Theo caught sight of me and straightened, his expression sobering as his gaze raked over my body from head to toe. “You look amazing,” he said, sounding like he genuinely meant it, but there was a lingering gleam of malice in his eyes I didn’t trust.
The women turned toward me, their expressions almost... sympathetic?
“Oh, wow, Stel,” Shaunté said.
“Damn,” Elayne added. “Look at the smoke show.”
I fought back a frown. What the hell was this? Where were the sarcastic jabs from Elayne I’d come to expect? The insult sandwich Shaunté was known for?
“Thank you?” I frowned, stepping forward to join them.
They shared a look, expressions shifting into what might have been pity.
“Don’t worry about the shop while you’re gone,” Shaunté said. “We’ll hold down the fort.”
“Yeah,” Elayne said. “You do too much. You deserve to have a night off with your boyfriend. We can close.”
Okay. What the fuck was going on here? Why were they suddenly being so nice?
My gaze shifted to Theo, who was smiling like the Cheshire Cat, and I knew,I knew, he’d said something to them. Probably something either embarrassing or fabricated. I’d look like a lunatic if I started interrogating them, and since that might play right into his hand, I decided the only way forward was to pretend like I hadn’t noticed anything.
“There’s no need for you to close,” I said. “I should be back by then.”
“Unless I convince her to stay at my place,” Theo tacked on, his voice low and full of innuendo.
My stomach swooped. While I wasn’t fully committed to giving him the list of names Runa and I had drafted—I wanted assurances the targets would only be hurtfinancially—one thing I was sure about was that the less I fought Theo, the easier my time with him would be. Which meant I needed to start acting like he reallywasmy boyfriend. At least in front of other people.
I sauntered over and plastered myself to his side, one hand around his back, the other braced on his hip as I stared up at him in false devotion. His arm wrapped around me automatically, and the way his eyes darkened as they stared into mine wasnotfit for the public.
“In that case,” I told the girls, “you’re closing.”
Theo and I held each other’s gazes while the pair laughed and made lewd jokes. I kept my mind carefully blank as I met his impossible stare, ignoring the heat rolling off his big body, the feel of muscle and bone beneath my palms. He gave good smolder, but I wasn’t fooled. I could see a calculating gleam that said he didn’t trust my act.
Before he could read into it, I turned back to the girls. “Don’t turn the music up too loud. Amos needs his beauty sleep.”
“We won’t,” Shaunté assured me.
“Ladies,” Theo said, his hand completely enveloping mine. “Have a good night.”
“You, too,” they chorused, glancing between the two of us like proud aunties sending a niece off to prom.
Theo’s grip tightened as he led me out the door. The second we were out of sight of the shop windows, he practically threw my hand back at me.
“Who’s Amos?”
“My African grey parrot.”
“That explains the smell.”
It was on the tip of my tongue to tell him to shut the fuck up, but miraculously, I managed to keep my response measured. “Amos doesn’t smell bad. He smells like laundry.”
He fell quiet as we climbed into his car. It was surprisingly nice. Clean. Even smelled good. I buckled myself in and waited for him to start the engine, but he just sat there, staring at me.
“What are you doing, Stella?”
“Waiting for you to drive, so I can give you directions.”
He gestured toward me. “No, I mean this Stepford wife routine.”
