Their mouths were moving fast, expressions scrunched and serious.
“Should someone go over there?”she asked.“People are watching.”
He snickered.“That’s the point.”
“The point?Yeah, but they’re your friends and that doesn’t look fake—”
“Again the point.”He leaned in close to whisper in her ear.“It’s pantomime.”
Panto—oh, God, yes, he was right.This was the plan, the point.The couple were drawing attention to themselves and away from her.She’d been seen, people wouldn’t know who she was, for the most part, not yet.For the time being, she faded into the background.Online there may be speculation.She wouldn’t look or type her name into Huddle Hunt.Not that she ever did.
As videos and pictures from the club were shared online, the chance someone might recognize her increased.Would her presence trump witnessing this glamorous and popular couple falling apart?
She’d seen Roxie and Zairn together, and how devoted they were to each other.Yet watching them now, concern bled through.
Leaning against Cam, she asked, “Are you sure they’re okay?”
“I’m sure.”The mist of his breath in her hair betrayed their proximity.This couldn’t be part of the plan.“Let’s get out of here.”
Surprised, her head turned.There were those lips again.So close.
“You just got here.What about the plan?”
“You’ve played your part,” he said, his gaze erasing the rest of the room.“Let’s get out of here, Candy.”
He’d been there for a matter of seconds.
“You didn’t come to party?”
His hand moved to twist his fingers around hers.“I came here for the prize attraction.I need to be alone with you.Please.”
Why was she making him beg when it was what she wanted too?Drinks discarded and hands still linked, they left without saying goodbye.The drama was good enough to distract others from what she and Cam were doing.They didn’t need to insert themselves just to announce their departure.
At the bottom of the stairs, with a tug, she stalled them.“There are photographers out there—”
“Yes, there are photographers out there,” he said, walking backward to lead her around to a door hidden beneath the stairs.“Which is why we’re not going that way.”
Through they went into a dark passage that led them outside to a narrow alley, completely deserted.All except his enormous Ram truck.
“Subtle,” she said as he boosted her up into it.When he got in, she just shook her head.“You drove this here?”
“Earlier.Figured we’d end up at Crimson eventually.It’s Roxie’s kingdom, her security blanket.”
In the dark, often loud, enclosed space of the club Roxie wasn’t wary, Roxie owned the air.
A solid metal gate slid open, letting them out onto a side street and onto the main drag unseen.The parallel wall separated them from the place they met by just a few bricks.As though he was thinking the same thing, he glanced her way at the moment they passed.
The city lights accompanied their journey.They didn’t need language.Closing her eyes, she relaxed, her head cradled by the shoulder of the chair.The air seemed fresher and filled her lungs easier.
“Thank you,” she said, existing with him.
“You’re welcome.”
“I’ve been bouncing around in a ball of electricity all day.”
“Roxie’s like that.”
“No, she’s been great, it’s just…”
