Page 51 of Carved in Ice (Made of Steel 3)

“Let’s drug him and then take off all his clothes. Including his mask of course. We can tie him up and everything.”

I laughed. “That’s a bad plan.”

“No, it’s a flawless plan. What could go wrong? We can use those little darts he uses to knock people out.” She stood up and stumbled slightly toward the faux wall. She lifted up the painting that covered the keypad and typed the code it. The wall slowly lifted and disappeared into the ceiling. “It’s a brilliant plan. We can use his own technology against him. And then I can finally kiss him!”

“When he’s passed out?”

“Mhm.” She lifted up a dart off one of the glass tables and came back over to the couch.

“Liza, you seem super devoted to this date rape plan, but there’s probably a better way.”

She laughed. “Date rape?” She pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose, nearly stabbing herself with the dart. “That’s bad. You’re right, we should try something else first.”

I was a little concerned that date rape was still plan B. But that just meant we needed a really great plan A. Hmm.

“I got it!” Liza said way too loudly.

“Shh, be quiet, he’ll hear us. All I know for sure is that we’re going to need the element of surprise.”

“Absolutely. Okay,” she whispered, but it was much more like a speaking voice. “I have the perfect plan. We knock on his door and then we say that we’ll take off one item of our clothing in exchange for one of his. Eventually he'll only have his mask left and he’ll have to take it off. There won’t be any other choice.”

“That is literally the best plan I’ve ever heard. Especially because there’s two of us and only one of him. There’s no way that together we aren’t wearing more clothes than him.”

“It’s foolproof.” Liza clapped her hands together.

“Absolutely.” I stood up, accidentally spilling the remnants of Lo Mein on the floor. “Oops.”

Liza giggled.

“Oh, we can make it so that it’s even more impossible to fail.”

She stared at me, completely perplexed. “How is that even possible?”

“We can put on more layers of clothes. Like a lot of layers. All the layers.”

“You’re a genius,” Liza said. She stood up, linked her arm through mine, and we skipped down the hall in drunken bliss.

We stopped at the coat rack and started pulling on gloves, hats, and winter coats. When we both looked like huge barefooted winter monsters, we stumbled toward V’s door.

“Do you think he’ll take my flower when he gets me naked?” Liza didn’t whisper it, she practically yelled the words.

“How could he not? You’ll be naked. It’s the logical next step.” I was about to knock on the door, but stopped. “And I promise I’ll back away as soon as I see his face. He’s all yours, I promise.”

She nodded. “I’m nervous.”

“Don’t be nervous.”

That didn’t seem to help at all. I grabbed her arm and turned her toward me. “Liza, I’ve had so much fun with you tonight.”

“Best night ever!” she screamed.

“Shh!” But I started laughing hysterically too.

“We need to do this every week,” she said. “Or every night for the rest of our lives.”

“That one. Definitely that one.”

“Best friends forever!” Liza screamed at the top of your lungs and started laughing even harder.

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