for being in charge. But tonight had worn me to the bone. He could take over for a minute.
We stumbled down the hall to our room while he muttered into the phone. He hung up and then swiped a keycard to unlock it. Unlike a normal couple, we didn't admire the champagne on ice or the rose petals the staff had rushed upstairs to scatter across the golden comforter. Instead, we both snagged water bottles from the mini fridge and stripped off our clothes, not sexily—methodically—laying them carefully over the bedspread.
"You sure these body double hires are legit?" I asked Gray, once I was down to my panties and bra.
"Oh, I doubt she'll be nearly as hot," Gray replied as I downed some water and it splashed down my chin onto my chest. His eyes roamed appreciatively over me before he used a finger to swipe it up and over my breasts, drawing a little pattern on my skin.
I just smacked his arm and laughed. "That’s not even hot right now,” I lied, “I’m covered in nasty sweat still.” But a tiny thrill raced down my stomach anyway.
Gray’s gaze grew hooded. “We could … power up, if you wanted.”
My nipples pebbled and I was tempted … so tempted. Gray had never even hinted at anything like that with me before. His eyes on me almost had me pulling down my bra straps, because I wanted to see what those thick lips of his could do. Only reality held me back. “But … Andros.” He was still enchanted. Could I really just forget about him and lose myself right now? What kind of person would that make me? “And I haven’t heard back from Mom.” My voice cracked.
Physically, he had me riled up. Emotionally, I just wasn’t there.
Gray pulled me into a sweaty hug and his woody cologne scent surrounded me. “Shit. I’m sorry. That was dickheaded of me. Literally.” He gave me a wry smile. “I would have had to call them back and tell them to slow their roll if you wanted that anyway. We’re already tight on time.” He pulled away and checked his phone again. “I'd tell you to shower, but they’ll be here any second."
He was telling the truth. Two seconds later, a knock sounded at our door. Gray opened it in his boxers and ushered in a black guy wearing a leather jacket with a skull on it. Next to him was a petite girl who was fingering a dark-haired wig that was slightly askew. She was definitely more fine-boned than me, but if the two of them checked out quickly tomorrow morning, I doubted anyone would notice.
Neither of Gray’s people even did a double take at the fact that we were walking around in our underwear, which I thought was pretty damn professional of them (even though a secret part of me was halfway insulted that the guy didn’t sneak a peek).
The dude tossed a duffel our way and said, "Ok, we stay the night. Check outta here in the morning after shift change. I'll ballcap it and be nice and hungover."
Gray nodded and unzipped the bag. He tossed me a tight leather skirt and a zebra-striped tube top that forced me to shed my bra and glare at him because I’d been stupid enough to let him be in charge of the costume choices for this part of the evening; they’d hardly registered on my radar as important back when we were planning, a fact I regretted.
Gray remained unaffected since he was busy donning his own stuff to get out of here. I smirked a second at just how fucking well I'd done choosing him to recruit. His damn gang had come in so handy as drivers, now body doubles. Somehow, the members of Crush had this undying sense of loyalty. Any of the 'brothers' he'd called on had been more than eager to help. They'd been fucking thrilled.
It was a strange thing to watch as an outsider. Part of me envied that. But then my mind went toward our crew and I couldn't help the tiny smile that crossed my face or the glitter that floated inside my chest at the thought of them. In a way, we had that too.
The woman who was posing as me came over and held out a hand. "Emma," she said. I shook it and couldn't help but admire her grape-colored dress. It was classy but clashed oddly with the thick gold jewelry she wore. "I