Page 150 of Challenge Me

“Use that creative mind of yours, baby.”

He groaned, but I heard him ruffle around. Gesturing at Mal, I opened the door so she could go in. I put the phone on mute, then headed over to the first table that had people at it.

“Twenty bucks for every person who starts singing Happy Birthday when he comes back,” I said. “Double for you if you tell the others.”

The guy shrugged and went group to group. I led Mal to the counter, and she hopped onto a stool beside Tommy without a word. Loki nudged her, and she scratched his ears as if they’d known each other forever. We both set our packages down, and she tapped her fingers steadily on the counter.

“He’ll like it?” she asked.

“He’ll be over the moon. I swear. What about mine?”

Her nose wrinkled. “I don’t get yours.”

“Eh, it’s a Remi thing. I guess we’ll just have to see.”

Tommy looked up from his book and nodded at me. “Should I be kicking you out since you brought a minor into a bar, Amir?”

“Probably.” Going around to the other side of the counter, I connected my phone to the Bluetooth speakers, kicking Remi out.

Setting the phone on the counter, I ended the call. A moment later, a Norse-style version of Happy Birthday that I’d found started playing. It only took him a few seconds to come back to the front, looking laughably suspicious. His eyes landed on me and widened. They opened even further when the entire bar started to sing.

“Oh, I hate you,” he said under his breath.

I smiled as I sang along. Mal bobbed her head back and forth to the rhythm but stayed silent. When it was over, the background music kept going, but everyone returned to their conversations. I raised and lowered my brows, which made Remi burst into laughter before he threw his arms around my neck.

“You’re not supposed to be back until Friday,” he said.

Holding him tightly, I kissed his cheek. “I’m flying back to Cleveland in the morning. Did you think I’d miss your birthday?”

“Yeah.”

I pulled back and held his chin between my fingers. “Raise your damn expectations, baby.”

“It’s a work in progress, okay?” He looked to the side and broke into a grin. “Well, Little Valkyrie, first round’s on me. What are you having?”

“Whiskey like Dad. Rocks.”

“Nice try,” I laughed.

“Hold on,” Remi said. He grabbed a bottle of juice from the fridge and added it to a shaker. After throwing some other things in there, he put a few pieces of ice into a glass and poured the mixture over it. With a flourish, he set it in front of her, complete with a little umbrella. “On the rocks, because the lady deserves only the best.”

She nodded appreciatively as she took a long drink.

His eyes went to the gifts, then darted to me. “For me?” he mouthed.

“Obviously.”

“Mine,” Mal said, nudging her box forward.

Remi shot me a giddy look as he pulled it closer. It shifted to a frown when he ran his fingers along each of the sides. Mal was a master at wrapping packages, and she got a devilish sort of amusement out of taping them beyond what a person could realistically open. Giving up, he tried to tear at the paper.

“Jesus,” he muttered. “Is this military-grade?”

When he finally made a hole, he ripped it off in a matter of seconds. Carefully, he opened the top of the box and pulled out the container, which had a wooden base and a glass casing. He set it on the counter, then removed the tissue paper that hid what was inside. With a gasp, he covered his mouth.

“Mal,” he breathed. “Did you make this?”

Her feet kicked back and forth, but she didn’t respond. There was a slight tint to her cheeks as she kept her eyes on the counter.