The Charmer (Harbor City 2)

Felicia: You want to know the underwear options, too?

Frankie: Fuck no! UR my sister.

Felicia: Pants or skirt? One or two?

Frankie: You can’t ever tell anyone.

She clicked a quick picture of the outfits laid out on her bed and sent it.

Frankie: Two.

Felicia: xoxo

Frankie: I’m serious. Not. One. Word.

Felicia: Only the guys at your firehouse.

Frankie: …

Felicia: And Ford’s buddies at the cop bar.

Frankie: …

Felicia: Chill. Secret’s safe.

Frankie: Better be. Hot date?

Felicia: Night, bro.

Frankie: Come on, Ant Lady. Spill.

Felicia: No way. U gossip like mom.

Frankie: Let me know if I need to knock this guy’s head loose.

Felicia: xoxo

After that little bit of brotherly love disguised as a promise to beat up her fake date, she barely had time to throw on the dress, put on her standard black dress shoes with the half-inch heel, grab her purse, and smooth her hair into a bun before Honeypot went on full Hudson alert. Striding through the apartment, she shushed the cat to no avail. The fur ball’s one eye was only for the man knocking on her door. Angling her body to block the cat’s probable escape attempt, she opened the door and squeezed out, quickly shutting the door behind her.

Hudson stood next to her as she locked the two deadbolts. “I think that cat loves me.”

“Something like that,” she said, not wanting to feed his ego, and then dropped her keys in her purse and headed up the stairs as Honeypot yowled from her spot on the windowsill.

Thank God Honeypot would stop as soon as she lost sight of them or else her neighbors would put a hit out on her.

“So, what’s the plan?” he asked when they hit the sidewalk.

“Isn’t that what you should be laying out, Professor Higgins?” she asked, finally getting used to being around Hudson enough to bust his chops a little.

“Uh-uh.” He shook his head and opened the back door to a black town car idling at the curb in front of her apartment. “Tonight is your experiment. I’m just along for the ride.”

She slid inside, not liking how he’d phrased that, as if he expected her hypothesis to get blown to bits. Hudson got in after her, closing the door and making the roomy interior seem crazy tight.

“Straight to the Kobe Grill?” the driver asked from his spot behind the wheel.

Hudson grimaced. “How late are we, Linus?”

“I dropped off Sawyer and Clover thirty minutes ago.”