Page 70 of Smoke and Mirrors

“Even though you were freezing and only had your bodies to keep you warm?” I mock in a terribly bad Russian accent.

He laughs, pulling the van onto the main highway with a bright smile. “Even though we were freezing. No, she isn’t my type. I don’t fornicate with the enemy.”

I raise my eyebrow at him, and he seems to get my message instantly. “Hey, you’re not the enemy.”

Scoffing, I shrug. “Your friends seem to think otherwise.”

He reaches out grabbing my hand and squeezes. “My friends are wrong. I’ll make them see that… somehow.”

I don’t answer but figure I’ll change the subject. “Okay, where to next?”

He sighs and shakes his head. “Philadelphia.”

Chapter Twenty-One

LILY

After driving for too long, we arrived in Philadelphia, and Kace thought it was a good idea for us to get a change of clothing seeing as we only left with the clothes on our backs. So, he drove us to a mall, and now we’re walking into Macy’s to purchase something to wear.

“Get anything you want,” Kace whispers in my ear as we walk through to the women’s department.

Raising my eyebrow, I chew on my bottom lip. “Am I going to have to get ready to run with the clothes, Kace?” I ask quietly, so the staff doesn’t hear.

He chuckles and shakes his head. “No, we will pay for them. No stealing today.”

My body slumps in relief, and I smile for the first time in a while. “Thank God. Not sure I want to add shoplifting to my grand theft auto record as well.”

He shakes his head with a smile and leads me to the women’s clothing section. “True. Okay, pick out some pants and tops. Anything you want.”

We walk around the store, and I grab a few items, then we head for the underwear section. I tense up, not knowing what to look for. Picking underwear with Kace watching is more than a little intimidating.

“Here, you’ll need some of these,” he says, handing me some sexy red, white, and blue striped boy shorts.

Smirking, I take them from his fingers and raise an eyebrow. “Boy shorts? And in the United States colors? How very patriotic of you, Kace.”

He grins and shrugs. “I love my country, so sue me.”

Giggling, I roll my eyes and pick up another couple of pairs of panties, some a little less patriotic and more on the sexy side. I chew on the inside of my mouth wondering what Kace is thinking as I choose them, but I don’t dare risk looking at him for fear of what I might see. Selecting panties with him is doing strange things to my libido, and for some reason, all I want to do is turn around and jump on him, pressing my lips to his, feel his cock pressed between my legs, and ride him to our next destination. But instead, I have to control myself. We’re in the middle of Macy’s for crying out loud.

I pick up another pair of panties, not really looking at them, and as I reach out to put them back, Kace lets out a small groan. I tense at the sexy noise, then look down properly at the panties noticing they’re black lace with little hooks hanging down for suspenders. I clear my throat as I attempt to put them back on the rack, but Kace grabs my hand stopping me. A spark shoots through his hand as he touches me, and fireworks erupt in my very soul. I risk looking up at him, and an intense burn lurks in his eyes—those gorgeous deep blue eyes that are sparkling with insatiable lust. My nipples harden, and my thighs clench together to relieve the throbbing in my clit.

“I think you should get these ones, Lily.” His deep, gravelly voice sends my heart into overdrive, and I shrivel into a puddle on the floor.

Simply nodding my head, I pull them back and add them to the pile. I can’t help the thoughts racing through my head of all the things we could do together with these few simple sets of black lace lingerie.

Being near Kace right now is making me feel hot, so much so I feel like I might pass out. I need a break, just a small reprieve away from him to pull myself back into normal working order. I have to stop thinking like a sex-crazed teenager all the damn time and calm myself down. So, I do the only thing I think of to get some time away from him.

“I need to go and try this stuff on.”

He raises an eyebrow and sighs. “I don’t really want to leave you alone, so I’ll come with you.”

My muscles clench, and I exhale. “You can’t come in the room with me, the assistant won’t let you.”

He exhales, running his hand through his hair. “Okay, then I’ll hang outside. But I’ll be right there…” he points, “… so if anything happens, you just call. I don’t give a fuck about the assistant, I’ll be in there breaking bones to get to you.”

A slight chuckle erupts from my chest at how scary and sweet that was at the same time. “Thank you.”

We walk to the dressing room section, my hands full of clothing and underwear. Kace takes a deep breath while I head inside, and the assistant looks at me with a smile and takes me to my dressing room. She opens the door and absentmindedly turns away as I look back to Kace—he’s tense, his muscles rippling with alertness as he scans the store making sure there’s no trouble heading our way.

---