Chapter 14
Istood in the guys’bathroom dressed in the gown Marv had bought and put the finishing touches on my makeup with light brush strokes. Texas sat on the closed toilet fiddling with his phone, trying to catch some sort of purple blob that kept escaping. He told me the name of the app, but I had already forgotten. Tucking my hair behind my ears, I leaned further over the sink counter, dabbing a shiny nude powder over my eyelids before adding eyeliner and mascara. I wasn’t used to using so much makeup, especially the high-quality brand Marv had shown up with. As I glanced in the mirror, closing the palettes and makeup cases, I thought I looked pretty freakinggood.
“Damn it,” Texas cursed, tapping at hisphone.
“What do you think?” Iasked.
I needed a second opinion. Just because I thought I didn’t look too bad, didn’t mean that everyone else would think the same. The makeup felt heavy on my face and I wasn’t sure if I hadn’t used too much. I needed to look like I knew what I wasdoing.
Texas’ dark eyes slid up from his phone and he paused. “You look…” He stared hard, his eyes analyzing the dress, the makeup, my bare shoulders. “You lookamazing.”
I blushed, and turned away. “Th-thanks.”
He followed as I headed into the living room where Knix was quietly giving both Bellamy and Marv directions. Marv was dressed in a charcoal suit, tailored to his tall body. It tapered down over his chest to his waist. Bellamy wore a simpler uniform of a black t-shirt and jeans. He glanced at me as I entered, his eyes gliding over my skin, the dress, and my bare legs before trailing back up. My blushdeepened.
“Wow.” Marv’s gasp drew my attention to him. He wore a thin tie that matched my dress and the charcoal of the suit accentuated his eyes. He also looked me up and down. “Now, that is a dress.” He stopped at my eyes, smiling. “Ready to head out,Sunshine?”
I nodded the same time that Knix shook his head. “Not just yet. Texas needs to go over a few things with you before you go.” He glanced at me, a quirk at the corner of his mouth the only approval I would receive from him. It was approval enough, and made me feel like a real princess with four attractive men admiringme.
Texas jumped to the center of the room. “Okay, yea.” He pulled two small, curved, nude lumps from his pocket. They looked like hearing aids. He handed one to me and one to Marv. “Each of these will put you in contact with either Bellamy or Knix. I’m going to be in the security room with Knix. Bellamy will be serving at the function which is hosted at the DeLuca Charleston Hoteldowntown.”
I watched as Marv wiggled the little device into his ear and I mimicked him. It felt foreign in my ear, like a strange headphone. “Here, push this button,” heordered.
Marv grabbed my chin and tilted my head to the side as he fidgeted with the device. A quiet shrieking noise startled me, and he began tapping something else until the volume rose slightly before cutting offcompletely.
Texas continued, “The party starts at 10 pm. Your objective for tonight is to be seen and identify possibletargets.”
“The potential victims or the bad guys?” I clarified, pushing Marv’s hand away to adjust the ear devicemyself.
“As of right now, you’re just looking for the possible thieves,” Knix replied. “Under no circumstances are you or Marv to approach them. This party is all about informationgathering.”
“I thought this entire job was information gathering,” Iquestioned.
“It is,” he confirmed,nodding.
Texas showed us the devices that he and Knix would be using, basically headphones with mouth pieces. They would be in security, so they wouldn’t look out of place sitting in front of cameras all night. I wondered how they were able to get such a convenient position. Bellamy’s piece resembled Marv’s and mine, I noticed as I watched him adjust it in hisear.
Knix, Bellamy, and Texas left first in the SUV; Bellamy had to help set up, and Knix and Texas needed to be in the security room before people started arriving. Marv and I were left standing in the patio on the bottom floor of the complex they lived in. As I shifted in the heels I wore, my stomach rumbled and Marv lookeddown.
“Hungry?” He smirked. I rubbed both hands over my stomach, and shrugged. “They should have food there, but come on.” Marv reached for my hand, tugging me to the BMW on the other side of the lot. “We can at least grab a cup of coffee and a snack before we do somespying.”
“I thought spies were supposed to be quiet about beingspies?”
“We’re not spies,” he corrected. “We’re just acting like them for thenight.”
“For the entire job,” I reminded him. He harrumphed and opened the car door for me. southern gentlemen were somethingelse.
Marv drove us towards downtown, but detoured to a small café several blocks away from our intended destination. He parallel parked between a flashy convertible and a light-blue truck before striding around the front of the car to help me out. I held his hand as we walked down the cobblestone street towards Kat’s Café. My heels were tall enough and the road uneven enough that I almost tripped more than a few times. He grinned the entire time, wrapping one arm around my waist to help steady me while I held onto theother.
“I promise, I’ll be more coordinated than this when we get to the hotel,” I said when we finally made it to the Café’s front door. He chuckled, opened the door, and ushered mein.
The café smelled like coffee: hazelnut and vanilla bean. At the diner, Joanna burned the coffee more than she didn’t and the smell never really went away. The barista at the counter was a young girl with pink streaks through her hair. She smiled brightly as we entered and welcomed us. I stood behind Marv while he ordered a dark roast coffee for himself and some sort of frappé for me. I looked up at him as the barista told him the price and then asked for our names to put on the cups. Once she stepped away to make them, he ushered me towards a nearbytable.
“I figured you might like frappés. They’re usually sweeter than what I like though.” Marv slid a seat out forme.
“I’m not much of a coffee drinker. I’ve only ever had it at Alex’s Diner,” Iadmitted.
His eyes widened in horror. “Don’t get me wrong,” he began. “Alex is an awesome guy, but the coffee at the diner is only decent with pie or somethingsweet.”