He ignored me, intent on running his gaze over Wills in a way that stripped off my lover’s clothes. “We can make up for lost time, though, doll baby. Why don’t you ditch the killjoy here and spend the evening with me? I’m very good.” His voice was heavy with innuendo. “I can show you things, teach you things, make you feel things…”
“I’ve had it with you, Jay.” My hands bunched into fists, and I took a step toward him. “I’m gonna…”
Wills’s hand on my arm stopped me. “It’s okay, babe.” His eyes, cold and flat, looked over Jay in a way that made it obvious he wasn’t impressed by what he saw. “You’re Jay.”
“My reputation precedes me, I see.” He smirked archly, oblivious to that stare. If Wills ever looked at me the way he was looking at Jay, I’d want to curl up in a corner and die.
“I didn’t recognize you without the werewolf mask on. You were trying to ram your tongue down My. Lover’s. Throat.”
“Big fucking whoop. It didn’t mean anything. He’s a whore, just like the rest of us.”
Wills reacted so quickly I didn’t even see him move.
“By dose! By dose!” Jay was sprawled on the floor, gingerly cupping his nose. It wasn’t bleeding, but it was starting to swell.
“Did you hurt your hand, baby?” I took it and stroked his knuckles.
He flexed his fingers. “No, I’m good.”
“I’ll hab you trown out!”
“We don’t think so.” Two security men, a blond and a brunet, appeared out of nowhere. Because of all the important men here tonight, security was supplied not only by the hotel, but by Le Roi and the men themselves. I wondered who these two men worked for. They hoisted Jay back to his feet. One on either side of him, each had a hand on his elbow. “His majesty regrets you have to leave so early, Jay.”
Ah. That answered that question.
“I don’ hab to leab! I don’ wanna leab!” Abruptly Jay gasped and turned pale, and a grimace of pain twisted his features.
“We think you do.” The brunet’s words were gentle. The two men nodded at us and frog-marched Jay out of the ballroom.
Wills stared after the security men. “Smooth move, pinching the nerve at his elbow,” he murmured to himself. “I wish I’d brought some business cards with me. Maybe Granger has some?”
“That reminds me.” I looked around, spotted Le Roi’s table, and we started to walk toward it. “What was up with you and Granger?”
“What?”
“You apologized for telling her you’d send some refreshments.”
“Oh, yeah. Apparently it’s company policy that their drivers only eat what they’ve brought themselves. She could have gotten fired for accepting anything brought to her. Even by another driver working for the same company.”
“That sounds like something one of the more paranoid alphabet agencies in DC would insist on.” Wills stared at me, his eyebrow raised, and I shrugged. “Never mind. We’ll get our obligatory chitchat with Chuckles out of the way, and then we can…”
“Haven’t I asked you to please not call me that?” Charlemagne’s words were pained.
I bit back a grin. “Sorry.” It wouldn’t do to show I was pleased that I’d scored points off him.
Even though I was willing to forego hostilities, I’d never claimed to be an angel.
“I would think so. It’s the least you could do after I had Jay thrown out.”
“I don’t know why he’s still allowed to come to these affairs. He should have been banned months ago.”
“Well, he’ll be the next Le Roi’s problem.”
“Just as he was the year before, and the year before that?”
“I notice you didn’t do anything about him.”
I shrugged. “His habit was under control and he wasn’t that bad back then.”
“Right.” He turned to Wills. “Well, well, well. Who have we here? Someone new? Tsk. I’m surprised at you. You do seem to be going through them rather quickly.” He turned his head, and his eyes bored into mine; he lowered his voice. “But then you had a tendency to do that, didn’t you?”
Wills looked from me to Charlemagne and back, interested.
“Surely he’s told you we have a…history?”
“You don’t want to know, babe. It’s a boring story. Very short. Very boring.”
His expression told me he had every intention of worming out each embarrassing detail. Maybe if I told him it was too painful to talk about? No, because then he’d think I was carrying a torch for Charlemagne. Defeated, I nodded.
“A long time ago, we spent one night together. Afterwards, I…” Charlemagne tensed and cast a surreptitious glance around. I could afford to cut him some slack, and I changed my words. “We realized it would never work out. Rent boys and happily ever after don’t mix. So we parted.” I didn’t add “amicably.” Anyone eavesdropping would have known that for the bald-faced lie it was.
“Ah.” Wills turned back to Le Roi and offered his hand. “Well, I’m the one who’ll be giving Theo his ‘happily ever after.’ I’m William Matheson.”