had been right. Talking wasn’t what Joel wanted. Joel swung around. He took a step forward even as he wished that he’d kept his fool mouth shut in the pool.
Joel stopped. More like froze.
The light from the nearby lantern was falling directly on him. He noticed the marks on his arms. His chest. The scars. When he’d been in the pool with Chloe, he’d forgotten all about them.
The pool had been lit with lights that shined from under the water. All of his scars would have been visible. Every single horrible one.
But…
She hadn’t looked at them. She’d held onto him fiercely. She’d locked her legs around him. She’d kissed him. She’d let him touch her, finger fuck her…
And she hadn’t been repulsed. Hadn’t shuddered at the sight of him.
She hadn’t cared.
Slowly now, considering, he made his way to the guest house.
Chloe doesn’t care how I look.
And…
I will have her.
Chapter Fourteen
“Don’t you look dashing?” Reese lifted his brows as he made that…question? Statement? “I dare say, that suit fits you far better than it ever fit me.”
With an effort, Joel kept his body relaxed as he stood in the foyer. He’d just entered the house and found Reese waiting for him. “Chloe is supposed to meet me.” He’d gotten a text earlier that day with meeting—and dress—instructions from Chloe. He hadn’t seen her since the previous night, and here it was…eight p.m. Sharp.
What had she done that day?
And why the hell had he felt as if he…missed her? Ridiculous.
“Ah, yes. I believe you have your big date at the Serpent tonight, yes?” Reese rocked forward. “She’ll be down in a moment.” He stared expectantly at Joel.
Joel stared back.
“Had the strangest dream last night,” Reese finally announced.
“Did you now.” Not a question. More of a…I don’t want to hear about it.
“You were in the pool. So was my sister. She’d fallen in.” His eyes went all wide. Fake innocence. “Only instead of helping her out of the pool, you were taking advantage of her.”
Taking advantage, huh? “I had a weird dream, too,” Joel drawled.
“Do tell.”
“I was drinking with this British guy only…after the third, no, fourth glass of whiskey, I swear, the man started sounding as American as, well…I am.”
Reese swallowed. “Funny dream.”
“Wasn’t it?”
“I—”
“Joel, you’re right on time.” Chloe’s voice sounded pleased.
His head automatically turned at her words and—
Fuck me.
He found himself hurrying toward her. She stood at the top of the staircase, and she was gorgeous. She wore a black dress that clung to every curve on her body. High heels made her arched feet look both incredibly dainty and sexy. Screw me shoes. He’d heard the term a time or ten before but never, ever had he wanted to screw so very—
“Is everything all right?” Her fingers trailed over the wooden bannister. “You have quite a perplexed look on your face.”
Perplexed was the last thing he felt.
Her heels tapped gently down the steps. He should say something. Compliment her. Joel’s mouth opened—
She hesitated, ever so briefly, before continuing her journey down the stairs. She paused on the second step from the bottom, a step that put her near eye level with Joel. “Killer is exactly what I was going for, thank you so much.” She sent him a brief smile. “You look dashing.”
Reese laughed. “Told him the same thing.”
“But it sounds different coming from her.” Joel took her hand. Curled his fingers carefully around hers.
Her lips were painted a sleek red. She’d lined her eyes with black liner and put smoky shadow on her eyelids. The result was that her eyes seemed even sexier. Mysterious and enchanting, and he was not the kind of man normally to be enchanted.
She finished descending the stairs and stood at his side.
He kept his hold on her hand. “What’s the plan for tonight?”
“We go in. Question the owner of the Serpent. Talk up the patrons. See what we notice.”
“Simple enough plan.”
“It’s the people we have to watch. The reactions they make. How they respond to us.” Her voice was very serious. “Everyone has secrets, but I’ve found that most people hate keeping those secrets. They do things to let the truth slip all the time. The trick is to just watch for those slips. To understand them.”
He’d done more digging on Chloe and her secrets during the long hours of the day. But every time he thought that he’d uncovered something he could use, more questions appeared instead of answers.