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“He probably thinks I should stick to sea creatures.” Or pickpocketing.
“I don’t think that’s the problem.” Mr. Coaltar kept hold of my wrist, and switched his position until he was dead in front of me. He clutched my hand between his fingers. He brought it to his mouth. His lips grazed along my knuckles. Our eyes locked, and he focused on me as if no one else mattered. The same spark that lit up the gold flecks in his eyes flowed through his lips, against my skin and sent a flicker of warmth through me.
He was staking claim.
“I’ll give you two something to fight about on the way home,” he said.
A slow breath escaped my lips. That wasn’t coy like before. I realized the move I’d made just now was really too forward. It probably made him feel like I was welcoming the chance to play this game with him. His response was an aggressive attack. Challenge accepted. A whirlwind of pleasure through me that I never wanted to admit to feeling.
I was about to answer him when I felt a hand on my shoulder. Brandon leaned into me, his fingers clutching my bare skin strongly. “Haven’t you bothered Mr. Coaltar enough today, sugar?” he asked, his voice deeper than before. At the same time, his other hand collected the wallet, and he pulled it from me, freeing my hand.
Mr. Coaltar squeezed my hand once before finally releasing it. “No bother,” he said coolly. His gaze locked on me. “Let me know when you’d like that interview. I’m at your disposal.” His head inched forward in a nod, and the start of a smirk played on his lips. He turned, walking away. Mr. Fitzgerald met up with him and they headed into the house.
“What are you doing?” Brandon asked me through his teeth.
My heart trembled, not only from Mr. Coaltar’s provocation but also for Brandon having spotted it. “I’ll tell you in the car.”
BULLYING
We picked up Corey around the block. He was walking away from the party, wearing a sports coat and trying to look inconspicuous.
When we pulled up beside him, he hopped into the back seat, grinning. “We did it? No one noticed?”
“Oh he noticed,” Brandon said. His hands twisted at the wheel as he drove, his knuckles whitening. “He noticed her. You didn’t tell me they buddied up.”
“She was being a distraction,” Corey said. “She was handling it.”
“What was that, Kayli?” Brandon glanced over at me.
I shrugged and slumped in my seat, kicking off my shoes. “He wanted to give me a job.”
Silence filled the car. Corey tilted his head. “What?”
“He said he was interested in letting me help him with some chemical research project.” I spent a few minutes quickly filling them in on all the conversations, skipping over the underlying flirting.
“Oh no,” Brandon said. “You’re not getting near that guy again.”
I sat up, planting my hand on the dash to square off at him. “What do you mean? Is he doing the drug thing? Did you find out?”
“I don’t care if he’s doing drugs or planting bombs, running numbers or not doing anything. You’re not working for him.”
I huffed. “He offered me a job.”
“He offered Kate a job. What’s going to happen when he finds out you lied?”
“Kate could be short for Kayli. Besides, he said the job was easy and he’d train.”
“He doesn’t want to give you a job. He wants a piece of your ass.”
I squinted at him. I was trying to leave that part out. But maybe he’d noticed when he talked to Mr. Coaltar himself. He did seem to bristle. “Is that a problem for you?”
His mouth fell open and his hands let go of the wheel for a moment. He reclaimed it and shook his head at the road. “I can’t believe you’re serious.”
“You’re the one yelling at me to do something other than stealing wallets. Now here’s a good opportunity and you’re suddenly against it.”
“We’ll get you a job.”
I didn’t really care about this fake job offer with Mr. Coaltar but it was irritating that Brandon thought he could tell me what to do. I wanted to push a few of his buttons and get him to back off. “There’s one right here! You won’t need to look. And if he’s really looking for a date, well, he’s single and smart.”
Brandon nearly growled. “And rich?”
“And none of your business,” I said. “What? Am I only supposed to go out with people in my social status? Sorry, call me a snob, but I’m just not attracted to hobos.”
“Oh my god, you’re such a fucking girl. You’ll do anything to justify going out with someone who can buy you whatever you want.”
I grunted, turned and punched him on the shoulder. “Take that back.”
The car swerved and Brandon overcorrected, obviously not expecting the hit.
“Whoa, whoa,” Corey’s hand shot out and captured my wrist before I could hit Brandon again. “Hang on there. He’s driving. Beat him up after we get back.”
“You’re on her side?” Brandon said.
“I’m not on her side. I just don’t want to die.” Corey released my wrist. “Sorry, Kaylie. I know I don’t know you that well, and I don’t really have a say in who you date, but this guy is on our watch list for a reason. If it were anyone else at that party, I wouldn’t say anything. He’s dangerous. You should stay away from him.”
I grunted and folded my arms, sitting back against the seat. “I’m not a gold digger. And I don’t think I could get a job with him, anyway, even if he was serious. He knew I was with you and he wanted to get you ticked off so you’d break up with me or whatever.”
Brandon’s eyebrows furrowed. “So you know he’s trying to get into your pants.”
“I shoved my boobs into him twice. Of course he wants in my pants. Do you think for one minute if I was serious about it, I’d even be here right now? No. I’d be back there at that party trying to hook up. I’m not that kind of girl. If I was, I wouldn’t have to steal in the first place.”
Brandon frowned. Corey bowed his head, staring at his shoes. I sunk into myself, staring out the window. I hated that part of what I’d just said was a lie. I had been intrigued. I’d always thought rich people were stupid, in a general sense. To me, they all just lived completely oblivious lives. Mr. Coaltar seemed different. Was he? Or was I just letting myself be tempted because he was rich? Was it because I always assumed someone like him woul
d never be interested in me?
But he really wasn’t interested in me. He didn’t know me. He liked Kate. And Kate probably looked like she almost fit in. It was still a lie. Brandon was right.
Suddenly I couldn’t wait to get home to Wil and go back to what we were; at least there I knew where I stood and what I had to do. This job was over. If they kept their promise or not, I needed to get away and figure out what I was going to do next.
I snuck a glance at Corey in the rearview mirror. He was already looking and caught my gaze. He smiled in that way that made the wall around my heart want to crash down. He understood. He wanted to know if we could be friends again.
And that did it for me. Despite being mad at Brandon, I realized maybe he was only looking out for me. I wanted to hang out with Corey again. He knew more about me and didn’t cringe. Was this my chance to finally be around people who didn’t care what I came from and still liked me?
A deep part of me hated the thought that this could be over. I wondered if they did this type of thing regularly. It was tempting to think maybe I could work with them again—I had to admit, it had been pretty exciting.
But after this party, would they want to keep me around?
?????
Back at the apartment building, Brandon led the way to the front lobby. I scanned the lot, but didn’t know when the others would get back. I was tempted to tell them I’d go home and take a bus back simply to avoid the awkwardness. I wasn’t sure if the busses were running this late, but I would have hitchhiked if I had to.
It was Corey that grabbed my hand, odd to me because we didn’t need to pretend to be boyfriend and girlfriend any more. Did he forget? “Come on, Kayli,” he said. “I want to show you something.”
I relented, and he continued to hold on to me in the elevator. Brandon shuffled in, and pushed the number seven button with a thumb.
“Thought you would want to check out our two bedroom. I wasn’t sure if you wanted to room with Wil in something like we’ve got. I didn’t think you needed a three bedroom.”
