The Price of Mason (Forbidden Men 10)

Maybe if I raked in enough tip money, I wouldn’t have to accept any clients from my other line of work for another couple weeks.

A guy could always hope.

“Lowe!” Alec greeted with a wide, friendly grin as he spread his arms wide in welcome as if he might hug me. But then he came in to slap a bill into my palm and shake with me instead. “My man. How’s it hanging? Bang anyone hot lately?”

I chuckled at his question, masking my disappointment when I realized he’d only handed me a single crumpled dollar bill. Feeling spiteful, I teased back, “Just your girlfriend.”

Though he laughed as I knew he would, on the other side of his car, the passenger door slammed shut, cluing me into the fact he had a passenger with him.

“Oh, really?” a cold, condescending voice asked. “When was this? I don’t recall being banged by you.”

Trying not to swallow my tongue for getting caught talking smack, I peered over the low roof of the Maserati and immediately winced. Eva Mercer folded her arms over her chest and glared back.

“Ah, hell,” I muttered, flashing Alec a cringe. “You’re dating that now? My condolences, man.”

Instead of defending his girlfriend’s honor, Alec merely laughed and slapped the back of my shoulder as if congratulating me for my zinger. “I take it my granddad’s birthday party has already started?”

I nodded. “Only about an hour and a half ago.”

“Perfect.” Grinning, Alec nodded his approval and slipped off his sunglasses to hang them from the front of his shirt. “Come on, muffin.” He held his hand back behind him, waiting for Eva to prance around in front of the headlights to his side of the car in her stiletto heels to take his hand. “Let’s give the old man a heart attack with that dress you’re wearing.”

The short, tight red contraption that was wrapped around Eva made each step come slowly, so it felt as if we had to wait forever for her to reach us.

“Prick,” she said coolly to me as she passed by and took Alec’s hand.

I smirked back, greeting her with, “Muffin.”

Jerking her attention to me, she narrowed her eyes and hissed. For some reason, the pure blueness of her eyes reminded me of her friend.

Reese.

Dammit, I hated knowing that name. I hated being reminded of her. I’d been halfway successful about ignoring the fact most of the evening that she was currently in my house, watching my little sister. But looking at her friend brought it all back.

A wave of strange heat passed over my body. To mask its effects, I turned bluntly away from Eva and slid into the driver’s side of her boyfriend’s ride. By the time I returned from parking it, she and Alec were gone, but thoughts of Reese remained.

I was tempted to call and check in, make sure Sarah was doing okay. She’d looked freaked out of her mind when I had left. I didn’t think Reese could do anything too damaging in one night—Sarah would probably be okay by herself for a few hours if Reese abandoned her—but that didn’t account for any mental harm Glowing Girl could wreak on my sister if she were cruel.

Then again, everything I knew about her so far led me to believe she wasn’t the bullying type. She had defended me from Eva, she apologized to things she ran into, whether they were human or not, and she laughed all too freely to be the snide, bitter, hurt-others-to-make-herself-feel-bigger type.

But thinking positive things about her made my skin crackle with awareness.

“Hey, man. You taken a break yet?” Tex, one of my coworkers, asked, drawing me from my zone.

I shook my head as I hung up the keys to the Maserati. “No. Not yet.”

“I didn’t think so. Why don’t you go snag one? Everyone else has already had theirs, and it’s pretty slow right now.”

“Yeah, okay. Thanks.”

I grabbed a drink and mini bag of chips I’d stashed in the valet podium and headed to the break room, where I played a game on my phone and polished off my snack. I wasn’t even gone fifteen minutes, but Eva and Alec had already returned when I strolled up, turning in their ticket to Tex to retrieve their car.

As my coworker took off, leaving the couple standing there, waiting on him, I paused and remained hidden from view, not wanting to engage with Eva again.

“Well, that was some kind of record,” Mercer announced after a long sigh. “Definitely the fastest your mother’s ever kicked me out of one of your family functions before.”

Worthington chuckled and began to play with a piece of her light hair. “You do have a talent for pissing her off. Reason number one why I keep you around.”

“Hmm,” she murmured, turning her face away from him as if checking on Tex’s progress.