He kissed across her jaw like he was making love to her face, and a breath drained from her as he reached her ear. “The truth is…my boobies are basic as fuck, and yours are hot as hell.”
With that, he nibbled her neck, and she pealed with giggles.
As much of a piece of shit as he’d been during the brunch, Skye liked him. She couldn’t deny that. Brennan was harmless, and other than his careless words, he’d treated her far better in not even twenty-four hours than she’d been treated in all twenty-seven years of her awful, horrifying life.
11
FRENCH QUARTER, NEW ORLEANS
Later that evening, after they’d spent the afternoon indulging in touristy activities all over the Quarter, Skye and Brennan were in his bedroom getting dressed for a night on the town. He stood in front of a tall, antique mirror in one corner, tying his tie, while she held up two dresses. And it was allso weird.
It felt overwhelminglynormal. Like they were an old married couple or something else equally wholesome.
“I didn’t bring anything as nice as what you’re wearing,” Skye warned him. “This is the best I’ve got. What do you think?”
Brennan turned to her, hands on the knot at his clavicle, chin lifted, and brow furrowed as he adjusted his tie. “The green one. You’ll look like an Irish queen.”
She wanted to laugh at the idea of being any kind of queen. If anything, Skye was more like a person that a queen would banish to the castle dungeon for all eternity. She lowered the black dress and held the green one closer to her face. “It’s strapless. Is that okay?”
He smiled. “Of course it’s okay. What’s not okay about strapless?”
She shrugged. “You just look really classy. I want to make sure I do, too.”
Brennan stepped away from the mirror, placing his hands on her waist and dipping his head to kiss the spot where her jaw met her neck. “You’re standing here in your underwear and still look classy as hell.”
Nerves turned her stomach. “What about my arms?”
He pulled back his face as he glanced at the bruises that still marred the space between her shoulders and biceps. The muscle in his jaw flexed like he gritted his teeth for a second, and then he kissed her makeup-covered cheek. “I have a solution for that. Go ahead and put it on.”
Skye did, and Brennan lingered in the room for a moment to zip the dress for her, pausing to sweep her hair to one side so he could kiss the nape of her neck.
Skye suppressed a sigh of longing. A gal could seriously get used to this.
“You see yourself, darlin’?” With gentle hands on her shoulders, Brennan turned her around to face him and smiled warmly. “Beautifulandclassy.” He kissed her forehead and then slipped out of the room. “Grab your shoes and meet me at the front of the house.”
Before slipping on her shoes, Skye adjusted her bra. The money was still hidden in the padding of one of the cups, but the asymmetric bulge of half her cleavage didn’t seem that noticeable. It was a lot less noticeable than the bruises on her upper arms, and she hoped Brennan’s solution to that problem was a good one. If not, she would just let her long hair fall over her shoulders and hope for the best.
Skye took a moment to power on her phone out of sheer curiosity, knowing exactly what she would find when she did. Sure enough, the phone buzzed repeatedly as the text messages and voicemails poured in.
Jesse: You’re dead, bitch.
She deleted every single one, then powered it off again and slipped it into a small clutch purse.
Twenty-four hours from now she would be long gone, and Jesse would never find her. At least, she hoped he wouldn’t.
She slipped on her shoes and then made her way to the front room. Brennan appeared a moment later carrying a white, lace shawl.
He shook it out and held it up. “Spin around for me, darlin’.”
She did, and he draped it delicately across her shoulders.
“Now lift your arms up.”
Again, Skye did as he said, and Brennan slipped the ends under her arms, wrapping it around her back and securing it with a small knot between her shoulder blades. She let her arms fall to her sides and then glanced down at herself. He’d managed to fashion it into a shrug that covered her shoulders and arms but left the front of the dress exposed.
Her outfit now looked vintage and classy as hell, and Skye looked up at him with an enchanted smile. “Where’d you learn to do that?”
Brennan adjusted the shawl so it sat just on the cusps of her shoulders. “I have sisters. They know how to do all sorts of crazy things with a shawl. This was my grandmother’s. I’ve got a bunch of her stuff in one of the closets, and I think this is just right for you tonight, baby doll.”
