Say the Word(112)
“Thanks, Si. Real nice.”
“Oh, you know what I mean, baby.” He laughed. “Don’t get your panties in a twist.”
“She’s not wearing any,” Fae chimed in, linking her arm through mine as we made our way to the door. “This dress is so tight, a panty-line would be glaringly obvious.”
“Please, if you care about me at all, both of you shut the hell up,” I begged as we reached the door and came to a halt in front of Sebastian.
“Hi,” I said, blushing.
“Hi,” he replied, looking me slowly up and down in a way that gave me heart palpitations. As his eyes returned to study my face, a slow smile worked at the corners of his mouth and the banked heat in his eyes stirred to life. I prayed for the strength to make it through this night without combusting under his gaze.
“Hi, handsome.” Simon hip-bumped me to the side and moved close to Bash, his hand extended in greeting. “I’m Simon. I’m sure you’ve heard about me — all flattering things, I hope.” He cast a look over his shoulder at me. “Otherwise, Lux will be getting no more free wardrobe updates or makeup tutorials.”
I opened my mouth to protest that I had never once asked for either of those things, but Sebastian beat me to the punch by letting out a surprisingly happy laugh.
“Well, to be honest, I haven’t heard much — but the things Lux has shared have all been wildly flattering, so you have nothing to worry about.” Bash unleashed his most devastating grin — the one that practically oozed charm and sex appeal, delighting women worldwide — and both Simon and Fae seemed to melt a little at the sight. Apparently, even they weren’t immune to the Covington charisma.
“I’d love to stay and get to know you better, but Lux and I have a date.” He turned that alluring smile on me and I tried to steel myself against it but, even with nearly a decade of practice, I couldn’t quite manage to.
“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 to Luster.” 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 a word, 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 reached Labyrinth. When we turned onto E. 65th St., Bash glanced over at me.