Page 46 of Hooked
He walked down Ash and around the corner to Main. Tayla had told him to meet her in front of the bookshop, and he was there in the space of a few minutes. He pushed the door open and smiled when he saw Emmie.
“Hey, girl. How you doing?”
Emmie grinned when she saw him. “You look perfect.”
“I take it you know what we’re doing?”
“I have been sworn to secrecy, so don’t even try.”
Jeremy looked over at Ox. “You?”
The man was looking through equipment catalogues or something and barely registered Jeremy being in the room. “Huh?” He looked up. “Oh hey. Looking sharp, man.”
“He has no idea what you’re doing.” Emmie clapped her hands. “But I do! Tayla will be down a minute.”
He heard her steps moments later. She had to be wearing heels. That was the only thing that made a sound like that. When she walked through the door, his heart nearly stopped.
She leaned against the doorjamb and appraised him. “Heya, handsome.”
“You’re gonna kill this man before he reaches thirty.” Jeremy put a hand over his heart. “You look sexy as hell.”
She was wearing some kind of tight blue dress that hugged her curves and made her eyes even bluer. It looked like it wrapped around her body and tied at the waist, but there were drapes and hems and a pair of chunky heels with a strap. Jeremy didn’t understand women’s fashion, he just appreciated it when it was done right.
And Tayla was doing it so very right.
He wanted to get her alone and unwrap her down to her skin. If he was a betting man, he’d bet on garters and lacy something or other holding everything in place.
He whistled. “Damn.”
She stepped into the shop, and Jeremy walked slowly around her. They looked each other up and down.
“Doesn’t he look perfect?” Emmie couldn’t contain her excitement.
“Don’tyoulook perfect?” Jeremy muttered.
“You look pretty good yourself, Mr. Allen. Love the tie.”
“You look like the femme fatale in a film noir. But hotter, ’cause you’re in color.”
The cool fell away and her eyes lit up. “That’s exactly what I was going for. We’re going to have so much fun.”
“And no joke, I bet you can dance in those heels, can’t you?”
She turned and cocked her hip at him. “You bet I can. And they make my legs look great.”
They make your ass look even better.
Jeremy cocked his elbow out. “Miss McKinnon, shall we?”
She sauntered over—it was a definite saunter—and took his arm, clutching her bag in her other hand. “We shall.”
Just as they walked toward the door, a black Cadillac from the 1950s pulled up to the curb and a gawky teenager got out. “Hey, Tayla!”
Jeremy started laughing. “What is this?”
“I couldn’t find a Caddy from the forties, so 1957 will have to do.”
He took a step back. “Are you for real?”
