Page 78 of Lucifer's Hounds

“Is it that obvious?” I ask, shaking my head. Mindy smiles and nods.

“Get outta here and go get some rest. I’ve got it from here.” I elbow her.

“Yes ma’am. I’m going. Have a good night,” she says, wiggling her eyebrows up and down.

I shove her in the direction of the exit. “Yeah, yeah.”

The bar resounds with goodbyes as Mindy leaves. I take inventory of the current clientele. This should be fun.

Cass taunts me from a distance for most of the night and business picks up as the evening goes on. I want so bad to ask him what the hell that paper is about but now isn’t the time. Hell, he’s probably going to tell me it’s none of my damn business. I ponder on it all night, wondering what it could mean. I try to keep a hold on my imagination, knowing the horrors my brain will make up if I allow it to wander on its own.

As midnight rolls around, the bar begins to clear out. I look down the bar where Cass was sitting to find his seat empty. Travis and Leda are the only two customers left in the bar. Where did Cass go? How did I miss that?

“Lilly, can I have a Bud Light and a Busch in a can when you get a sec?”

I sigh. “You got it darlin’.”

Retrieving the beer that’s requested, I ring up the beer and set his change in front of him. Leda is three-sheets to the wind, as usual. Her black hair hangs out the back of her ponytail under the hate that she never goes anywhere without. She’s tiny, shorter than me by at least six inches, but don’t be fooled. That woman is a little stick of dynamite.

Travis, her husband, has such a sweet, caring, and nonchalant demeanor. Completely opposite of Leda, but I guess that’s why they work out so well. I smile at the thought of them, making me think that one day someone might look at me and Cass that way, if we make it long enough. Cass. Where is he?

Before I continue my search for him, the bar phone rings.

“Creek’s!” I answer with more enthusiasm than I actually have at the moment.

“Yes ma’am. I think there’s this smoking hot bartender working tonight and I need to see her in the office just as soon as she gets a minute.” I can hear the smile in his voice.

“You got it, boss.”

After doing one last scan of the bar, I quickly duck into the back. The music fades as I step into the office. Cass is seated in the office chair, staring up at me. He makes me feel like a goddess, the way his eyes scour every inch of my body every chance he gets. He looks at me with so much lust, so much desire, that one look from him and I’m a soaking wet mess, a pool of desire in between my legs with that single glance.

“Hey you,” I say, leaning against the door frame. Being near Cass can be dangerous when I feel this alive.

“Hi, my beautiful lady,” he says, that signature smirk sucking the wind right out of my lungs. “I know I told you I couldn’t stay,and that hasn’t changed, but I just wanted to tell you goodbye properly before I leave.”

He rises from the chair and pulls me into his arms. I bury my face in his chest, inhaling the scent of him mixed with his cologne. He smells like expensive cologne, leather, and clean sheets.

Cass kisses the top of my head.

“I’ll see you soon?” I whisper, more of a question than a statement.

“Yes ma’am. Call me when you leave tonight.”

I tiptoe to kiss him. He places a hand on either side of my face and kisses me lightly, his lips moving against mine the way clouds brush one another.

“Lilly!” Leda calls for me just as I was starting to get lost inside a world with me and Cass alone.

I stop, unwillingly. “There’s my cue,” I whisper, my lips still touching his.

“I know. Mine too,” he says and gives me one more swift, quick kiss.

“I’m coming!” I holler, hearing Leda getting louder.

I walk out and Cass leans down, looking under the desk.

“Hey, there was piece of paper under here that I dropped. What happened to it?” he asks, his brows furrowed as he moves the small trashcan, looking in and around it.

“I don’t know. I didn’t see one,” I lie and rush out to the front of the bar.

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