Page 32 of Spies without a Face
She raised one shoulder. “I probably work too much.”
A blonde woman walked over with a worried expression. “Pandora, I just had a call from Paige’s sitter. She’s not feeling well. I have to go.”
Pandora stood. “Okay, let’s go.”
The woman put her hand on Pandora’s arm. “You don’t have to leave. Besides, Gianna will flip if we screw up the numbers.”
Pandora’s eyes gleamed. “We know.”
“Know what?” The woman’s eyes widened with innocence.
Pandora jerked her head and pointed. “I knew this was a setup.”
I followed her gaze to see Lucas and two petite women peering out from a door that was slightly ajar. When they saw Pandora pointing, they closed the door and disappeared.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” The woman placed her hand on her chest and tipped her head as if clueless about this conversation.
Pandora laughed. “Cassandra, this is my neighbor, Austin. The guy you’re trying to set me up with.” She glanced at me, “Austin, my coworker Cassandra.” She pointed to where we’d just seen Lucas and the women. “And those other two with Lucas are Zoe and Nova. Apparently, this is our matchmaking crew tonight.”
Not entirely sure what to say, I glanced at Cassandra and said, “Nice to meet you.” Maybe I should thank her for giving me the opportunity here to be with Pandora.
“Go on, Cassandra,” Pandora declared with a wave of her hand. Then she turned to me. “Austin, can I go home with you?”
PANDORA
After I heard what I said to Austin, I stammered, “Not home with you. I mean, can you give me a ride?” Ugh. “Not that kind of ride. Can you give me a ride home?”
“Of course.” He turned to Cassandra. “I’ll make sure Pandora arrives home safely.”
Cassandra said thanks and good night. As she walked out of the club with what I’m sure was a victorious smile, I shot eye daggers at her back.
The next song began, and Austin glanced around as if not sure what to do.
“I’ll meet up with you at the end.” Wait, I could have just left right now with Austin and be happy. Having a breather to unscramble my thoughts might help, though.
Gianna caught my gaze and turned away with a satisfied smile.
“Have we got any potential matches yet?” she announced in a sing-song voice. “I think I’m going to be temporarily blinded by all the sparks zig-zagging across the club.
Was it that apparent for Austin and me?
There was no doubt they were all complicit in trying to set us up tonight. Fine, I’d play along. I continued on through the additional tables, although I couldn’t help but steal glances at Austin. When I caught him doing the same, a low simmering heat burned inside me. The buildup until we left here alone together was going to be brutal.
After the final song, Gianna called it a night and told us to enter the names of those we wanted to meet again.
As she walked over, she sang along to the song playing, INXS’s “Need You Tonight.”
“Your moves are so wrong,” she sang.
In her signature style, she screwed up the lyrics. Although she had a beautiful siren’s voice, she rarely got the words correct. Close enough this time. Besides, I had more to call her out on over misheard song lyrics.
I crossed my arms. “Very duplicitous, my friend.”
She placed her hand on her heart similar to how Cassandra did with her mock innocence act, only Gianna’s was far from it. Her mouth spread into a sly grin. “You may thank me later.”
I groaned. “Where are the rest of the matchmaking mavens?”
Gianna searched around and then snorted. “Working their undercover magic, I suppose.”
