Page 222 of Sweet Temptation

I glanced at the puff-ball tail again, and Carissa held it up, waving it at me.

“Bowtie,” I muttered.

“Yes!” Carissa squealed.

Summer gave me a warning look—like she was bidding a naughty dog to stay put while she fitted him with a collar. Then she stepped toward me, carefully, like she wasn’t sure if I was gonna bite her. She slipped the bowtie strap around my neck.

“You’re loving this,” I murmured into her ear as she leaned in, reaching around to secure the velcro behind my neck.

“Of course I am.” She stood back, straightening the bowtie. “There. You look hot.” She grinned, pointing to the mirror behind me, and I turned with a sigh.

And there I was, in my black button-up shirt and jeans… with a white-fluff-and-glitter bunny-ear-and-bowtie ensemble. “I look ridiculous.”

“You look like you’re dressed up for Halloween,” Carissa insisted. “You’ll fit right in.”

* * *

I didn’t fit right in.

It took me all of half a minute to establish, when we arrived at the venue and made our way in through the back, that while the cocktail waitresses were in costume, the bouncers were not.

When I walked out into the VIP area with Summer and Carissa, I found Brody, Flynn, Elle Delacroix, Ashley Player and his girlfriend, and several other VIPs, a number of Summer’s friends… and a bunch of guys from Brody and Jude’s security team. Maddox included.

All the guests were dressed up in costume. Even the VIPs. Even Brody, who was rocking a gold leaf crown and a Roman Caesar-style white robe that matched the short, sexy-as-hell one his supermodel wife was wearing.

The security guys were most definitely not dressed up.

I was the only one of them wearing a costume of any kind.

Maddox couldn’t even hold back the laugh when he saw me. I gave him a wither-and-die look, and he snorted, pretending to be choking on something, and turned away.

Flynn gave me an awkward pat on the back as Summer greeted Elle. “Good to see you, Ronan,” he said, barely looking me in the eye, like he was trying to pretend I didn’t look like a dumbass wearing bunny ears.

“Yeah. Good times,” I muttered.

Then I turned to find Piper Grayson standing there.

Fucking. Hell.

I glanced around, but at least I didn’t see his bosom buddy Blazer anywhere. There were definitely a few guys who could’ve easily been MC brothers of his, though, hanging out at a nearby table, where Maddox was now standing. They were all dressed like 1950s greasers, with the slicked-back hair, white T-shirts and black leather vests or jackets.

Other than the hair, not much of a stretch from their usual look.

“Ronan,” Piper said, smiling. “Nice to see you, bunny. I mean, buddy.”

I choked back a groan, though he couldn’t hear it in the noisy bar.

“And what are you dressed up as, this fine Halloween?” I looked him over. The black leather vest he wore was unadorned, no Kings patches. “Let me guess. Biker. No, wannabe biker. Wait, low-level thug? Criminal mastermind? Help me out here, I can’t figure it out.”

He narrowed his eyes at me. Then he glanced at Summer as she appeared beside me. I thought he might greet her, but he didn’t say a thing to her.

He just looked right in my eyes and said, loud enough for her to overhear, “Say hi to the wife for me, huh?”

Without looking at Summer again, he patted me on the shoulder, like we were friends, and walked away.

What a fucking asshole.

I looked at Summer. She cocked her head at me, like, What the fuck was that?

---