work.”
“If the dream is me being dead.” Mona fought the urge to scrunch her face.
“It’s someone’s dream.” Eva wiggled her brows at Pierce. “Right?”
“Pierce’s eyes stayed on Mona’s forehead a second longer before he turned to the door. “Let’s get this done.”
“So, you might have to walk with your head back so the jelly doesn’t run the wrong way.” Eva stood up. “Come on. I’ll help you.”
“No need.” Pierce came to the sofa where Mona was stretched out. He immediately scooped her up. “Someone grab a blanket.” He marched from the room and out into the hall. “I don’t like this.”
“You keep saying that.”
“I can’t even look at you right now.” He stared straight ahead. “I don’t like not being able to look at you.”
“It’s stickier than I expected.” Mona rolled her eyes to one side, trying to see where they were, but her view was limited unless she wanted to mess up all Eva and Harlow’s hard work.
That meant she was stuck staring up at Pierce.
“I can feel you looking at me.” His strides got a little bouncier as they went down the stairs.
“I can’t really look at anything else.” It was kind of nice to have an excuse to just stare at him. Especially since she’d worked so hard not to stare at him until recently. “At least you’re nice to look at.”
“I’ll take that as a compliment.” The line of his jaw was tight.
“You should.” Mona studied the line of his mouth where it turned down into a distinct frown. He had so much already on his plate to worry about. The thought that she was currently adding to it bothered her. “I’ll probably need a nice hot shower after this.”
His eyes finally dipped her way. “You are most definitely washing that off the second this is over.” His gaze lingered. “And you will most likely be cold after lying in the snow.”
“Most likely.”
She wasn’t one to flirt. Never had been.
It felt awkward and strange.
Oddly stressful. Like a dance she didn’t quite know the steps to.
“Then you should probably plan for a bath.” The almost pained look Pierce wore earlier had softened.
The darkness in his gaze made her breath catch.
“Damn.” Brock fell into step beside them, his face coming into view as he leaned into Pierce’s side. “That looks pretty freaking real.”
Shawn was at Pierce’s other side. “Real enough.” He shoved open the last door between them and the frigid air outside.
That was going to be the worst part of all this. Laying in the cold, trying not to shiver like a live person while they took the picture.
Pierce pulled her closer as the wind whipped around them, knocking her hair into her face, sticking it to all Eva and Harlow’s hard work.
She reached up, ready to attempt to pull it free of the random things smeared onto her skin.
“Leave it.” Pierce walked faster.
Shawn’s face went slack when he looked her way. “He’s right. Now it looks real as hell.”
Pierce stopped, his blue eyes on hers through the line of hair snagged across her face. “Ready?”
Mona nodded.
He slowly went to one knee, carefully laying her across the pile of snow collected just for this purpose. It was dirty and clumped. Meant to look like she’d been dumped on the side of the road. Pierce carefully moved her hands, quickly positioning her in a way that felt unnatural and uncomfortable.
“Mess her hair up more.” Shawn stood over her, a cell phone angled her way.
Pierce flipped her hair away from her head. His frown deepened. “I need to make your clothes match everything else, Love.”
“It’s fine.” She closed her eyes. “Just do it.”
He tugged one of her shoes off then grabbed the neck of her shirt with both hands, tugging until the knit fabric gave way, splitting along the shoulder seam.
“Brace yourself.” Pierce pushed the bottom of her shirt up, baring her belly to the freezing temperature. He quickly stood. “Take the fucking picture.”
“Eyes open, Mona.” Shawn stepped in closer.
She picked a spot in the distance, unfocusing her eyes as the phone made shutter noises above her.
They’d set up in a spot where the teams loaded into vehicles. It was surrounded on all sides by the buildings, with only a narrow drive leading to it, which meant it was completely out of view of anyone outside the property, no matter how hard they tried to see.
“Hurry up. It’s fucking freezing out here.” Pierce leaned over Shawn’s shoulder as the lead for Rogue continued to take pictures.
“You don’t want to