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Lily touched my arm. “What should we know about the Quarter? Isn’t it dangerous at night?”
“It can be, but there’s some serious bulk in this group,” I said. “I mean, not me and you, obviously, but we have the Rock and the Hulk as personal bodyguards.”
“I do not turn green.” Kaleb shook his head. “Ever.”
“Just when any guy looks at Lily for longer than five seconds,” Dune said. “Which is a lot.”
I sensed I’d be doing some jealous kissing later.
“Okay,” Kaleb admitted. “I’ve totally considered going ‘Hulk smash!’ More than once.”
Dune nodded as he took my hand. “I know the feeling, man.”
Lily winked at me, and I decided to do some thank-you kissing now.
“Head that way. We’ll be right behind you.” I pointed Lily and Kaleb toward Saints & Sinners. Then I pushed Dune into an alley.
“What are you—”
I steered him where I wanted him to go, until his back was against a brick wall. “I wish we still had the room at the Bourbon Orleans.”
“I’m glad, but I’m confused. Where is this coming from?”
“Your friends are sweet to me.” I tucked two fingers in his waistband. “You’re sweet to me. You make me feel like a completely normal girl.”
“If making you feel normal gets this kind of response, remind me to do it more often.”
I slid my hands up his stomach to his chest, and then around his neck. His hands went down, over my waist and hips and stopping on my backside. I was beyond pleased when a low groan sounded in his throat.
“We are in an alley.” His mouth was on my cheek, my neck, and going lower. “In the very, very public French Quarter.”
“That doesn’t seem to be stopping you.” I leaned my head back to give him easy access.
“I can’t. I want to touch you all the time.” Lifting me up, he turned the tables and put my back against the wall. “I want to be with you all the time. Talk to you all the time.”
“Talking is good. Not that I’m interested in conversation right now.” I wrapped my legs around his waist, and his hands moved to the backs of my thighs. His weight against me was mind-blowing. “Did I mention how much I wished we still had a room? I’m hanging on you like a tick.”
“I’m holding you like a life vest.”
“We’re not good at sexy imagery.”
He started laughing. “Do you want me to put you down?”
“No. I want to stay in this exact moment. Well, maybe where we’d end up in thirty minutes if this progressed the way I wanted, but we have work to do, and I just sent your friends to a celebrity bar, and I think I see a hobo coming, so we better go.”
One more kiss, and then I slid down his body slowly. I laughed when his eyes rolled back in his head. After I was sure we were both presentable and tucked in, I took his hand and stepped out of the alley.
Mardi Gras had come to New Orleans. On a Saturday.
Three months early.
Twenty years too late.
Dune
“Dune, wait.” Hallie stopped at the alley entryway. “Something isn’t right.”
The number of people on Bourbon Street had tripled. There were way more plastic beads and masks with feathers than usual for this time of year. Music blared, the crowds were raucous, and alcohol permeated.
