“What the hell?” James muttered. “Are we supposed to believe they’re going shopping dressed like that?”
Blake grunted, unable to tear his gaze away from her. “Well, you know exactly what she’s shopping for now.”
James punched him—not lightly—in the arm. “Shut the hell up.”
“They’re probably just hitting up a bar. There’s no guarantee she’ll find anyone.”
“Looking the way they do?” James’s scowl grew. “They will.”
Yeah. They will.
Blake kept his thoughts to himself. This was officially James’s problem now.
“People go to bars to get drunk or laid. Or both,” James grumbled.
“Not always.”
James had never been into the clubbing or bar scene, so his view on it was pretty low. Then again, he’d been attached at the hip to Hannah since they’d been teens. It probably wasn’t much fun when you could look but not touch.
“Look, just let it go.” Blake shrugged. “What are you going to do, follow them all night?”
James paused, his gaze turning, considering.
“Ah, no.” Blake’s gut twisted. “I was joking, man.”
“Look, I’ve gotta wrap up this barbecue first, but you could follow them,” James said urgently. “See where they’re going, and maybe keep an eye on them? Make sure they don’t get into too much trouble?”
Blake’s blood started to pound as he watched the two women sitting in the car outside the house. It looked like they were touching up their lipstick now.
He closed his eyes and tried to envision the night. He could imagine Kristen and all the guys that would be all over her if she started flirting. She’d be in over her head like a poodle in the middle of a pack of pit bulls.
Unease swelled in his gut, but there was another emotion, too. An irritation about her mission that made his throat tighten. He didn’t want to analyze that too much.
Maybe if he did this for James, it would smooth things over with Karma.
“Fine. I’ll do it.”
“Really?” Relief flared in James’s eyes.
“Sure. I need to hone my stalker-slash-James-Bond skills anyway.”
“Thanks, bro. I owe you.” James punched his arm. “You know I’d do the same for Mabel.”
At the mention of his sister, Blake’s stomach twisted again with guilt. He tried to imagine James or any of his other friends making a move on Mabel, and it made his vision red.
Which was why last night’s incident with Kristen still left him with a mix of disbelief and anger. You just didn’t touch your friend’s sister.
“I’ll slip out the back door so they don’t see me.” Why not? Since he was going full-on spy mode here.
This was a bad idea. Why had he agreed?
“Hey, text me when you figure out where they went.”
“Will do.” Blake dug his keys from his pocket and hurried out the back door.
He hustled to his truck parked on the street a few cars behind Tori’s little Toyota. By the time he started his engine, they were pulling away from the curb.
Five minutes into trailing the other car, Blake was ready to call it off. This shit was hard, and there really wasn’t going to be a payoff.