Page 16 of Black Bay Enforcer
Lark strode out from the bedroom, her vivid red locks concealed by the pale yellow towel that was wrapped turban-style around her head. “Hey, Kong. What’s going on?”
“I invited Katherine Knox to my place tonight. I’m picking her up when her shift’s through. She’s going to bake brownies but I don’t have any dishes.”
Kong looked from one blank face to the other. He thought he’d been pretty articulate, but both Grady and Lark were looking at him like he’d spoken an unfamiliar language.
Lark was the first to snap out of it, her face suddenly blooming with a bright smile. “You have a date?”
He frowned. “No. Not a date. I just invited her over.”
“A man inviting an attractive woman over to his place?” Grady pointed out. “Sounds like a date to me, man.”
Lark whipped the towel off her head, unleashing a long mass of damp hair, and jogged back toward her bedroom, happily calling out, “This is fantastic! We’ll go shopping. Give me two minutes.”
Kong looked to Grady in confusion. “I didn’t want to go shopping. I just wanted to borrow some stuff.”
“You can’t disappoint her now that you’ve got her all excited.” Grady grinned and punched him in the arm. Luckily for Kong, Grady used his flesh and bone fist rather than the robotic one. A hit from that bad boy could break bones if his friend put too much effort into it. Kong had once seen that arm of his snap some heavy chain like it was Silly String. Of course, at the time, he’d been in a murderous rage, but still.
“Should I call in reinforcements?” Lark asked from the other room. “I think Jayla’s off today. Lynx might be too.”
Weakly, Kong repeated, “Reinforcements?” But Lark heard him.
Reappearing, she was securing an elastic at the end of her braid. “Everything has to be perfect for your date. We’ll all put our heads together.”
“It’s not a date.”
Lark ignored him, her phone already to her ear. “Jayla, do you want to go shopping? Kong has a date.”
He could clearly hear the excited squealing on the other end of the line and he looked helplessly at Grady. His friend was no help, he just grinned and shrugged. “Better just go with it.”
Five minutes later, he was being hustled out the door by Lark, Jayla, and Lynx, all three women chattering with excitement and smiling at him like this was the greatest thing to ever happen. They were talking about having dinner delivered, and buying wine, candles, and arguing over what music to play. What the hell? He just needed some baking stuff. This wasn’t a date.
Throwing a pleading look over his shoulder at a still-grinning Grady, he mouthed the words,Help me. His soon-to-be ex-friend shook his head and held his hands up at chest level, palms out. “This is all you, man. Have fun.”
Evil bastard. Kong would get him back for this. Something truly diabolical.
Chapter Eight
When Katherine went tolunch, she was happy to see that the base seemed back to normal – including the group of hard bodies working out on the central green. She craned her neck a bit, secretly hoping to see Kong in the cluster of shirtless men. She was willing to bet his big body was spectacular.
Walking and gawking was not a good idea she discovered as she nearly walked into a lamp post. Glancing around quickly to see if anyone had noticed her near-disaster, she carried on. She’d see him later, she told herself. Maybe not shirtless and glistening with sweat under the sun but she’d see him nonetheless.
She was almost to the mess hall when out of the corner of her eye, she saw someone jogging her way. A woman Katherine hadn’t met before. She was tall, lean, and dressed in fatigues.The woman slowed as she approached and Katherine held the door open for her.
Her golden-brown hair was short, only falling to the base of her neck and slicked back from a face that was striking. Her skin color was just a shade lighter than her hair. She had sharp cheekbones, her nose was slightly hooked, and her eyes were stunning gold under dark brows. Her looks would never be called cute – her features were too narrow – she wasn’t pretty in the classical sense, but there was something there that grabbed your attention and held it. Majestic, Katherine thought. Regal.
The woman didn’t pass through the open door, stopping instead, her eyes examining Katherine with a shrewd intensity that made her want to squirm. She felt like she was being silently judged and found lacking.
“You are Katherine Knox.”
“Oh, yes, hi.” She thrust out her hand. “I’m Katherine.”
The woman looked at her proffered hand a second or two longer than necessary, making things awkward. Just as Katherine thought she wouldn’t accept the gesture, the woman volunteered, “Perrin,” and took it. Her grip was so firm it was just shy of painful. Her matte black-painted nails were long, curved, and sharp like claws. Katherine could feel the tips of them just pressing into her skin. A bit more pressure and she would have drawn blood. Those babies could do some damage.
“It’s nice to meet you, Perrin.”
Introductions over, her hand released, Katherine assumed Perrin would enter the mess hall, but she continued to look Katherine over instead, studying her as if she was some new, fascinating bug.
“Er… Did you want to go inside?”
