“Not from Reyes. Could you imagine?” I accidentally snorted as I laughed, the thought was so preposterous.
He stared at me with nary a hint of amusement in his moss green eyes.
I sobered. “Sorry, but you could save her from, I don’t know, like a robber or something.”
He turned dubious. “Sounds kind of dangerous. And where are we going to find a robber, exactly?”
“No, not a real robber. Do you have any friends who could pose as a robber? And we need a gun.”
“A gun? Look, Janey, I appreciate the sentiment —”
“You’re right,” I said, deflating. “I mean, she’ll take note of how awesome you are someday, right? Maybe in twenty years? Because girls like her always appreciate the good guys. After they’ve taken a dip in the bad end of the pool. Over and over. For several decades.”
Somewhere deep down inside I knew the unfavorable description of women I’d just given him applied to me most of all, but I’d take one for the team. This was Lewis. He deserved a shot at happiness.
He let out a resigned sigh. “Okay. Let’s do this.”
And thus The Plan was born. He was going to have his cousin pretend to rob the place, aka yours truly, while Francie looked on in horror. Lewis would save us by punching him out – they might need to practice that move – then his cousin would run before the cops got there.
Sadly, we wouldn’t be able to identify the robber. It was all going to happen so fast, Francie wouldn’t have a chance to be too scared, but once she saw Lewis in action, once she saw how wonderful he was, she’d have to fall for him. Or at least, realize he was alive.
“Your cousin knows what to do, right?” I asked him.
He nodded.
“Then this goes down tomorrow. It’ll suck if Francie calls in sick.” When he cast me a horrified look, I dismissed the thought with a wave of my hand. “She won’t. Don’t worry. That woman is as healthy as a horse.” And she wouldn’t dare miss an opportunity to see Reyes.
Speaking of whom, it had been several minutes since he’d gone to the restroom, and he had yet to come out. I gave Lewis a thumbs-up and wandered that way, feigning my own need to make pee-pee. When I entered the hall, I heard voices coming from inside the men’s room.
I’d noticed Garrett wasn’t at his table. Maybe that was who Reyes was talking to. Their voices were muffled, but I could feel strong emotion coming from inside. Like torrential strength emotion.
I bit my bottom lip and eased closer.
“Gemma said not to push her,” a male voice said.
The wall shook with a loud thud, startling me, but I wasn’t about to give up my ringside seat. I inched even closer.
“The only one I’m pushing is you.” That came from Reyes. I’d know that bourbon-rich voice anywhere.
And the other was definitely Garrett. I had no idea they knew each other. They never spoke. Never said hi. Never called each other bitch, as men were wont to do.
Garrett said something else, but his voice sounded oddly strained, so I couldn’t make it out.
“What’s going on?” another male voice said from beside me. Right beside me.
I swung around and jumped with a humiliating squeak before offering Osh my best glare. It was good, too. So good, I’d thought about naming it. But that might seem weird.
“Osh, what the hell?”
That Cheshire grin spread across his face. He looked past me toward the door. “What are you doing?”
I fought the urge to follow his gaze. “Nothing.”
“Eavesdropping?” he asked, as though repeating what I’d said.
He stepped closer. So close I had no choice but to back up. I kept backing until I hit the door, but I stood my ground from there. I raised my chin and dared him to try to force me farther. Would. Not. Happen. Unless one of them opened the door.
“Anything interesting?” he asked.
I wasn’t born yesterday. He didn’t want me to overhear what was going on in that room, and it had me very curious as to why that might be. “Not as interesting as this,” I countered.
“Yeah?” He arched a brow, and before I knew what he was doing, he raised an arm over my shoulder, leaned closer, and slammed his palm into the door.
It opened instantly, and I stumbled, yep, right into Reyes’s arms.
Utter mortification washed over me. I pushed away from him, away from the blistering heat