“Are you coming inside with us?” she asked. “Because oh my God! We have got to tell you all about this class we just went to.”
“And if you’re lucky we will perform our newly learned chair routine.” The leggy brunette piped up from beside her, propping a hand on her narrow waist and giving him an appreciative once-over.
“My best friend Margot,” Breezy said by way of introduction. “And of course you know my little big sister... Neve.”
And there she was, small and dark, hanging a few steps back in the shadows. If Breezy was all curves and Margot was legs for days, Neve was self-contained and sleeker than a black cat. She had the sort of direct gaze that dared others to try to pet her, but he knew if he ever attempted it she’d unsheathe her claws.
“I’m staying out here,” he muttered. “Waiting to meet... a friend.”Of sorts.
“Oh okay, yeah, sure.” Breezy turned to Margot with a shrug and they both disappeared into the bar.
Neve loitered, studying his face. “I’m not used to seeing you out of a suit,” she said after a beat. “You look different in jeans.”
There were a hell of a lot of things going on inside that sentence, and he hated how much curiosity he had over every unspoken word.
“What are you doing, Angel?” he asked dryly, tapping a hand against his denim-encased thigh. “Still trying to get me on the record for the lockout?”
“Meh, resist all you want. It’s just a matter of time.” She fluffed her bangs and swung her gaze to some undefinable point in the distance. What was that, a smirk?
“What’s so funny?” he pushed.
“Life,” she answered cryptically. “Except I think the joke’s on me.”
“Any time you want to speak in plain sentences, I’m all ears.”
“Cool. Until then, why don’t you keep waiting for your big mystery date, Rovhal30?”
The name hit him like a stick to the face, snapping everything into place. He shoved a hand into his pocket to resist slapping his forehead.
The wings.
The pun on her name.
Christ, could he be more of a fucking idiot?
But as he met her glare, he realized that was exactly what he was.
“You’reNeverL8?”
Chapter Six
Was the man really so miserly that he couldn’t spare a single glance in her direction? Neve leaned back in the booth and studied Tor’s profile. If she wasn’t so annoyed with his determination to ignore her, she’d have deemed his tenacity rather sexy.
She wrapped her fingers around her thumb and squeezed for good measure. So sue her, she’d modified a noun with the adjectivesexyin relation to Tor Gunnar. And God help her, she wasn’t even tipsy. In fact, she hadn’t been able to swallow more than half of a mouthful of her margarita ever since Margot plonked it down fifteen minutes ago. And it was top-shelf Patron Silver, for crying out loud.
Now Margot was back at the bar flirting with a dreadlocked bartender, his tight white T-shirt molded to his defined pecs, the color popping the deep bronze of his skin. Meanwhile, Jed and Breezy cuddled across the booth, cooing and whispering between kisses while studiously ignoring the curious glances from onlookers. Neve glanced at her watch. The love birds had exactly one more minute before she stepped in and made a citizen’s arrest for the crime of PDA.
“Disgusting, isn’t it?”
“Stop the presses.” She glanced to Tor with a start. “Are you speaking mouth words to me?”
His glacial expression had the curious effect of heating her down to the tips of her toes. “As you don’t have my ex-captain’s tongue shoved halfway down your throat... then yeah. I suppose I am.”
Neve raised her brows. “You know, those might be the most words you’ve ever voluntarily spoken to me.”
He arched one of his own blond brows right back. “Hope you enjoyed the experience.”
“I’m willing to be generous in my Yelp review.” A small smile tugged her lips. “Let’s go with a three out of five.”
