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When he finally let her go, he leaned back just enough to rest his forehead on hers. "For what it's worth, I'd do anything to have you, even if that meant Corbus and Caspar, too. I will give you a better answer to the rest when you come with my sister and me shopping."
Mykie leaned back until they were no longer touching. “What?”
"I still owe you a black dress from the one I threw out. Maybe two, now that I spilled my drink on you. Plus, you promised Ellenora that you would shop with her."
Suddenly the conversation came back to her. “Right. Tell me when we’re going, and I’ll try to be there.”
“So eager to spend more time with me, eh? Let’s do next Sunday. Come find me again inside and I’ll buy you a drink in apology for spilling my last one on you,” He walked away and entered Pearl’s again. If she knew any better, she’d think the conversation she just had with him never happened.
But that kiss. That was her proof that it affected him just the same as it did her. She would get her answers, even if that meant that she’d have to wait.
She’d never left a job unfinished, and Renly was about to find out that she always got her way, in the end.
RED ALERT
She watched Renly walk over to his group of friends with a swagger she both expected and didn’t from a man who was so worried about her only a few moments before. It was only when she looked past him that she realized that all three pairs of eyes were on her.
Caspar was nursing a drink that she hoped was water, due to Corbus’ comment earlier about his painkillers. That was something she should have been worrying about, as someone who vowed to look out for him. Instead, she had been sitting around and moping about her life when she should have come over immediately after what happened at the restaurant and explained everything to them. She realized now after her conversation with Renly that maybe telling them about the sort of life she lived wouldn’t be so bad. Caspar didn’t have a bad reaction when she told him. However, he didn’t have the kind of ideas that Renly did about the Cantil, either. But, with Caspar’s help, she might have been able to better explain why she felt keeping the information about her other life was for the best.
Caspar lifted his glass to his mouth, locking eyes with her and giving her a finger salute. In one gulp, he downed the rest of it.
Corbus looked confused as he looked between Renly and her. She assumed that Renly didn’t tell his friends that he was going to meet and speak with her. His fingers were paused on the small straw in his glass that he must have been stirring with. When his gaze settled on her, he gave her a once over before smiling and waving at her.
Blaine was his own enigma. He was sitting in the booth with his back to her, but he was gazing over his shoulder in her direction. His eyes were unreadable as he also gave her a once over. Unlike the others, he didn’t acknowledge her further and turned around in his seat.
She wanted to know what he was thinking. The last time they spoke was the day she stayed in his room. Her biggest fear was him telling the others who she was. Now that they knew or soon would know more, what was there to be afraid of with Blaine?
She would worry about the bar, first, before approaching the group. She reasoned it as an appropriate thing to do, now that she had taken over Adam’s responsibilities topside of the Pit, as well. But really, it was just an excuse for her to hide away for a few minutes longer. She knew that while she was the one that brought it upon herself by inviting them all there, she didn’t realize the ramifications it could have now that Renly knew everything. Would he keep her secret until she could reveal it herself?
She nodded to the bartender that took over for her as she let herself back behind the bar. Many of them didn’t know much about what happened below their feet, but they knew about her promotion enough to know not to question her coming and goings now.
“Hey, Mykie,” Bill, the bartender that she left earlier, said as he poured a drink near where she started taking inventory of the bottles. “Heard there’s some big shots upstairs that are looking for their favorite dancers. Asked for Blondie, specifically.”
Mykie frowned, her back still to Bill. She wasn't supposed to be on tonight. By anyone's knowledge, even Chance's, she shouldn't even be in the building. Shouldn't she have known that there would be clients?
She pasted a smile on her face as she turned to look at Bill. “Thanks for letting me know. I’ll head up there soon.”
Bill only nodded, not caring one way or another now that his message was delivered.
Mykie got out from behind the bar and headed for the stairs. She wasn’t prepared to entertain anyone, but she could at least see them, and make sure they didn’t leave displeased.
At the top of the stairs, she looked around in an attempt to find what table might be looking for entertainment. Up there, there was a smaller bar and waitresses that were assigned to the customers only on that floor to entertain them, so she tried to find a table that didn’t look to be serviced already. It didn’t take long for her to catch sight of a patch of hair that she couldn’t miss.
The dim-colored lighting reflected off his hair, making his red curls stand out even worse than they did in the restaurant. He sat in the middle of a group of men, all dressed in suits and were familiar customers to her.
She marched over to the table with a plastered smile on her face.
It was Michael, the owner of the local law firm two streets away, who noticed her first. He had a flirtatious smirk on his face as he waved her over. “Ah, Mykie! We haven’t seen you—”
She smacked her hands on the table, making it wobble under her hand for a moment as she stared at the Red Devil in the middle of the group.
“You shouldn’t be here.”
The redhead only smiled and tilted his head until he leaned his cheek on his fist. "I wasn't expecting to see you so soon. How's your shoulder?"
Her hand floated to her shoulder subconsciously where Ryker had helped her treat her wound only days before. She had a bandage over it that wasn’t visible in her dress due to the jacket she had thought to throw on before leaving the house.
“That’s none of your business,” she snapped.
