Bemusement stamped on his face, Aiden accepted the card. He stared at her for a long moment, as if he wanted to say something. Shaking his head, he scanned the card briefly before tucking it in his pocket. “I’ll do that.” He started to turn away only to stop dead still, his attention fused to something in the far corner of the booth. His jaw tightened, a strange tension buzzing from him.
Baffled by his reaction, she swiveled to see what had captured his consuming focus. Her gaze landed on the print she’d titled The Sacrifice and she inwardly groaned. The painting was one of her best—no denying it—but she still couldn’t figure out what the hell possessed her to use herself for the model. Particularly since she was gloriously, decadently naked and tied to an apple tree while a dragon swooped above her, intent on seizing its prize.
She returned her attention to Aiden and knew with all certainty he was cataloging the obvious similarities. Great, why didn’t I give myself a smaller butt?
Aiden stalked to the watercolor. He crossed his arms over his chest, his body more rigid than a column of marble. “We need to talk about this. Now.”
“See that card propped there? It explains my inspiration for the scene.” Well, mostly it did. She’d left out the more steamy parts about her dreamtime dragon, the beast responsible for the painting.
Aiden turned and revealed the annoyance flickering in his eyes. “Very handy, but not what I meant. I was referring to us.”
Dana blinked. “Us? As in you and me?”
“And me.” Jace ambled forward. The two brothers exchanged a look, the bizarre tension again crackling in the air.
The whole afternoon was venturing farther and farther into Twilight Zone territory. She opened her mouth but was cut short by the Bewitched theme song chirping from her pocket. Scrambling for her cell phone, she glanced at the caller ID and saw the number for La Luna, her aunt’s restaurant. Flipping the phone open, she pressed it to her ear. “Hello?” Her forehead scrunching, she listened to her aunt’s frantic, nearly incoherent blabbering on the other end of the line. At the first pause in Emmaline’s diatribe, Dana jumped in. “Calm down. Isn’t there someone who can cover for Pauline?”
She patiently endured over a minute of hysterical commentary from Emmaline before breaking in again. “Don’t sweat it. I’ll fill in for her. And I’m sure Raul doesn’t look nearly… Really? Who knew they made hot pink fishnets in his size? Okay. Give me five minutes to find someone to watch my booth and pack up for me, and then I’ll head over.”
Clicking the phone off, she released a frustrated breath. “Look, this is all very weird.” She waved a hand to indicate Aiden and Jace. “But I have to go deal with a cross-dressing chef before my aunt suffers a nervous breakdown.” Ignoring the twins’ incredulous stares, she raced to Haddie’s booth.
Chapter Three
“Do you think she really doesn’t know?” Jace stroked his chin. “How is that possible? Her parents signed the contract shortly after her birth. Plenty of time since then to fill her in on her fate.”
Aiden watched Dana fling her arms in a tight hug around the purple-haired elderly lady. After a quick peck on the woman’s cheek, Dana rushed toward the distant exit. He met Jace’s baffled expression and grimaced. “If they’ve kept her in the dark all these years, we’ve got one hell of an awkward explanation ahead of us.”
“No shit.” Jace scrubbed a hand across the back of his head. “So do we chase her down and lay it all out for her now?”
“You heard her. She’s got a cross-dressing cook to deal with. Not the best time to drop the bomb on her.” Aiden’s attention journeyed to the painting in the rear of the booth, and the primitive surge of lust that’d earlier gripped him returned full blast. Maybe Dana didn’t consciously realize why they were there, but her creative muse was fully in tune. The realization taunted the primal beast slumbering inside him. His dragon strained at its leash, desperate to pursue and conquer. “Wouldn’t hurt following her to the restaurant.” His inner beast roared in approval.
Jace grinned. “Now that you mention it, I am kind of hungry.”
They both turned and headed toward the front of the booth just as the purple-haired woman strolled inside. She swept them with an assessing glance, a crafty gleam sparkling in her eyes. “Interesting. The cards didn’t mention there’d be two of you.”
Aiden didn’t know what to make of her cryptic statement, but he also didn’t have time to ask her to elaborate. As it was, he and Jace needed to hustle ass and catch up to Dana before she left the parking lot, otherwise they’d never be able to track her down.
“The restaurant is off Baldwin, near the mega mall you passed coming here. Look for the big blue sign that says La Luna.”
Jace’s eyebrows shot upward. “Whoa. How did you—?”
“I’m a psychic, hon, and I can read you two easier than the Metro Daily.” She tapped a fingernail against her double chins. “Although…there’s something unusual about both your auras.”
“Yeah, we get that a lot,” Aiden said, his tone dry. He clamped a hand on Jace’s shoulder and steered him from the booth. They sprinted toward the exit, ignoring the curious glances and a few ribald shouts flung their way. By the time they reached the Navigator, they were breathing heavy and drenched with a fresh coat of sweat.
Aiden quirked his lips upward. “Times like this, I really appreciate the ability to fly.”
“No shit. Could you imagine the look on people’s faces if we’d shifted?” Chuckling, Jace leaned across the console and unzipped the duffles. He yanked tee shirts from both, tossing Aiden the black one while he kept the white crewneck for himself. “Hopefully La Luna isn’t a jacket and tie joint.”
Aiden tugged his damp shirt over his head and mopped the sweat from his skin before pulling on the new tee. All things considered, the possibility of getting kicked out of the restaurant for their apparel was the least of their problems. Gunning the Navigator’s engine, he sped from the fairground and backtracked to the freeway. Judging from the GPS, the turnoff for Baldwin was less than a quarter mile.
Sure enough, he spied the enormous Great Lakes shopping complex and an exit ramp. Less than five minutes later, he pulled into La Luna’s crammed lot. He searched for a mouthwatering, green-eyed blonde in a medieval dress but didn’t see Dana anywhere. Hopefully the purple-haired woman hadn’t been blowing smoke up their asses and they were indeed at the right restaurant.
Only one way to find out.
Slamming the Navigator’s door shut, he strode to La Luna’s entrance, Jace trailing close behind. Inside the building, they were greeted by the clatter of silverware and raucous cheering coming from the bar patrons watching football on the large flat screen.
“Hi. Welcome to La Luna’s.” A perky young brunette wearing tan Capri pants and a navy polo top bounced up to the hostess stand, her smile so wide it damn near looked painful. A badge clipped to her shirt boasted the name Tiffany. “Are there just two of you?”
Aiden nodded. Seeing a way to casually fish for information, he peered over the girl’s head. “Would you happen to know if Dana Cooper is working tonight?”
“You know, I thought I saw her sneak in through the kitchen a few minutes ago.” She wound one springy curl around her index finger and batted her heavily mascaraed lashes. “Do you want me to go find her?”
Yeah, that’d go over great. For sure Dana would think they were a couple of stalker nutcases. “Actually, we were planning to surprise her.” He almost grunted at the irony in that statement. His attention returned to the thick cluster of people engrossed in the football game. “Are we able to eat in the bar?”