Chapter 7

Fuck it. There's no way to say it correctly. "I'm currently Maverick's girlfriend," I blurt out so awkwardly that I cringe. What the hell is wrong with me? "Because it's a good cover and won't draw too much attention to me while I investigate."

There's complete silence and I wonder if I lost connection with them. Nope, we're still connected. Darius sighs before he chuckles.

"I saw that coming a mile away," he admits and I freeze. He did? What? How? Is he a psychic or something? "It's actually the perfect cover for you."

I gulp, looking around the beautiful room. "I'm living with him," I say and there's yet another pause of silence before there's laughter. Oh, you asshole. "He said it'll look weird to be together and not to be living together especially with our past history."

Darius chuckles. "He's not wrong."

"No, he's not," I repeat with a sigh. "Darius, he-he put me in his guest room." I hesitate before going into detail. "He used one of my photographs to paint a mural on the walls, ceiling, and floor of the room. There are prints from my favorite photographers in this wall. He has photography books on the bookshelf he knows I'll like."

My emotions raise up in my throat. This room is so beautiful. Tears fill my eyes. I don't even know what to say about it. Only that I love being in this room, but I hate that I love it.

"Nothing makes sense," I say and I hear Darius take a deep breath in and out.

"It makes perfect sense," he tells me. "I don't think it's what it seems, Vixi. You're not going to like it, but you're going to have to talk about what happened."

I scowl at that. "No, I'm not going to do that." I shake my head even though I know Darius can't see me. "It doesn't change anything. This doesn't change a damn thing."

"Are you sure about that?" he asks me just as I hear the door to the suite open.

I hear footsteps until I see Maverick pop up in the doorway of my room. I glance up to see a huge bouquet of flowers in one arm while he holds the handle of a bulky bag. He has a strange look in his eyes and his face.

"Nice flowers?" I chuckle, eyeing the extravagant display. "I know you're playing the part, but you didn't have to--"

His eyes flash like lightning and the threat of thunder. "They're not from me," he cuts me off. He shakes the bag of the takeout. "The food is from me, but these flowers aren't."

My mouth drops open in disbelief as I stare at the flowers. "Um, Darius, did you send me flowers?"

"Why would I send you flowers?" Darius asks with laughter in his voice.

I'm going to kill him when I see him next. It has been decided. There's no way around it now. Maverick glances down at my phone on the bed. He raises an eyebrow at the new voice.

"Because someone sent me flowers," I toss back in annoyance. My heartbeat quickens at the sudden reality check. "And if it's not from you guys and it's not from Maverick. Who else would send me flowers and why?"

***

"So that was Darius?"

I feel like that's a loaded question. Maverick says it simple enough, but I know him well enough that there's nothing casual about what he's asking. If I wasn't a fox and on top of that his ex, I probably wouldn't think much of it.

There's a reason why he and I were going to start an investigation company together. I might be sneaky and my methods are often out of the box, but he's a physical lie detector. He can sniff out a lie, a truth, any reaction... which is why I'm insane for going along with this stupid charade of being his fake girlfriend.

"Yes, that's Darius," I say as I go back to inspecting the bouquet. He's busy dishing out our takeout in bowls for us. "Darius was the first person I met at Galleria Falls."

"Galleria Falls," he repeats. He chuckles and I glance over at him. His eyes drift to me for a moment. "You do realize that's where I wanted us to move to when we were..."

I swallow, nodding my head. "I know."

"Then why did you pick there instead of Kaos?" He slides me over my bowl and I give him a small smile of thanks.

I shrug. "I did go to Kaos," I admit, distracting myself with my food so I don't have to look into his irresistible stupid eyes anymore.

Everything that we planned together for our future in Kaos reminded me of the things we'd never get to do together. I was standing in the apartment we had both agreed would be perfect during my viewing with the manager of the apartment complex and I just couldn't do it. I couldn't pull the trigger.

He doesn't have to know I couldn't live in Kaos is because of him. He doesn't need to know that at all.

"It just wasn't for me." Lies. Lies. Lies. My eyes flick to him and I notice his eyebrow arches. He knows it's a lie, but I don't care. "I couldn't see myself living there at that point in my life and that's how I ended up in Galleria Falls."

When his eyes meet mine, I immediately focus elsewhere. I look over at the bouquet again and notice a cream color wedged inside. I frown as I gently push the stems aside to see a piece of paper wrapped around it secured by a purple ribbon.

I release the ribbon and unravel the paper from the stem. In my side view, I see Maverick freeze, probably noticing what I discovered. I lay it flat on the surface of the counter. It tries to curl in, but my fingers quickly press down on the delicate paper.

"Are you a friend or foe?" I read the message out loud. "Your secret admirer."

Maverick walks over and I step aside so he can inspect the message himself. I'm trying not to feel overwhelmed by him, but he's so close I can touch him. He sniffs the paper before he looks over at me. Damn werewolves and their superior sense of smell and other things.

"Iris?" he asks in confusion.

I'm not being weird, watching him do his wolfy thing and getting turned on by his skill set. "On the paper?"

"Yes." He nods his head. "It's been rubbed in it." He sighs, lightly placing the paper back down on the counter. I watch it curl up a little. "The real question though is are they friend or foe?"

For fuck's sake, that's not fair. How can he just fall back into our usual teamwork of bouncing off these observations and clues with one another? It reminds me of the old times. It makes me stupidly ache for it, because once upon a time, I thought we were beautifully mismatched that we matched. No, it doesn't make sense, but somehow it does and that's the point.

"Until we figure that out, we can't tell if you're their friend or foe or not," he points out. His eyes meet mine.

My heart races. My breathing is erratic. I'm a freak. I'm freaking out. Oh no, I'm going to do something really, really stupid, because that's just me. Don't you dare open your mouth. Don't you--

"I miss you," I gasp. His eyes widen in shock. Oh, no, stupid is as stupid does. I'm stupid. "I-I meant I miss us..." For fuck's sake, just shut up! Shut up! Do I ever listen? Nope. "I mean I miss this -- you know the fucking thing we do when we..." I shake my head. "You know what, I'm just going to shut up."

He chuckles. "No, no, by all means, Vixi, tell me how you truly feel about me."

"Shut up."

I'm probably beet red now. My face feels so hot. I try to run off, but he grabs my arm and pulls me back into his arms. I swallow, staring at his muscular pecs I know are underneath that fabric as he shifts me until my body is up against the edge of the counter.

"Stop doing that," he growls at me. My eyes immediately snap up to his. "Stop fucking running from me."

"I'm not running from--"

He cuts me off, capturing my mouth with his own and everything in me goes up in fucking flames. The heat between us engulfs me. All I feel is his mouth devouring me. My own hands are mapping his body to find all the treasures I know he's hiding beneath his clothes.

Think, Vixi.

Think why this isn't a good idea.

Think why we shouldn't be doing this.

For fuck's sake, I can't think when his glorious hands are burning a scolding path across my body. I moan in his mouth when his hand cups my boob and squeezes. When his thigh wedges between my thighs, I grind down on him and I'm a goner.