Page 66 of Provocation
I frown at him. ‘You like calling me flower names, don’t you?’
He chuckles. ‘Movie reference. We can watch it later.’
He takes out his phone. ‘Okay. Tacos. Check.’
We get to the parking lot, and I see the guys’ truck parked nearby. The door opens and Shade gets out.
‘Hey,’ he murmurs, gives me a hug, and opens the back so I can get in.
Mav climbs up next to me and I notice Blake is driving. He meets my eyes in the mirror and gives me a wink. That’s whenI notice a familiar duffel bag in the footwell. I pretend I don’t see it, but my fingers twitch a little. I’d love to open it and see what else is inside. My body starts to heat just thinking about the things they brought out of it the other night. Will Mav stretch me again?
I side eye him, but he’s not paying attention. He’s staring out the window looking like he’s a million miles away.
I take his hand, and he glances back at me, his face softening as he interlaces our fingers together gently.
We stop at the taco van that Blake told me about, and I watch as he gets out of the truck and goes over to some men in dark clothes and bandanas. He does some convoluted handshakes and receives a bag, hopefully full of tacos.
My mouth is already beginning to water as he says goodbye by raising his head a little at them, and I feel myself emulating the motion to see how it feels.
He gets in the car and hands the bag back to my outstretched hand, but Shade grabs it before I can.
‘Hey!’
‘Nice try,’ he says with a scoff. ‘Like I’d ever trust you with the whole bag. The club is only like five minutes away and those tacos would still be long gone by the time we got there!’
‘I’dnevereat all the food!’ I gasp. ‘How dare you?’
He lets out a sound of derision. ‘You always ate all the fries when your mom took us for fast food.Always.’
I huff. ‘Nu uh.’
‘Every time,’ he growls. ‘You’re going to be a good girl and wait.’
The way he demands it. The good girl part.
I try to hide my body’s visceral reaction, but by his lingering smirk when he turns back around, I’ve failed.
‘You all right over there, Daisy?’ Mav drawls.
‘Of course,’ I say, sitting up straighter.
‘Not uncomfortable? Not too hot?’
‘Nope.’
He turns back to the window, and I could swear that his shoulders are shaking with laughter, but I’m not sure.
We get to the club and find the DJ messing around with the sound so there’s a lot of weird music and beats. I eat my tacos at the bar, sitting on a stool next to Mav who strokes my left knee, and Shade who’s running his hands up and down the top of my thigh firmly.
By the time I’m finished, and Mav has made me a fruity mocktail, I’m feeling antsy and wanting more touching. But they don’t seem to realize what they’re doing because both Shade and Blake pretty much ignore me after that. They go up to their office and leave me alone with Mav who finishes up the rest of his tacos, throws the bag in the trash, and ushers me down to the cellar.
He pulls open the lab door for me, and I find more Envy supplies on the counters.
‘We should make more than one batch if we can,’ I say as I comb through all the ingredients that have appeared, including a couple of green dye options, and putting the guys from my mind.
‘Agreed,’ Mav murmurs, donning one of the lab coats that has appeared.
I put one on as well, an idea flashing through my mind that makes me blush a little, but I focus on the task at hand. I don’t want to mess up because my head wasn’t in the game.
