Page 36 of A Sinful Trap

Liam coughed into his hand and Bailey managed a smile for him. “Don’t worry, angel food. Even if I take them up on it, I doubt I’ll be able to top your mystical coyote threesome. You win forever.”

He gave her a disturbed side-eye. “We really don’t need to talk about that again. But for the record, I had no idea he was a shapeshifter until that night at the bar.”

“I knew,” Dani confessed.

Now it was Bailey’s turn to be shocked, and oddly, a little proud. “You wild thing. Good for you.”

“Bailey,” Kaya warned, trying to head her off. She’d been worried about Dani’s unusual relationship with the coyote spirit since it happened, waiting for the other supernatural shoe to drop.

Ignoring her and resisting the urge to bring up her recent Stax sighting, Bailey said, “What was it like? I’ve never asked. Were there any differences? During?”

Liam’s forehead hit the table and Dani chuckled at his antics. “You want to know if he shifted in the middle, don’t you?”

“Who wouldn’t want to know that? It’s a perfectly reasonable question. My follow-up would be, can he shift certain parts of his body in isolation? Because that kind of power would be fun to play with.”

Liam looked up balefully. “No shifting parts, but he was be able to draw out the truth from each of us. And he was in her head while we were together. Encouraging her. Telling her I loved her. That was more than enough of a power display for me.”

“Is he still in your head?” Kaya asked sharply.

“No.” Dani frowned at her. “It only happened twice. That night and then after Sal. But we told you about that one when it happened. Liam heard him too that time. That was how he knew what Stax planned to do.”

Bailey had forgotten that. “Was it more than words?” she asked, a knot tightening in the pit of her stomach. “Did you ever feel what he was feeling?”

Dani and Liam’s glance at each other was answer enough, and based on Kaya’s expression, it hadn’t done anything to alleviate her fears.

She forgot herself, patting Kaya’s knee brusquely under the table. “If they say there’s nothing to worry about, then there’s nothing to worry about, K. It’s been months since it happened and they’re both fine.”

Kaya stared down at Bailey’s hand. Shit.

At least she’s distracted now?

“Bailey Wagner.” She knew that tone. It never meant anything good. “You saw the spider and you weren’t going to tell us?”

Double shit.

“You saw the spider?” Dani repeated softly.

“Fine.” She might as well get it all out there. “I saw the giant fucking spider two minutes before Cam grabbed my ass. Are you happy now? In fact, I think that not-so-little bugger was the reason I fell both times.”

Kaya’s eyes narrowed. “You saw it twice?”

“Oh my God,” Dani breathed, whacking Liam in the arm. “I told you it was real.”

“Ow. Am I ever going to live that down?” Liam put his hand over his heart. “I’m sincerely sorry I didn’t believe the love of my life when you told me you saw a magically disappearing, matchmaking spider in the shower. Okay?”

“Not okay. You’re lucky you’re good in bed.”

“Hey!”

They both fell silent when Kaya laid her hand on the table, palm up. “Tell us the rest.”

Bailey took a breath, digging her fingers into the tablecloth for a moment while she worked up the nerve to lay her hand in Kaya’s. “The rest? Where should I start? The laughing ghosts in the attic? The two men I plan to have epic amounts of marathon sex with, even though I know they’re going to break my heart?”

Liam looked around the table. “Am I the only one who heard that? Did she just add ghosts to the conversation?”

Dani squeezed his arm. “Cookie, can you go back to purgatory for a little while? You might be safer there, and I think we’ll need a little privacy for this.”

He looked like he desperately wanted to stay, but he nodded and got to his feet. “You’ve got it, Shortbread. I’ll go back in there and pay Benny for any damages they might have caused during their bloody battle over absolutely nothing. Good luck, Bailey.”

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