Trace of Fever - Lori Foster [52]
“A couple of times.” Should she tell Molly about the picture Trace took? Or how Trace has touched her under the guise of frisking her? Maybe not, not with Matt listening in. It’d only cause a need for more explanations than she could give.
“I’m not surprised,” Matt told her. “You’re already attractive. You have good, basic bones to work with.”
“Bones?”
“But when I finish fine-tuning you, you’re going to be stunning. Physically irresistible. So you should use your feminine appeal instead of the balls-to-the-walls attitude if you want Trace’s attention.”
Stunning? Irresistible? Somehow Priss doubted it. She glanced in the mirror and…yeah. Not great, especially not with foil in her hair.
She ignored Matt’s insult to her attitude in favor of concentrating on the possibilities. “Use it how?”
“Anger is just another form of caring. If you didn’t care, why get mad?”
Uh, because he had drugged her. Hello! But for her own sake, Priss knew she should keep that to herself. She sighed.
“Don’t be so available, emotionally or physically.”
“Way too much excess of both,” Chris agreed.
Matt put his hands on her shoulders and gave her a squeeze. “Instead of you working so hard, let Trace work a little.”
Hmm… Could she make him work a little? Did she want him to? Yeah, she did.
“Baloney.” Molly glared at both men. “That’s bad advice, so don’t listen to them, Priss.”
“No?”
Molly shook her head. “I never played those games with Dare. I always tried to tell him what I was thinking and feeling. Well, once I trusted him, I did. And I pretty much had no choice but to trust him from the get-go.”
Fascinated, Priss opened her mouth to ask about Molly’s personal situation, but Molly cut her off.
“And now we’re married.”
Interesting. But what if she never trusted Trace? What if he never trusted her?
Chris snorted. “Apples and oranges, Molly. Trace and Dare are two very different men.”
Priss wanted to expound on that. They were different, but they also shared similarities that spoke volumes. They were each capable, cautious, dangerous, rock hard and edgy. They stayed highly attuned to their surroundings, and to everyone around them.
If she shared what she’d noticed, Priss thought she might be able to get some dialogue going, and maybe trick Molly or Chris into giving away some deets—like where the guys worked, or who hired them.
What Trace wanted with Murray.
But even if Molly and Chris didn’t understand the necessity for secrecy, she did, and there was the chance that Matt was an outsider.
Meeting his gaze in the mirror, Priss asked him, “How much do you really know?”
He said quickly, “I know nothing.” Using the end of a comb pick, he separated another section of her hair, keeping all his concentration on his chore. “Not a single thing. And I want to keep it that way. God forbid one of those two decides I’m a security liability.”
His reaction intrigued Priss. “Because they would do…what exactly?”
Chris snorted. “Nothing.” And then to Matt, “Don’t talk stupid.”
“Yeah,” Molly complained. “You’re going to give Priss the wrong impression.”
“Worse than my initial impression with my very sleepy ride here? Not likely.” Given what Matt said, Priss knew he was aware of something. Maybe not the whole scope of what Dare and Trace did, not the particulars, but he knew enough that he didn’t want to be involved.
Smart guy.
Before she could really question him, Matt announced, “All done with your hair. Now, it only makes sense to get the waxing out of the way before we start on your makeup—”
Her flesh crawled and her stomach knotted. “No.”
“—because I don’t want to do your makeup until after your hair is styled, so—”
“No. No waxing.” Priss shook her foil-filled head. On this, she could not relent. “Forget it.”
“And,” Matt said, emphasizing the word dramatically, “it’s my understanding that Trace has less time than anticipated, so we shouldn’t dawdle.”
“I said no!”
Matt waved off her protests. “Molly, is there a more private room we can use?”
Straightening in her cozy, padded chair, Molly looked from Matt to Priss