Page 19 of The Live-In Temptation (Steele Brothers of Starlight Cove #2)

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

CHLOE

The moment Luna walked through the back door of Wicked Little Things the following night, I knew I was screwed.

Starlight Cove’s newly opened lingerie boutique—funded by none other than Mabel herself—was always closed to the public on Thursdays so it could be rented out for events or used for Mabel’s infamous pleasure parties.

And since the party we were working tonight wasn’t set to start until seven, that meant it was just me and my repressed feelings in the store. Honestly, it was pretty much all we had room for.

Luna didn’t even offer a hello before she pinned me with a look, one brow raised. “So. You kissed him.”

I froze, hand in midair as I restocked the Twilight -themed lube— glittered for her pleasure —and stared at her in shock. The only way she could possibly know that was if she’d had a live feed into Xander’s house or if?—

“ Mabel ,” I spat her name like a curse.

Luna dipped her chin in a nod. “The one and only.”

“She wasn’t supposed to say anything! I don’t exactly need the entire town to know I made out with my boss.”

“Okay, first—” Luna held up a finger. “We are definitely coming back to the whole ‘ made out ’ thing. And second, she didn’t tell the whole town. Just us. She said you needed a vent session and a blocked exit to keep you from, and I quote, ‘ghosting like a horny little Houdini.’ So, we’re here.”

“We?”

As if on cue, in strolled the rest of my little girl gang.

Quinn glanced at me out of the corner of her eye. “Don’t even think about running.”

Sutton hummed in agreement as she picked up our special of the month—a tentacle vibrator, complete with textured ridges down the shaft and vibrating beads at the base. “You might be quick, but I’m quicker. If I can dodge projectile vomit in the ER, I can tackle you without breaking a sweat.”

I rolled my eyes. “I think you’re all being a little dramatic. I kissed him. Pretty sure I’m safe from having to flee into WITSEC.”

“Normally, I’d agree with you,” Luna said. “But we’re talking about you . Chloe of the mid-date disappearing act.”

“And even if we weren’t, this is kind of a big deal,” Quinn said, making that knot in my stomach tighten further.

“They’re right,” Sutton said, not helping matters. “You kissed your boss . In his kitchen .”

“Brief interruption to mention she said made out , not just kissed,” Luna—the traitor—said.

Quinn held up her hands. “I stand corrected. The only way it could’ve been more scandalous is if you’d done it on the fire truck while parked on Main Street.”

“Well, I didn’t know the fire truck was an option,” I deadpanned.

“Been there, done that.” Quinn shrugged. “I’m just saying, maybe don’t rule it out.”

“I don’t have to rule out anything. He already did that for me,” I said and then snapped my mouth shut and studiously avoided each of their gazes.

Fuck. I hadn’t meant to say that. And definitely not in the tone I’d used—all bitter and affected. Like I actually cared . I didn’t care. I never cared. Repressed feelings over here, party of one!

“What did he do?” Sutton asked, her voice carrying an underlying threat of violence that made me feel a little bit sorry for her sixteen-year-old daughter. It was a tone you didn’t mess with. And one you certainly didn’t challenge.

“Nothing. He did nothing.” I shrugged like it was no big deal and definitely hadn’t been all I’d thought about today. “He greeted me with a grunt that passed as ‘good morning’ and went about his day. Obviously because the kiss meant nothing. To both of us.”

All three of them huffed as one, an unholy trinity of disbelief.

“Your scoffs mean nothing to me,” I said.

“Just like that kiss, huh?” Quinn said dryly.

I opened my mouth to confirm exactly that when Luna held up a hand to stop me.

“Before you lie again and say it was nothing, or it wasn’t a big deal, or it was just a one-time lapse in judgment?—”

“It was all of those things.”

“—let me just ask one question.” She paused, obviously for dramatic effect. “Why are you wearing his sweatshirt?”

I froze with a handful of sparkle condoms—to go with the lube, natch—and glanced down. Fuck me. That was indeed Xander’s hoodie I was wearing. The one I’d basically been secretly living in for days. Like a complete loser .

Shit.

I straightened my spine and cleared my throat. “I ran out of clean ones. And I was cold. And it was there.”

“Uh-huh,” Quinn said flatly. “And I’m sure it has nothing to do with the fact that it smells like him.”

“Of course not.” I rolled my eyes. “That would be weird. And inappropriate. And crossing a boundary an employee definitely shouldn’t cross with her boss.”

“I don’t know, babe,” Sutton said. “Seems like less of a boundary to wear his hoodie than it does to stick your tongue down his throat, all while dry humping the shit out of him. But what do I know?”

I dropped my mouth open on a shocked gasp. “That meddling little narc. I’m never telling Mabel anything again!”

“Be mad at her all you want, but she’s right,” Luna said. “You need support. And we’re here to provide it.”

“Well, as much as I appreciate that, I have to finish getting ready for our party tonight. So we’ll just have to table this little support session.”

“Tomorrow, then,” Sutton said, her tone daring me to argue.

But I’d spent a lifetime repressing my emotions and hiding from uncomfortable truths, so I took that dare head on.

“Can’t. Xander’s on shift, so I’ve got Emma duty.”

Luna narrowed her eyes at me. “Is he really on shift, or is this your not-so-sly way of dodging the conversation?”

I gasped and pressed a hand to my chest in mock outrage. “You think so little of me?”

Sutton snorted. Luna rolled her eyes. And Quinn nailed the coffin shut with two little sentences.

“Did you forget my husband works with Xander? I can confirm that with one text.”

“Motherfuck.”

“Tomorrow night it is!” Sutton said with exaggerated cheer. “I’ll bring the wine. Luna will bring a variety of weird cheeses. And Quinn will bring the passive-aggressive concern.”

“I prefer to call it accountability,” Quinn said.

“I hate you all. I hope you know that.”

“We love you too,” they said in unison as they strode out the way they came, leaving me just as they’d found me.

Well, almost as they’d found me. Except now, I was on the group calendar. To account for my sins, to have a complete breakdown, or possibly both.