Page 21 of Marked By the Pack
“That was so smooth,” she said.
“Were you just creeping over there spying on me? Why didn’t you come out and help me?”
“I didn’t want to mess with that perfect plan.”
I laughed. “How was I supposed to know he’d be carrying such hot food?”
“You knew he was picking up lunch.”
I shook my head. “Yeah. But I thought it was sandwiches or something.” In the weirdest way I was kind of craving soup now. I looked down the front of me. Probably because it smelled so good.
I looked back over at Emma. She was still holding back her laughter. “It’s not funny. That shit hurt.”
“It’s a little funny. But are you okay?”
“I’m fine.” It didn’t actually hurt anymore. I just hoped that it hadn’t left any marks on my skin. Sexy bunnies didn’t have welts. And I honestly didn’t know what my clients would think of my skin being marked.Although, if I ever met King in real life, I wouldn’t be surprised if he liked a little pain with his pleasure. I shook away the thought.
Today I was just going to focus on Otto. I was going to give this a real go. Because for just a second when Otto and I were standing there, I felt something. I think he felt it too. When he touched the side of my face...
“You forgot one important thing,” Emma said.
“What did I forget?” I thought the whole plan had been executed pretty perfectly, even if some of it had been a little spur of the moment.
“You forgot to mention that Callum and I would be there tonight. So…does that mean we’re off the hook?”
“No, you’re both coming. I didn’t mention that on purpose. This way Otto thinks itmaybe a date. But when he gets there he won’t be sure. He’ll be so off his game.”
“What happened to not spooking the horse?”
“Did he seem spooked to you?” I looked over my shoulder at the bank. Actually, he had seemed a little spooked. The decorations from the Fall Festival were still all over Crooked Point. Maybe he’d been spooked by the jack-o’-lanterns. Or maybe it was something else. When I’d first asked him to dinner, he said he really shouldn’t. And then he’d stared at the bank. What did that mean?
“No, he seemed into you. The whole thing was actually really cute to watch.”
“See. Meet cute.”
“Are you going to tell him that you ran into him on purpose?”
I laughed. “Never.”
“Well…if I’m coming to dinner, I may accidentally let it slip. Callum and I probably just shouldn’t come.”
I stared at her. “You’re acting like Callum doesn’t like me or something. You’re my best friend. As an extension, he has to like me too.”
“It’s notyouthat he doesn’t like.”
“So you’re talking about Otto?” I laughed. “No one can hate Otto. He’s funny and charming. And they barely even know each other. I feel like Callum just doesn’t like Bennett. You know…because you dated them at the same time.”
“Otto and all his friends rob banks. How many times do we have to go over this?”
“Yeah, according to Callum. But how much do we really know about Callum?”
“I know him. And I know he’s not a thief.”
I liked Callum. I did. But Emma couldn’t really stand there and say she knew everything there was to know about Callum. He’d been alive for centuries. There were a lot of missing pieces there. “Look, all I’m saying is that I feel like their beef is a complete misunderstanding.”
“Maybe. Or…maybe you should just stay away from Otto like I’ve been asking you to.”
She was being so weird about this. I needed to change the topic. “Speaking of beef…I don’t have to serve raw beef tonight, do I?”
