Page 35 of Their Property
“I thought you guys were working.” I grinned. “Can you take a girl out to eat and perform your guard duties at the same time?”
Dyno had the cigar again, smoke blowing from his nostrils and curling around his lips as he smiled. “I can assure you we’re very good at multitasking.”
His tone and that sentence dripped with innuendo. If he kept talking like that, it wouldn’t be the only thing dripping.
T-Bone had turned around, glancing back at us from the head of the pack. “You know, if you still want that drink, Miss Vance,” he said carefully. “We can arrange for that too.”
“Really?” I grabbed his forearm before I could think better of it. “And it’ll be like a normal-person drink, not champagne?”
“Probably,” he chuckled. “It’ll be a flat cask ale or liquor, most likely.”
I hesitated. “And no one will get in trouble?”
“It’s a risk.” He shrugged. “But all good things are worth the risk.”
Those words seemed to have a double-meaning too, but that might have been my wishful thinking.
“Okay,” I said with a nod. “So how do we get some?”
All three of them chuckled.
“Just like with this,” T-Bone took the nearly-finished cigar from Dyno, “you’ve got to go to the right places and say the right things. Talk to the right people.” He took a heavy drag then tossed it, eyes locked on me as smoke blew past his parted lips.
My heart drummed with anticipation, my stomach fluttering with nerves that were more excited than anything else. I loved this feeling, even lived for it. Any other time, there would have been a healthy dose of fear riding behind my excitement. Fear of getting caught, of the melodramatic lecture from my father that would surely follow. But I had no fear with these men. None at all.
“Lead the way,” I told T-Bone.
ELEVEN
DYNO
We all followed T-Bone’s lead to a building situated on a hill two blocks away. Darkness had fallen now, a persistent chill in the air that reddened the tip of Kyrie’s nose. I pushed away the thought of kissing her there until the redness went away.
I thought we weren’t going to do this,was what I chose to focus on instead. We weren’t supposed to be anything but bodyguards to her, no matter the dreams or feelings that cropped up.
Technically, we weren’t crossing any lines, but ambassadors didn’t typically go for evening strolls in run-down neighborhoods. And bodyguards definitely didn’t take their VIP clients to dive-y establishments with secret booze lairs.
The four of us went up a flight of stairs to the building’s front door, which indicated there was a basement orsomething elseunderneath the main floor.
T-Bone opened the door for Kyrie and stepped aside to let her in first. I hovered next to him as Grudge went in after her.
“You sure about this?” I said low next to his ear.
He shook his head. “I’m not sure about anything.”
“Well, as long as we’re in agreement there,” I muttered, sliding past him.
The floorboards creaked under my boots. The tables, chairs, and front counter all looked equally creaky, but the place was warm, clean, and well-maintained. T-Bone and I joined Kyrie and Grudge, who waited for us up front.
“Table for four?” asked the grizzled older man behind the counter, gathering paper menus in his hands.
“Yeah, actually.” T-Bone leaned forward, placing his forearm on the counter. “We’d like to check out the antique collection.”
A heavy pause hung in the air as the man narrowed his eyes. “Don’t know what you’re talking about.”
T-Bone smiled good-naturedly, leaning closer to the man. “I think you do.”
“Nah.” The man shook his head. “You’re at the wrong place.”
