“Seduction on the Rocks.”
I blink. “You know my drink.”
He doesn’t answer. He just ambles off to the bar, leaving me blinking after him. Dazed, I turn back to find Aurora staring at me like she’s never seen me before. “What?”
“You married him.” She shakes her head slowly. “There’s no way this is a love match.”
“You don’t know.” I’m not sure why I’m arguing. Aurora has worked with me more nights than I can count over the last few years, and she’s seen me avoid interacting with Hook a lot. She knows I haven’t given him the time of day before now.
“I do know.” She takes my arm and pulls me toward the door that leads to Hades’s public office. “I don’t care what he did to make you say yes, we can fix this. If I have to threaten Hades myself, I’ll get you out of it.”
Oh no. I cover her hand and dig in my heels, hauling us to a stop. I’m painfully aware of the attention of the people around us. “Aurora, stop.”
“It’s not fair that you’re put in this position. What the hell is the point of a deal if Hades hangs us out to dry the second it’s finished?” She shakes her pink hair, her expression as ferocious as I’ve ever seen it. “No. Absolutely not. We’re getting you out of this and we’re doing it now.”
I know I’m staring at her like I’ve never seen her before, but I can’t seem to stop. She manages to drag me a few steps before I remember that I’m supposed to be resisting. “Why do you care so much?”
She finally stops and looks at me, anger flickering into confusion. “We’re friends, Tink. Protecting each other is what friends do.”
There’s that word again. Friends. Apparently I don’t really know what it means, after all. I can’t let her confront Hades. I’ve made my bed with Hook, and fighting Hades will only endanger Aurora’s deal. Panic flares in my throat, hot and tangled and confused. I’ve never had to look out for someone else before. I’ve been too busy trying to survive. But if Aurora gets hurt because she’s trying to defend me …
“We were seeing each other in secret,” I blurt. “I couldn’t do anything until my contract was up.”
She finally stops tugging on my wrist and narrows her eyes. “You’re not lying?”
Oh, this sweet girl. Even after so long of moving through our world, she has an innocence about her that nothing has touched. I hope nothing ever does. I take a breath and work on morphing my expression into one she’ll believe. “I’m not lying.”
She studies me for a long moment. Finally, she shakes her head, looking more confused. “Wow. I just … Wow. I didn’t see this coming.”
“I don’t think anyone did.” That, at least, is the truth. I carefully remove her hand from my wrist. I don’t know what I’m supposed to say to someone who was willing to go to bat for me. “Thank you. You don’t have to fight for me.”
“Of course I do.” She smiles, though it looks a little brittle. “The Underworld is going to be weird without you here. I’m going to miss you.”
The novelty of being missed is something I’ll have to ponder later. The feeling in my throat only gets more tangled, and I try to swallow past it. Are my palms sweating? Because this feels more anxiety-inducing than participating in my first scene. “I, um, I’m going to be busy for a bit getting settled in.” Another wobbly breath that does nothing to fill my lungs. I expel the rest of the words in a rush, already bracing for rejection. “But do you want to get coffee sometime soon?”
“Really?” The hope that flares in her dark eyes makes me feel both like the biggest asshole in existence and also so relieved I’m a little dizzy. She gives me a happy smile. “I’d love to get coffee.”
I open my mouth to say—I don’t even know. Maybe to apologize for being such a dick since I’ve known her. Hook sweeps in before I get a word out. He hands me my bright drink and slips an arm around my waist again. “I’m stealing my wife back, Aurora.”
She immediately drops her gaze, her training finally kicking back in. “I wouldn’t dream of keeping her from you,” she murmurs, though there’s an archness beneath the words that tells me she’d fight him with everything she has if she thought for a second he was forcing me to do something I didn’t want to. Just like she was about to fight Hades.
Yeah, I really am an asshole.
Hook guides me to a booth near the door to the public playroom, and I’m still too caught up in processing Aurora’s response to be irritated by him. It’s only when he slides into the booth next to me instead of across from me that I refocus on Hook. Impossible not to when he’s pressed against me from shoulder to knee. He drapes one arm over the back of the booth, which brings me closer yet, tucked right under his arm.