to help you. You’re taking me upstairs as your date.”
“You knew,” she whispered, understanding parting her lips into a tawny O even though her gaze never left the painting. “You knew this whole time that you were going to show up tonight and give me no choice but to take you to this party, didn’t you?”
Kellan nodded. No point in lying, and even if he did, she’d only call him out and get even madder. Not necessarily in that order. “Coming up with your plan right in front of me before you cut Marcus loose last Friday probably wasn’t your best move,” he admitted. Before she could jump in with a renewed protest, he tacked on, “Yes, this has been my plan all week, and yes, I knew you’d be this pissed off. But I also know there are a lot of things in that penthouse that you can’t control, and tonight is your only shot to get what you’re looking for. Let me help you, Moreno.”
She didn’t agree, but she didn’t balk out loud either, so he took the momentary win and continued.
“This is no different than the other night in the park. I know how to work recon, and I want to help you help those girls. Just trust me to do that, okay? Just trust me to have your back for tonight.”
For a minute, she said nothing. Then the minute slid into another, then another, Kellan’s heart beating faster and faster against his sternum until finally, Isabella turned toward him.
“Listen to me very carefully.” Her fingers moved softly over his chest, stopping to straighten the black wool of his suit jacket in an oddly intimate gesture. “Nothing about the plan changes, except now you and I are a couple who want a third for a good time. Danny will get us in the door, and you’ll follow my lead to the letter. Do you understand?”
The vise-like grip on his lungs released on a completely silent exhale. “I do,” he said, but Moreno’s hands didn’t budge.
“Be sure you can do this. Because once we get into that elevator, there’s no going back.”
He didn’t hesitate. “I’m sure, Isabella.”
“Good. And Walker?” Although a smile played on her lips, her words arrived on a dead-serious promise. “Don’t think that just because I agreed to this, I’m not furious with you. When we get out of here, you and I are going to have an argument you won’t win.”
Without so much as a blink, she lowered her hands from his slamming chest, looping her arm through the bend in his elbow and walking back toward the spot where Marcus had been waiting just a few paces away.
“Slight change in plans,” Moreno said. She fixed Marcus with a stunner of a smile, likely to water down any panic that might go with the news, and man, she was good. But where her smile was concerned, Kellan had seen the genuine product, and as subtle as the difference was, this one was just the slightest bit off from the unfettered expression she’d given up the other night at the Crooked Angel.
“What do you mean, a change in plans?” Marcus darted a glance from Isabella to Kellan, but she stepped in closer, recovering his attention in one long-legged swoop.
“Relax, Danny. I’m just your friend looking for a good time, remember? Only now, my boyfriend wants to watch.”