After tying her sneakers, she dashed to the fridge one last time. Kat twisted open a large jar of pickles and stuffed a big dill into her mouth.
“Time to head out,” she mumbled, grabbing her car keys.
The second Kat opened the door, she stumbled over a shoelace that had come undone. Prince caught her arms just as she was falling to her knees. She lifted her eyes up to his and, oh God,the visual. There she was, kneeling before a Packmaster with a pickle wedged so deep in her mouth that she started to gag.
Kat slowly pulled it out, and it made a juicy sound when she sucked on the tip. “I almost choked on that thing.”
His lip twitched, and wow, did he look yummy. Kat admired his fitted black shirt and dark jeans.
She wobbled as she stood up, doing a quick check to make sure his fly wasn’t open. “Are you wearing denims? I’m thoroughly impressed at your attempt to blend in with the natives.”
He folded his arms and assessed her attire. “Are the garments I provided to your satisfaction?”
“You talk like a commercial,” she said, biting off a chunk of the pickle and locking the door behind her. “They’re great. Thanks. I’m not even going to ask how you know my exact size.”
“I’m a perceptive man.”
“That I don’t doubt. You bought me lace panties. No one’s ever bought me sexy panties before.” Kat took another bite from her pickle and suddenly felt self-conscious about the way he kept staring at her mouth. “So, do you want to start brainstorming on where we should look first? My contact gave me the names of two bars. They’re not his regular hangouts, but the bartender or some of the waitresses might have information.”
Kat lost her train of thought, disappointed that Prince had tied his hair back again. She spied a short silver hair on the side of his head and quickly looked away.
“I scheduled a meeting to sell you at noon.”
Kat almost choked on her pickle for real. “Whoa,” she blurted out, holding up her hands. “I don’t know what you think we have going on here, but I’m not a two-bedroom condo. You can’t just sell me.”
They turned around and walked a few paces toward the elevator. Prince smelled so good that Kat kept falling behind so she could catch his heavenly draft.
He pushed the elevator button and folded his arms. “Vlad is in the slave trade, as you’re aware. With what little we know, my associate suggested that Vlad’s probably a middleman.”
“Yeah, that’s my thought too. Buys them from his contacts and turns around to sell them for a higher price, taking all the risk. Sellers usually want to flip them over as fast as they can so they don’t get busted, and sometimes it’s not easy to find a buyer that quickly.” She gave him a skeptical look. “Do you really think this plan will work? With the higher authority hiring more bounty hunters, a lot of the sellers are skittish about dealing with people they don’t know.”
“I have access to a list of traders across the continent who’ve made transactions within the past ten years. There aren’t as many big ones as you might think, so with the help of an associate, I was able to narrow it down to the two men we had the least information on who might be Vlad. The others were easily ruled out. An insider took a big risk and referred me to them. Our first appointment is at noon, the second at three.”
She pressed the elevator button five times and leaned on the door, rolling the pickle between her thumb and index finger. “Why did you space them so far apart?”
Prince relaxed his stance, letting his arms fall to his sides. Kat tried not to notice the ropes of taut muscle along his arms. It was a travesty how he kept such a stunning physique hidden beneath his suits, so seeing him in a T-shirt was like going to a carnival and finding out no one was standing in line for your favorite ride.
“I thought we could have lunch.”
“Sounds amazing. First we’ll sell my body and then we’ll grab some tacos.”
The elevator doors opened and Kat slipped through the opening, catching herself before slamming against the rear wall. She casually raked her fingers through her hair and yawned before nibbling on her breakfast. Prince eyed her as he got in, looking at her the way most people did—like he didn’t know what to think of her odd behavior.
When he knelt down in front of her, she sucked in a sharp breath.
Prince began lacing up her sneakers, tying them with double knots so they wouldn’t come undone. “You should try the running shoes with the sticky straps.”
“You mean Velcro?” The mere thought of her chasing down an outlaw in Velcro shoes was enough to give her the giggles. Kat unabashedly cradled his head with one hand, running her fingers over his smooth hair. “You should wear your hair loose.”
“It gets in the way,” he said, tightening her other shoe.
“Then why bother growing it? Shave it all off if you don’t care.”
He peered up at her with his blue eye, which was his left one. It was a striking shade, like a sapphire stone sparkling beneath moonlight. The other was an ordinary shade of melted chocolate, but together they were fascinating.
The elevator doors opened, and Nadia’s neighbor stood at the entrance with her little white dog in her arms. Her eyes widened at Prince on his knees and Kat holding his head.
“He’s almost finished,” Kat said in a breathy voice.
