“Bingo,” he repeated, coming over to me and presenting his laptop for me to look at. On the screen was a news article from a tabloid-style magazine with the title image of a diamond necklace.
“What am I looking at here?” I asked him, dipping my pinky into the red sauce and tasting it. Needed more garlic.
“Here, I’ll read it.” He flipped the computer back around to face himself. “Um, okay, blah blah ‘this stunning showcase of antique jewelery will be on display throughout the gala event and will include pieces such as’ blah blah old lady names ‘and a Victorian-era gold and sapphire ring belonging to Amelia Liath.’” Wesley’s excited face popped up from the screen, and I froze with my spoon halfway to my mouth.
“No, surely not.” I whispered. “It can’t be that easy.”
“Easy?” Wesley spluttered. “I’ve been scouring the internet for a week looking for this information!”
“Sorry, I know you have; I just meant...” I shrugged helplessly. Paranoia was getting the better of me that I considered this to be an easy win.
“Yeah, I know. Anyway, the gala isn’t for another three weeks, so there’s heaps of time to plan and research further.” He scratched his nose in an absent-minded gesture. He’d made the switch to contacts a few days ago, so he didn’t have his glasses on to fiddle with like he often did when he was feeling nervous.
“Hey,” I said, hooking my finger in the pocket of his hoody and pulling him closer to me. “Good work.” I grinned, then leaned up on my tiptoes to kiss him.
“Mmm, I might have to find leads for you more often if this is my thank you,” he murmured with a cheeky grin and kissed me back. His hand cupped the back of my neck as his mouth slanted over mine, and desire flushed through me, making me almost want to abandon dinner in favor of other activities. Unfortunately—or fortunately—the pot of pasta chose that moment to bubble over and hiss against the burner.
“Here, try this; tell me what you think,” I said, reluctantly peeling my hands from Wesley’s waist and dipping a spoon in the meat sauce. Raising it to his lips, I couldn’t help the rush of heat to my belly and the shortening of breath as I watch him lick the food from the spoon.
It had been a strange sort of week so far, attending spy school like any other recruit with nothing blowing up or crashing into us. The quiet was almost making me more nervous than the attempts on our lives had been.
The only incident of any suspicion had been earlier in the day, when another of the recruits in my class had fallen from a high ropes course and badly broken his leg. As far as he knew, though, it had just been a bad sprain. When it had happened, I’d acted without thought. Luckily for me, it was Austin’s day to guard me, and he’d pulled me away after only healing the break and nothing further.
“That’s really delicious, sweetheart,” Wesley murmured, licking his lips and stroking a thumb over the soft skin behind my ear. He hadn’t taken his hands off me since our kiss, and I didn’t want him too, either.
Our physical relationship was a bit of a slow progression for a couple of reasons. One being how often we seemed to be interrupted, which couldn’t be a coincidence. The other being that I wasn’t totally sure Wesley wasn’t a virgin, and I badly didn’t want to rush him into anything. He seemed pretty interested in taking things slowly too, which made me think sex was a bit of a bigger deal for him than for some guys.
On top of that, I’d been sleeping “alone” every night knowing that Caleb would inevitably crawl into bed with me at some ungodly hour after meeting with whoever was helping him control his magic.
“So a gala, huh?” I asked, nodding to his laptop, abandoned on the counter. “Guess I’m going to need a dress, then!”
“Um, yeah. I’ll have to work out a proper mission plan with River, but yeah I’d say so. Maybe you and Lucy should go shopping some time?” he suggested with a really faint, pink blush staining his cheeks. “Give her something to do other than annoy me about my software programs.”
“Hey! I heard that!” my rainbow-haired best friend snapped, strutting into the kitchen and pulling up a bar stool. “I told you I’d show you mine if you showed me yours.”
“You showed me a crappy shell program that you created when you were sixteen,” Wesley retorted, letting go of me to grab plates and cutlery for dinner.
“Never specified which of mine I’d show you,” she grumbled. “But sure, shopping sounds great. What are we shopping for, and can we please go without any of your bodyguards? No offense to the big, hunky men in your life, but I’d actually quite like to talk to you about said big, hunky men. And for that, we need privacy.”
“Um, I can’t see why not.” I raised a brow at Wesley, and he shook his head.
“Nope, do not look at me. That’s a question for Alpha, and you know it.” He cracked a grin. “Good luck, though.”
“Oh, please,” Lucy scoffed when I shrugged helplessly at her. “Just have a private chat with your other boyfriend after dinner, maybe let him spank you a bit. You’ll have him agreeing in no time. We can go tomorrow, seeing as it’s Saturday.”
Wesley made a choked sort of noise and blushed a deeper shade of pink. “Sorry, what?”
“Oh, come on,” my loud-mouthed bestie continued. “As if you didn’t already know River likes a bit of power play in the bedroom.”
“Uh, yeah. Common knowledge.” Wesley quirked a curious grin at me. “But did she just call River your boyfriend?”
“You’re not seriously shocked by that, are you, Cupcake?” Lucy snickered, and Wes rolled his eyes at her.
“I just didn’t know you’re, you know, using labels.” His blush deepened, and he dodged my eye contact, looking down at the plates he was laying out on the table.
“Oh, labels. That’s cute,” Lucy teased, and I whacked her with a dish towel.
“Shut it, Lucy,” I hissed. “Wes, ignore her. She’s being a brat because she hasn’t seen Finn in a few days.”
“Finn? I thought you were into chicks.” He squinted at her, and she grinned.
“I’m into hot. I don’t discriminate like you heteros do.” She hopped up from her stool and went to grab a soda from our fridge, cocking an eyebrow at Wes. “So, did I just make this all super-awkward between you two? I just figured, seeing as River and Cole were down with the BF label, then you and Cal were too. No? Overstepped my mark?”
My eyes narrowed at her in a threat of pain. She knew damn well I hadn’t had that discussion with Wes yet, and she was forcing the issue.
“I’m going to use your bathroom, babe,” Lucy informed me and quickly disappeared out of the kitchen. Bitch.