Page 20 of Bang

"A few minutes ago, you told me I was hired."

"Yeah, well…" Her mouth tightened. "If that's true, I can fire you, too, you know."

I almost laughed in her face. "Ifthat's true? So you admit I don't have the job?"

"I'm not admitting anything," she said. "I'm just saying, a little gratitude would be nice."

We were still going back and forth when Mason said, "Hey, get me a drink will ya?"

What the heck?

My gaze snapped in his direction. "What?"

But once again, he wasn't looking atme. This time, he was looking at Livia.

When I returned my attention toher, she was blinking up at Mason, looking like someone had just slapped her silly. After a long moment, she said, "Excuse me?"

"A drink," he told her. "I'm thirsty."

"Oh," she said. "Sorry, I didn't know." She glanced toward the bar. "So, um, what would you like?"

Oh, for God's sake.

When Mason answered, his voice was flatter than a pancake. "Surprise me."

He didn't need to tell her twice. The words had barely left his lips when Livia turned toward the bar and began elbowing her way through the crowd.

I was still staring after her when Mason said, "Huh. Maybe Ishouldhire her."

I turned to look at him. "What?"

"I'm just saying, she's got initiative."

"Yeah," I snapped. "Because she – unlikesomepeople – would justloveto get into your pants."

"Well there ya go," he said.

As he said it, the final chords of the song ended, and the band struck up a new tune – this older than the last, but just as slow and romantic.

Embarrassingly, I was still holding onto Mason. Even worse, I wasn'tquitewilling to let go.

Him and his stupid pants.

On the upside, he was still holding onto tome, too, which meant that I wasn't making atotalfool of myself.

It was just that, well, I was reluctant to walk away, that's all – although for the life of me, I couldn’t imagine why.

When Mason started moving with the music, I followed suit.I mean, as long as we were out here on the dance floor, we might as well dance, right?

And besides, it wasn't for my own benefit. It was for all of the people who were standing around watching. Maybe ifwestarted dancing, they'd stop staring and pay more attention to their own partners.

They didn't.

Oh sure, they eventually started going through the motions, but I could still see them watching us with far too much interest. Then again, we had caused quite a scene.

Trying my best to ignore the spectators, I looked to Mason and said, "You wouldn’treallyhire her, would you?"

His lips curved ever so slightly. "If I did, would that be a problem?"