Carlos got it. He’d worked too hard for the past year proving and re-proving himself to miss the man-up message behind Tony’s words. As much as he didn’t want to, he didn’t have a choice. He was going back in…but he’d make sure it was only temporarily.
“Fine,” he said. “So what’s the plan?”
Tony shuffled the papers in front of him and stuffed them back into the folder, slapping it shut with authority. “That’s for you two to figure out.”
“With your history, you can easily come back into the Magic Battledome fold,” Mika said.
Like that was ever going to be the case. Too much had happened, and he was a different man now. “It’s gotta be an inside job. It’s not like anyone else would ever think LARP costumes were valuable.”
“Wow.” Mika exhaled in a frustrated huff. “You have gone totally mundane, haven’t you?”
“Mundane?” Cam asked.
“Someone who doesn’t play the game,” Carlos answered. It was the LARP equivalent of a muggle and was usually used with total derision. Except now being a mundane was a point of pride for him. “Someone like me.”
Cam gave him a questioning look. Carlos knew he was being an ass, but he’d promised himself he’d never go back into that world. If being forced to do what he’d promised himself he’d never do again made him act like a dick, then so be it. He’d go in, figure out who was stealing the costumes, and get the hell out of there before he got in too deep. What the hell did he care if Mika liked him or not? He was who he was now, not who he had been.
“Just in case it is someone on the inside doing this,” Tony said, “you need to keep your investigation on the down low.”
“You can go in as her one-night stand,” Cam said. “What?” He looked around, a shit-ass grin on his face. He knew exactly what he was doing; he always did. “Sticking as close to the truth as possible is always the best plan. He goes home with her, finds out she’s into Magic Battledome, and decides to give it another try.”
Simple. Almost honest. It would work. “It’ll get the job done,” Carlos said.
“Not with your douchetastic attitude.” Mika stared at him, challenge burning in her eyes.
“You don’t think I can pull it off?” They were fighting, but it wasn’t only annoyance he was feeling. Blood that normally went north was heading due south.
Mika gave him a cool head-to-toe review before shrugging her delicate shoulders. For someone who had been so hot for him only a few hours ago, she sure was ice-cold now—which was good. If he was stuck taking this case, the last thing he needed was someone who wanted more from him than just a mystery solved, no matter what his half-hard cock argued.
“You can use your…attitude in your favor,” Cam mused. “A dude will do a lot to get with a woman as hot as Mika—no offense.”
She laughed. “There is no filter between your brain and your mouth, is there?”
“Not that I’ve found,” Cam said.
Carlos pressed against his fingers, popping the knuckles one at a time until eight loud cracks had boomed in the suddenly quiet conference room. He looked up and found three sets of eyes on him, two curious and one totally unimpressed. He cleared his throat. “Okay, so when do we get started?”
Mika consulted her phone. “I have a meeting with my court tonight at six.”
“Your court?” Tony asked.
“That’s what my character, the Silver Queen, calls her team,” Mika explained. “They’re the ones who fight under the Silver banner and are being stalked by this thief.”
Carlos swiped the case file from in front of Tony and scooted his chair back from the table. “I’ll pick you up before the meeting.” Discussion over, he stood and took three steps toward the door before his sixth sense made him stop and turn.
Mika was shaking her head. The move made her dangling earrings swing and drew his attention to her jaw, the smooth line of which he’d traced with his tongue last night. He could still taste her on his lips without even concentrating. The vanilla of her lotion, the hoppy beer she’d been drinking, and the intoxicating promise of something more amazing than a regular bar hookup.
“You don’t have to pick me up,” she said. “There’s no need.”
“There is if we’re going to make this cover seem legit.”
Mika had narrowed her eyes. “And we can’t let anyone think you’re just a big old fake, now can we?”
Cam tried to disguise his laugh with a cough.
Tony sighed. “Are you two going to be able to play nice together? If not, we need to figure out another plan.”
Mika rolled back her chair and then strutted over, stopping right in front of Carlos. “I always play nice.” Her whole demeanor changed. All the fight melted away from her, replaced by a flirty look promising a good time and the teasing hint of hot sex. She pursed her red lips together and blew him a playful kiss before patting his cheek with stinging force. “Until I don’t. Pick me up at five forty-five.”