30. Reign （Brooks）, Thursday 0651 p.m.
Chapter thirty
I feel the buzz in my pocket again. The third time. I don’t look.
Reagan tilts her head at me, amused, a knowing glint in her eyes. “You gonna check that? Might be your girlfriend. Or your parole officer.”
I lean closer, my forearm still braced against the window beside her. “If it’s important, they’ll wait.”
Her brows lift. “Doesn’t seem very responsible of you.”
“Neither is inviting a strange man to dinner,” I murmur.
“Yet here we are.” She sips her drink slowly, eyes on mine the whole time. “Are you strange?”
“I’m something,” I admit.
“Guess it depends on who’s telling the story.”
“As long as it isn’t Dateline,” she deadpans.
“You never answered if you had a girlfriend, or a parole officer. I have to tell you, one I can deal with. The other will make me walk out of here.”
Another buzz. I glance down.
She huffs and rolls her eyes. The impudence will drive Grayson crazy. Me? I love the fire in her.
I lift my brow. “Do tell, want me to guess which one?”
“I don’t have a girlfriend, unless you’re applying.”
I finally reach for my phone. Damn it, the move stalls her reply. I tilt the screen so she can’t read it.
Three messages from Dad.
You've had long enough.
End it. Now.
Or I will.
I let the screen go dark.
“Everything okay?” she asks lightly, but there’s something sharper underneath. She senses the shift.
I smile. Slow. Controlled. “Just someone used to giving orders.”
“Ah,” she says, her voice velvet over steel. “And you’re not in the mood to take them?”
“I’m busy,” I murmur, brushing a stray lock of hair off her shoulder. “Besides… I’d rather see what happens when I stop obeying.”
She blinks. Her armor flickers. Then her eyes narrow in challenge. “Careful. It’s starting to sound like mutiny.”
I grin, all teeth. “Only if the Lieutenant can catch me.”
From across the street, I know he’s watching. I also know he won’t wait much longer.
But tonight? Tonight is mine.