Page 32 of Provocation
‘Daisy?’
‘I’m up,’ I murmur with a yawn, not opening my eyes.
‘Daisy, there’s an alarm clock buzzing in the lab.’
I’m sitting up and trying to clear my sluggish brain immediately. ‘The alarm shouldn’t be going off yet. What time is it?’
‘Five.’
‘AM?!’ I exclaim. ‘But it’s been hours. You should have woken me!’
I finally look around the office properly and see that Blake is gone and it’s Mav who’s standing in front of me.
He puts his large hands on my shoulders, rubbing up and down my arms gently. ‘Everything is fine,’ he says calmly. ‘You were exhausted, Daisy. I checked every hour, and I made sure there were no problems, okay?’
‘Yes,’ I breathe.
‘Do you trust me?’
I nod. ‘Of course.’
‘Okay, then.’ He grins and turns away, picking a mug off the coffee table behind him and handing it to me.
‘Tea?’ I ask with a smile.
‘Yeah, Blake had to…go out last night. He grabbed the box from the house for you.’
‘That’s really nice of him,’ I yawn, taking the mug and having a sip.
I let out a small sigh, closing my eyes for just a moment.
As I slip on my shoes, I frown down at them, trying to recall when I removed them.
‘You looked uncomfortable,’ Mav says, ‘so I took them off just before Blake put the blanket over you.’
I nod. ‘Thanks. Okay, let’s see if it’s ready.’
He goes first, and I hear him stomping down the stairs.
Following, I take a moment to survey the club. I can see the whole thing at once from this height. It’s deserted now and I notice some of the same employees that were here yesterday. There’s a young woman behind the bar restocking bottles and some guys clearing tables and sweeping the floors.
I get to the bottom of the steps and the girl behind the bar raises her chin in my direction.
‘Want a cocktail, babe?’
I blink at her. ‘But it’s five am.’
She shrugs. ‘It’s cocktail o’clock somewhere.’
I raise my mug at her to show her I already have something, and she gives me a thumbs-up. ‘Let me know if you change your mind. I’m the best mixer they got here.’
Mav snorts. ‘Whatever, Sandy.’
She winks at me when his back is turned, and I can’t help my smile as we go through the door marked ‘PRIVATE’ that leads to the basement.
‘Won’t anyone wonder why we’re going down here?’ I ask as we descend.
I see Mav shake his head in the low light. ‘Nope. They won’t say anything. They’re paid not to notice.’
