I didn’t want Petal to miss out on any fun, but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t hella happy that she was ready to go. I was getting fucking tired of having to keep men off of her. When I saw Lyle breathing his drunk-ass air on her, I saw red. The only reason he wasn’t dead right now was because she was amused by him and not afraid.
I drove us to her apartment over her shop and parked on the street. I tossed my mask, gloves, hat and sword in the back seat.
“I had fun,” she said to me as I walked her to the door of the building.
“Me too.”
“Did something happen?” she asked as she unlocked the door that would take us to the stairwell up to her apartment.
I grunted to keep from saying, “Yes, men were touching you and I couldn’t stand it.”
“Do you want a drink?” she asked. “Then Don Diego can tell me what’s got his mask all in a twist.”
I frowned. She was amused by me as she had been of Lyle. And like Lyle, I found myself gazing down at her assets before remembering I wasn’t a douche like him and returning my gaze to her eyes. “I’m Zorro.”
“Not with your mask off, buddy,” she said, opening the door. “You coming Zorro or not?”
I followed her in, shutting the door behind me. We went upstairs and she opened her apartment.
“Wine, beer or something stronger?” she asked as I headed to her couch to take a load off and get my bearings back.
“Beer is good.”
She got two beers, popped the tops and gave me one. She sat next to me on the couch, toeing her heels off and tucking her feet under her. She clicked her bottle with mine.
I pointed at her with my beer bottle. “What’s with the witch outfit? I thought you were going as a cartoon character or something?” That outfit was the bane of my existence all night. I hated that I was reduced to a jealous ninny because of the attention it attracted from men who weren’t good enough for her.
“I was but then decided on sexy witch.” she grinned. “I think I pulled it off. Do you?”
My jaw clenched as I sipped my beer. “It’s nice.”
She frowned and inwardly I kicked myself for hurting her feelings. The truth, she pulled off the sexy witch look in spades. But I couldn’t tell her that.
She looked down at her cleavage. “Lyle Simmons and Jacob Donner thought it was more than nice.”
“Is that what you want? Those two fuckwits to be nice to you?”
Her brows shot up, and I knew I was tipping my hand. She’s your friend.
“Careful Zorro, I might think you were jealous,” she teased. God, if she only knew the dirty images that flashed in my head involved her getting out of that outfit.
Just so she couldn’t tell what I was thinking, I looked away and drank my beer.
“So, the witch is in session. What’s on Don Diego’s mind?” she asked.
I sighed and shrugged, then took another sip of my beer. What the hell could I say?
“Seriously Cyrus. You’ve been out of it all evening. Since you picked me up. Did some
thing happen?”
I played with the beer bottle until I came up with a legitimate sounding excuse. “Just some concerns about my mom.”
“Oh? Is something wrong?”
“I don't know. She just sounds off. Tired. Run down.” That wasn’t a lie, although it wasn’t what had me preoccupied for the last few hours.
“Maybe she’s working a lot.”