Page 36 of Mountain Void

He leaned forward and murmured something in Carmen’s ear that made her laugh out loud.

“Now we’re all curious,” Kat said.

“Absolutely not,” Carmen said, still laughing.

“That bad?” Hugo asked.

“That good,” Bastien said calmly.

Carmen shot him a sideways glance. “Careful. You’re building expectations.”

“I’m a firefighter,” he said. “Handling dangerous situations is part of the job.”

“You think I’m dangerous?”

“I just met you,” he said. “But the evidence is accumulating.”

“You don’t know anything about me,” Carmen argued.

“That’s true,” Bastien said. “We should probably fix that.”

“And how do you propose we do that?”

“Somewhere quieter,” he said lightly.

Kat coughed dramatically. “You do know we’re all listening, right?” As she glanced up across the room, she gave a soft groan. “Ah. I was hoping she wouldn’t see me.”

“Who?” Hugo asked, turning.

Kat nodded toward the bar. “Yvette. I’ve been avoiding her. She wants me to write an article. Something about women in the PGHM.”

“I’ll come with you,” Hugo said. “We might be able to distract her if we find Alex.”

Kat looked back at the group with an apologetic smile. “It was nice to see you again, Charlie, Carmen.”

Bastien glanced towards the entrance doors.

“Still interested in that quieter place?”

Carmen’s eyes glinted. “You were serious? You want to leave now?”

“Why not?”

“I came with Charlie. I—“

“Go,” Charlie said, waving a hand. “I’ll be fine here.”

“You’re sure?”

“Absolutely.”

Carmen looked back at Bastien. “Let’s go then.”

Charlie watched them leave, laughing together. She became suddenly, acutely aware of the fact that she and Lorenz were standing alone once again.

For a moment, neither of them said anything.

“Don’t worry about Carmen,” she said lightly. “If anything, it’s Bastien’s heart you should be worried about.”