A spark of incredibly ill-timed interest went through Grayson. He’d always wanted Reece when he shouldn’t, and it apparently didn’t matter to his dick that Reece had tradedCare Bearformurder rabbit; his body was in favor of the two of them fucking right there on the bar.
“I want extra cherries in that Shirley Temple,” Grayson said to distract himself from that wildly unhelpful thought.
“Dream on.” Reece turned back to him, gaze flicking over Grayson’s open coat, and visibly twitched. “Why are you wearing that?” he said sharply.
Guess he did recognize the hoodie. “’Cause it’s winter in Seattle,” Grayson said. “And every time I’ve gotten clothes recently, they’ve gone missing. The ones I left in your studio. The ones I left in my truck. Course, my truck’s gone missing too.”
“Gosh, that’s a shame,” Reece said, deadpan. “Maybe you should have been more careful with it.”
Grayson shrugged. “It’s all right. I found something else to drive.”
“Now you’retryingto piss me off.” Reece leaned in. “If I were you, I wouldn’t bait an empath’s temper in a crowded club,” he said with a hint of menace. “Just a tip.”
“That right?” Grayson casually set his hand on the bar, and Reece automatically flinched back to keep distance between them. Grayson cleared his throat meaningfully. “Pretty sure I can handle you and your temper just fine,” he said, pushing away his brain’s immediate and unhelpful ideas of ways he could handle Reece.
Reece’s expression darkened. He tapped the bar. “You wanted to meet. We’ve met. What do you want?”
“I’m leaving town tomorrow.”
It wasn’t really an answer, but it also wasn’t something Grayson had necessarily planned to tell Reece. From the looks of it, Reece hadn’t expected Grayson to be that honest either.
“Okay,” Reece said, drawing it out. “I’ll pencil some extra mayhem in my planner, then.”
“No,” Grayson said firmly. “You won’t.”
“Oh, this should be fun.” Reece rested his chin on his fake-gloved hand again. Care Bear or murder rabbit, he was still way too cute. “Tell me, big bad Dead Man, why should I be good while you’re gone?”
“Because you can givemehell,” said Grayson. “Not your sister.”
Reece stiffened. “Leave Jamey out of this,” he said warningly. “She has always been off limits, and she always will be. Maybe you have this obsession with being the Dead Man, but I know Jamey’s mixed up in it too now, and if anything happens to her and I find out—”
He cut himself off, but Grayson didn’t need the details. No question St. James did still matter to Reece, even in his corrupted state.
Then Reece pointed at him. “And what about you?”
Grayson wrinkled his brow in confusion. “Me?”
“Has anything happened to— Never mind.” Reece seemed to shake himself. “So is this why you needed to see me?” he said gruffly. “To lecture me about behaving for Jamey?”
I don’t know why I’m here.But I couldn’t leave town without seeing you.“Did you figure out who’s framing you?” Grayson said instead.
“I wouldn’t tell you if I had.”
“I’m trying to help.”
“You’re trying to lock me up.” Reece’s voice was icy. “Don’t think for a moment that I’ve dropped my guard. One wrong twitch from you and I will make this entire club attack. How’s that forgiving you hell—”
“Hey.” A brunette in a tie, maybe early thirties, suddenly shoved his way up to the bar. “Hey, cutie.” His voice was loud as he put his elbows on the bar top and snapped his fingers at Reece. “I need a beer.”
“Oh yeah?” Reece turned toward the brunette. “Well, I think you need to fuck off.”
The man drew his head back. “Excuse me?”
“I’m not getting you a fucking beer,” Reece said. “You’ve got your car keys right there in your fist. Only assholes drink and drive.” He looked at Grayson. “Not a lie.”
“Obviously not,” Grayson muttered.
“What the fuck?” the brunette said.
