Bang (Blast Brothers #2) - Sabrina Stark Page 0,12
was looking at Chopped Liver. As I watched, Mason gave the guy a look so dangerous, I felt myself swallow.
Wow, he must really hate to be interrupted.
And yet, I found myself captivated by his profile. And the longer I stared, the more I liked it.
By the time I looked back to Livia, she was standing there alone. I squinted through the crowd and saw Chopper Liver pushing his way toward the entrance, jostling people aside like someone had just yelled "fire" in the crowded building.
And speaking of fire, Livia's eyes were flashing with new anger. She looked to me and said, "That was so rude. You know that?"
My jaw dropped. "What?"
"He totally wanted to dance with you."
"He did not," I said. "And why am I the rude one? You're the one who dragged him out here."
"I didn't have to 'drag' him anywhere," she said. "He wanted to dance with me."
"Right," I said. "With you. Not me." I was glaring now. "Have you ever considered that maybe you're the rude one?"
"Me?" she sputtered. "I'm rude? I'll have you know I pulled some serious strings to get you that job interview."
I gave her a look. "You mean with your dad?"
"Yes," she said. "And just so you know, you're totally blowing it."
"Oh yeah?" I shot back. "How can I blow it if you already hired me?"
"What do you mean?"
"A few minutes ago, you told me I was hired."
"Yeah, well…" Her mouth tightened. "If that's true, I can fire you, too, you know."
I almost laughed in her face. "If that's true? So you admit I don't have the job?"
"I'm not admitting anything," she said. "I'm just saying, a little gratitude would be nice."
We were still going back and forth when Mason said, "Hey, get me a drink will ya?"
What the heck?
My gaze snapped in his direction. "What?"
But once again, he wasn't looking at me. This time, he was looking at Livia.
When I returned my attention to her, she was blinking up at Mason, looking like someone had just slapped her silly. After a long moment, she said, "Excuse me?"
"A drink," he told her. "I'm thirsty."
"Oh," she said. "Sorry, I didn't know." She glanced toward the bar. "So, um, what would you like?"
Oh, for God's sake.
When Mason answered, his voice was flatter than a pancake. "Surprise me."
He didn't need to tell her twice. The words had barely left his lips when Livia turned toward the bar and began elbowing her way through the crowd.
I was still staring after her when Mason said, "Huh. Maybe I should hire her."
I turned to look at him. "What?"
"I'm just saying, she's got initiative."
"Yeah," I snapped. "Because she – unlike some people – would just love to get into your pants."
"Well there ya go," he said.
As he said it, the final chords of the song ended, and the band struck up a new tune – this older than the last, but just as slow and romantic.
Embarrassingly, I was still holding onto Mason. Even worse, I wasn't quite willing to let go.
Him and his stupid pants.
On the upside, he was still holding onto to me, too, which meant that I wasn't making a total fool of myself.
It was just that, well, I was reluctant to walk away, that's all – although for the life of me, I couldn’t imagine why.
When Mason started moving with the music, I followed suit. I mean, as long as we were out here on the dance floor, we might as well dance, right?
And besides, it wasn't for my own benefit. It was for all of the people who were standing around watching. Maybe if we started dancing, they'd stop staring and pay more attention to their own partners.
They didn't.
Oh sure, they eventually started going through the motions, but I could still see them watching us with far too much interest. Then again, we had caused quite a scene.
Trying my best to ignore the spectators, I looked to Mason and said, "You wouldn’t really hire her, would you?"
His lips curved ever so slightly. "If I did, would that be a problem?"
"Of course, it would be a problem," I said. "She doesn't even like kids."
"Yeah, but she likes me."
"But so what?" I said. "You're not the one who needs a nanny."
He gave something like a shrug. "Well, she couldn’t be much worse than the last one."
"Oh, my God," I groaned. "You're not seriously thinking about it?"