“Do you have a problem with this dress?” I snap.
His gaze lifts to meet mine, and I see heat there. Desire. In my mind, I’m thrown back to an earlier time when he was mine. Fire rushes to my core, and I can feel myself grow wet. I hate that he does this to me. I hate that he can make my stomach flutter with a single glance.
Slowly, he shakes his head, never breaking eye contact. “I don’t have a problem with the dress.” His voice is lower, gritty. “I have a problem with why you’re wearing it. This was a bad idea. Have dinner with me, and we’ll come up with a new strategy.”
“Dinner?” I ask quizzically. “You want to completely blow off this plan?” I’m flabbergasted. I don’t know what he’s playing at, but I’m getting whiplash from his mood swings.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“You’re not bait.” His eyes flick down my dress again.
I swallow. “Seven?”
“Forget it. We’ll find another way.”
As flattered as I am that he wants to protect me from exploitation, I can’t let him pull the plug on tonight. “No,” I say firmly. “This is a good idea and our best bet to find a clue to who killed Michael Murphy. I need this.” My voice rises in pitch. “FIRE drained my accounts, Seven. I have a kid who needs her tuition paid. As long as I’m working for Godmother, I can’t devote myself to working for anyone else. I need to solve this case, and I need to do it quickly. We’re doing this.” I lean back in the seat and cross my arms.
He focuses all his attention on me, and I battle against a warm, melty feeling that starts in my torso despite my mounting anger. “If this is about money, I’ll give you anything you need.”
“I’m not taking any more of your money.”
“Why not?”
“Because you’re a leprechaun from one of the most powerful families in Devashire. Owing someone like you a debt will most certainly come back to haunt me. Maybe not at first. You might have good intentions at the moment. But someday you’ll want something, and you won’t hesitate to hold it over me. It’s in your nature.”
He scowls. “I can’t deny that it’s in my nature to make deals—I am fae after all—but this would be a gift, Sophia, just like when I rescued you from FIRE.”
I scoff. “Yes, we can’t forget about that, can we? Fae are so good about giving gifts without strings attached.”
He runs a hand down his face, looking utterly frustrated. “You know I wouldn’t hold it over you.”
“I don’t know you at all.”
That draws a flinch as if I’ve hit him. “Iwouldn’thold it over you.”
I close my eyes and take a deep breath, blowing it out slowly. “You bought me this dress, Seven. This is our plan, and it’s a good one. Now do your fucking job and drive us to After Dark.”
He turns to stare out the windshield, a muscle in his jaw twitching. I think he’s grinding his teeth. With a shake of his head, he starts the engine. “You’re too smart to be used like this.”
“Yeah, and sometimes smart people have to do things they’d rather not do.”
A dark look overtakes his features, but he doesn’t say anything else.
I lean back against the leather seat and stare out the window as he drives toward After Dark, trying to keep my breathing shallow so that I don’t sniff the crisp cedar-and-grapefruit scent that wafts off his skin. It’s light, clean, and elegant, and it clings to him like the silky fabric of his black shirt.Oof.
“So did you have a good time with River last night?” he says, a hint of displeasure in his voice.
My head whips around. Is now really the time to revisit last night? “Yes.”
He growls low in his throat.
“Why were you there last night anyway?”
“We’d had a noise complaint.”
I shake my head. “You were waiting for me.”
