A Hippogriff for Christmas - Zoe Chant Page 0,48

you to get in, then I won’t even be in danger. I’ll just be sitting and playing poker for, what, an hour at most?”

Beau hesitated, but she could see he was still reluctant.

“And besides which, what kind of danger would I be in with you there?” Annie said.

“She’s got a pretty good point,” Pete spoke up after a moment’s silence. “If you want to get the boss and save this Scott guy, I’d listen to her.”

“No one asked you,” Beau growled at him.

Annie held her breath, waiting while Beau thought it over. She could see Declan agreed with her, though – he was nodding in thought at what she’d said.

“Beau, we don’t have a lot of choice here,” he said softly after a moment. “I know she’s your mate. But things are on thin ice. We can’t really afford to wait.”

Beau seemed to struggle for a moment longer, but then he sighed.

“I know you’re right. And as much as I don’t like it, the mission is what’s important. We risk the whole thing going under, and Scott… well, something happening to Scott if we don’t move fast.”

He reached out, putting his hand on her shoulder. The look in his eyes made Annie’s heart pound in her chest as she looked up at him.

“Just… promise me you won’t take any risks,” he said, his voice strained. “Just play poker – win some money, if you can. And after forty minutes, you leave, no matter where I am and if you’ve seen me again. Promise me you’ll keep yourself safe, no matter what.”

Annie’s throat was so tight she could barely breathe, let alone get the words out.

“I promise, Beau. I promise.”

Chapter 11

Annie wished she could say she hadn’t been impressed when Beau had said he could cover the five thousand dollar buy-in needed to attend the party from his own funds – Who has that kind of money just sitting in their bank account for a rainy day? – even if he’d quickly reassured her that he’d get it back on expenses later. If someone had asked her to spot them a quick five thousand, even temporarily, she wouldn’t have been able to hold back her incredulous laughter before she’d politely declined.

Everything leading up to now had been a flurry of activity that Annie could barely keep straight in her head. They’d taken a quick trip back to her house to pick up her one semi-decent dress – a hand-me-down from one of her foster sisters who’d decided after one wear that it didn’t suit her. Annie had been allowed to keep it, and since she’d had literally nowhere to wear it since then it still looked almost good as new.

Beau had found a good shirt and a pair of dress pants in his suitcase, but Annie suspected it wouldn’t have mattered what he wore. He looked achingly good in his white shirt with the collar unbuttoned, as if the slight dishevelment was intentional, rather than the result of having to hurry to sneak into an illicit gambling party.

She wasn’t sure she could say the same thing about herself – and she wasn’t sure she could trust Beau to be an impartial judge either.

“You look… wow. Just, uh, wow,” he said, when she emerged from her bedroom after having thrown on her dress – it was floor-length, and made from a material that had just enough shimmer in it to pass for something fancy. Annie had pulled her hair back into a loose bun, fastening it with a clip. One good thing about her curls was that if it looked a bit messy, she could just pull a few bits down to frame her face, and say it was a sexy bedhead look – something she didn’t get to do very often, working in a bakery.

Despite the fact she wasn’t quite sure how much she believed Beau as to how wow she looked, she still gave him a small twirl anyway, hoping that her hair stayed in place.

“You don’t look so bad yourself,” she said, letting her eyes linger on the hint of exposed chest beneath his open collar. “Someone’ll be trying to take you off my hands if I’m not careful.”

“Good luck to them,” Beau said, smiling, a moment before his eyes turned serious again. “Annie, you know you don’t have to do this. I might still be able to find a way in –”

Annie cut him off with a shake of her head.

“You heard what, uh, Pete said,” she said.