“Harper, did you hear me?” A sweet voice I’d been waiting to hear all day asked. “Clem really has to go. Can she use your bathroom?”
“Yeah, of course,” I said, continuing to stare. “Down the hall, middle door on the left.”
“I’ll show her,” Alta said as she set her hand on the other little demon’s shoulder and began to walk her to the back of the shop.
My eyes followed behind her as she went, my attention snagging on the way her ass looked in the tiniest shorts I’d ever laid eyes on. My dick stirred at how good it looked.How goodshelooked.
Damn.
I could have said they all caught my eye the moment my shop door opened and in came this swarm of beautiful women. All scantily clad in spandex tight Halloween getups dressed as a pair of angels and an opposing pair of demons.
I’d be lying though. Because as soon as she stepped into the room, there was nowhere else I could look.
Fake red leather clung to her every curve, the shiny costume tight and tiny and damn sexy. Her shorts were small enough that they might as well have been underwear, her tank top a matching set. Crowned on her head were red horns and painted on her eyes was a hue of red that looked like a sunset around her usual brown storms.
“Damn, I love Halloween,” Ryan mumbled as he all but broke his neck looking after the two of them.
Grunting, I cleared my throat and elbowed him to get his attention. Behind us were two more of the girls, these two angels didn’t look half as sweet as the demons who’d disappeared down the hall. But I recognized them. They were Alta’s sisters, and the little one was looking at me like she was suspicious.
“Can I help you?” I asked.
She tilted her head. “How well do you know my sister?”
The question seemed to come out of nowhere, but the way she was looking at me told a different story.
I narrowed my eyes. “Why does this sound like a trick question?”
“Just answer it,Gus.”
I folded my arms. I didn’t know what kind of secret girl language was afoot here, but I was smart enough to maneuver this delicately. “How well does the boss say I know her?”
She looked like a cat when she smiled. Like an evil one at that. “Oh, it’ssoyou!”
Okay, maybe I didn’t know how to maneuver this. “Me what?”
“Don’t you like her costume?” she asked instead of answering the question.
“Um, sure, yeah.” I cleared my throat trying not to say‘fuck yes’like some horny teenager. But it was hard. She looked that good. “What’s she supposed to be?”
“A bad girl,” she said. I choked on nothing but air, bad images invading my mind. And what did this chick do? She laughed. This evil cackle of a laugh as she held her stomach. Then she grabbed her quiet sister’s hand and said, “We’re headed back.”
I held my hand out to stop her. “Woah, what about Alta? She can’t walk back alone inthat.”
This didn’t faze her in the slightest. She smiled even bigger, her eyes lighting over me from top to bottom before she shrugged. “She’s got Ferguson with her.”
So Clay’s sister, huh?
“Ferguson looks like she’s about three sheets to the wind,” I pointed out. “And they both look like easy targets. Just wait for them, I’m sure they’ll be done in a minute.”
“No can do, Gus. Thank me later,” she said and as she exited she passed a looming dark figure pacing by the entryway. “Hey, Ox.”
Like magic, the figure seemed to grow more discerning features, and I recognized the stern man I’d run into a lot recently. Usually calm and collected, anxiety seemed to bubble off him now, his steps repetitive and nervous even as they were brash and harsh.
“I’ll be right back, Ry,” I said, tapping the front counter a couple times before pushing off. I peered down the hall real quick to see if any movement had come from the back but from the looks of it the girls were still in the bathroom.
When I opened the shop door, the man outside took a step toward me, his shoulders getting straighter and his mouth opening as though to speak. When he noticed it was me, he visibly deflated.
Stepping out beside him I shoved my hands in my pockets andtook him in. He didn’t look much different from the other times I saw him. He was even still wearing the suit. But something about him, with his top button open and his hair mussed made him look softer. A little more approachable. That and the fact that this time he didn’t immediately scowl when he recognized me.
