Colette snickered. “Perhaps he helped himself to a bit of sausage.”
The two erupted in laughter again while my brow creased.
“He’s a vegetarian,” I replied.
The statement put a stop to their ribbing, and Luxe sobered as he said, “Cute that you know that.”
I grimaced.
Pressing forward, I sidestepped their roadblock and motioned for Colette to follow. “Let’s go, Coll.”
My advance cleared the path behind me so they couldeasily see the area I’d just vacated. It didn’t escape Colette’s notice.
“Were you…” She glanced at Luxe. “Is that the bathroom?”
He bobbed his head, dusting white locks across his brown skin. “Sure is.”
“And you were…?” Colette sniffed a trail through the air that led straight to me. “In thebathroom? Oh, Beck.”
She sounded patronizing. And pleased.
I waved her off. “I met with Maslow, then stopped to wash my hands. Now I’m ready to go.”
“Why were you meeting with Mazzy?” Luxe’s amiable expression took on a suspicious slant.
“Don’t mind those pretty bitches downstairs.”Maslow’s words taunted me again, and I frowned. The wraith had no business being so far under my skin.
“Doesn’t matter,” I told Luxe while wondering why I owed him any explanation at all. “It’s a nonstarter. And I need to go.”
Before Zephyr came out of that bathroom and buried me in guilt.
Before I thought too hard about the confusion in his voice when I’d told him I would reconcile my bill later.
Didn’t he know what this was?
Didn’t I?
Luxe offered no further opposition as Colette and I departed, but my shoes had barely hit the sunbaked sidewalk outside before Colette drew breath to speak.
“Not a word,” I snapped.
Holding her tongue didn’t stop her from making kissing noises as we loaded into the limo and pulled away, leaving the Dollhouse in our rearview.
CHAPTER
FOURTEEN
Zephyr
Listening at the bathroom door, I heard most of what was said, so I wasn’t surprised when Darby burst in a few moments later.
His orange eyes targeted me, and his lips quirked in a grin as he gave me a quick head-to-toe assessment. Then he nodded.
“Found yourself a daddy, huh, sugar?”
The notion made me blush. Beck did have a certain air about him. Refined. Mature. But I got the impression Darby was referring to the more practical side of things. He had regulars who brought him gifts and booked his time in advance. Maybe I could have that too.
The idea of Beck bringing flowers or reserving one of the executive suites so we could cozy up and sip cocktails was an alluring one. I’d much rather keep him company than flit from stranger to stranger between stageperformances. It would be nice to linger somewhere familiar and safe.
