Page 31 of My Vigilante Valentine

8

not a team-up

From my spot in the shadows, I stared up at the neon sign above Wilde Brew. It flickered like it couldn’t decide if it was committed to being open or closed.

It was a perfect metaphor for me standing here, outside the shop, wondering how I let Luna talk me into this.

Though, really, I didn’t stand a chance after I’d left her in that grocery store. I’d replayed the conversation a hundred times while I worked the streets last night, and when I woke up this morning, the answer was clear.

No. I didn’t want to do this alone anymore.

And yes, since Luna was the only one who knew my secret, that meant she was the one coming along for the ride, whether I was fully ready for it or not.

I had no idea how or why, but Luna discovering my secret had broken down some walls I thought would never come down. Her presence had weakened the mortar, and okay—maybe the walls weren’t completely down. But somehow, she’d forced a crack in them, slipping through before I even realized it.

And then I’d quickly patched it up the second she was clear, determined to maintain some semblance of control.

Just because I let her in didn’t mean I was a different man. It just meant...

Something.

The door creaked open and I looked up just as Luna stepped out, locking the door behind her with a little flourish, like she’d just wrapped up a Broadway performance instead of an exhausting workday.

She juggled her keys, humming softly under her breath. The melody—whatever it was—reached my ears and pulled at me like a siren’s call.

This woman.

She was a force of nature.

It was after nine. How did she still have so much of that light left in her after being on her feet since sunrise? Did she have some internal, endless reservoir of energy? Some kind of bottomless well of sunshine that refused to run dry?

She glanced up, grinning when she saw me. It was a mischievous grin that hinted at knowing things she wasn’t supposed to know.

Which was fitting, since she absolutely did.

“Well, hello,” she said, sliding her keys into her pocket. “Ready for our team-up?”

I crossed my arms, trying to ignore the way her ponytail—and her hips—swayed as she walked toward me. “Not a team-up.”

She stopped a few feet away with a mock-serious expression, nodding once. “Right. Not a team-up. Got it.” She tapped her temple like she was mentally filing that away. “Just one mission. Observe and stay quiet.”

“Exactly.”

“Observe, stay quiet,” she repeated, then added with a bright grin, “and probably save the day.”

I sighed so heavily it felt like it came from the depths of my soul. “That’s not part of the plan tonight.”

“It never is,” she quipped, rocking back on her heels.

Why was I here again?

Oh, right. Because saying no to Luna Wilde was like trying to hold back a tidal wave with a paper towel.

The cheap kind. Not those strong-on-messes Bounty suckers.

“Listen,” I said, shifting into a vain attempt to assert some authority, “tonight, we’ll both be observing. That’s the whole mission.”

“And if things go sideways?”

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