Odin surged toward him.
Jinx jumped back. Only to trip on high heels. Maisey’s high heels. He righted himself quickly before he could fall on his ass. “Oh, look at that.” More fake innocence. “So weird, but I think your girlfriend lost both her panties and her shoes. Now, wonder what made her do that?”
“Jinx…”
“Guess you weren’t under attack in here, huh?” A fast grin. A saucy wink.
Odin did not smile back. He leveled a killing glare at Jinx. “You make her feel uncomfortable, and I will make you sorry.”
The grin faded, a little. “Just a joke, man. I mean, hey, good for you on finding a girlfriend who can put up with you and your scary-ass, serious self. Not like you—”
“She’s not my girlfriend. She’s a client.” The words felt hollow.
“You’re holding her panties in your hand. Pretty sure that means she’s your girlfriend.”
And I can still taste her on my tongue. Does that mean she’s mine? He wanted her to be his.
No, screw that…she is. She was his. She just might not know it yet.
“How about you give me an update on what the hell is going on—not your sexual shit, but why you just had half the criminals in the area coming at you—and then I will let you get back to your, ah, personal business, okay?” Jinx’s blue eyes glinted. “Does that sound like a deal?”
“What the hell are you even doing down here?” Odin rolled back his shoulders—and shoved Maisey’s panties in his pocket. “You went off the radar. Haven’t seen you or heard from you in months.”
Jinx’s stare darted away.
On the surface, Jinx was always all smiles and laughter. But that was just surface. Odin knew there was far more to him than met the eye.
“I was doing freelance work for Uncle Sam,” Jinx finally replied. “By the time I actually got the invitation to War’s wedding, it was too late. But then I heard about the mess that went down with that killer he was chasing, heard about how he’d started his own PI business, and I thought I might see if he needed an extra hand.” He lifted his fingers. Wiggled them. “I’ve always been good with my hands.”
Good with his hands, understatement. The things that man could do with a knife were chilling. But Jinx was also good at picking locks. Cracking safes. Stealing highly classified and confidential information from enemy officers…
The guy had incredible luck. Most days. But when Jinx was lucky, others usually weren’t.
“Anyway,” Jinx shrugged. “I headed down this way. Found War’s cabin all dark and empty, so I thought I’d go amuse myself for a bit. The next thing you know, fate is smiling on me—you know she likes to do that—”
Odin snorted.
“And you were walking right into the same bar I was in. Just like that, two best friends were reunited.” Jinx’s gaze darted to the right. To the hallway. His stare sharpened.
Odin whipped around to see Maisey padding down the hallway. Her cheeks were flushed, her hair tousled, and her eyes—so beautiful. Her gaze seemed to swim with emotion, but for the life of him, he could not figure out exactly how she felt. The emotions were a tangle he couldn’t read. Not that he’d ever been particularly good at understanding how women felt. They were generally a mystery to him.
As he watched her, Maisey slowed to a stop. She’d put her jeans back on. Straightened her shirt. Her lips were swollen and red from his mouth, and for a moment, all he could think of was the way she’d tasted when he’d had his mouth between her legs and she’d come for him.
“Oh, are you missing something?” Jinx called out to her. “I think you are. I think you are missing—”
A growl broke from Odin.
“Your shoes,” Jinx finished. He scooped them up and hurried toward Maisey. “Very Cinderella-like, I must say.” He offered the heels to her. “I’m Jinx, by the way. But you probably figured that out earlier.”
Slowly, she took the shoes. “Thank you?” The words seemed more of a question that anything else.
“I didn’t catch your name,” Jinx added. He waited, all expectant-like.
Maisey slid on the heels. Peered uncertainly at Odin. “He’s a friend? You’re sure of that?”
Jinx put a hand over his heart. “Only one of his most treasured friends on the planet. I know his secrets. He knows mine. We’d die to protect each other in a heartbeat.” The words—and his tone—were mocking.
But Jinx was speaking the truth. He was one of Odin’s best friends. And they would kill to protect each other in a heartbeat. Odin preferred killing to dying. “You can trust him,” Odin told her. “I do.”
“With his very life, he trusts me,” Jinx assured her.
“Then I guess I will trust you, too.” She offered him a tentative smile. A smile that hinted at her dimples. “I’m Maisey Bright.” She extended her hand.
It was immediately engulfed by Jinx’s. “A pleasure to meet you.” His gaze slid over her, and he gave a low whistle. “I have to say, I am impressed. Odin usually scares off most women within five minutes of meeting them.”
“Why?” Maisey appeared genuinely perplexed.
Jinx released her hand. “I don’t know. Could be the one-word answers he likes to give. The weird shit he can sometimes say. His complete lack of a sense of humor—”
Maisey’s shoulders stiffened. “I thought you were his friend.”
“Uh, yeah, we just covered—”
She glared at him. Her dimples were completely gone. “He has a wonderful sense of humor, and he doesn’t say the wrong things. Maybe you just don’t listen the right way when he talks.” A sniff. “There is nothing weird about him. Odin has been exactly what I need, and I will not just stand here and let some—some bad luck guy say rude things about him!”
“Bad luck?” Jinx took a step away from her. He sucked in a breath. “Take that back.”
Jinx was superstitious as hell. “She didn’t mean it,” Odin hurried to reassure him. “Relax, man. No need to pull out salt and start sprinkling it everywhere.” He’d already seen Jinx’s hand dart toward his pocket.
Maisey kept glaring.
But Jinx slowly seemed to relax. “You passed the test, too.” He inclined his head toward Maisey. “Good for you.”
Maisey’s glare wavered. “What test?”
But Jinx just shrugged. Then he turned back to Odin. “I like her.”
Odin felt a warning was in order. “Don’t go liking her too much.”
Maisey darted to Odin’s side.
Jinx took note of the movement. “Message received.” His hand dipped into his pocket. Quickly, he tossed something over his shoulder.
“Was that salt?” Maisey asked at once. “You’re only supposed to throw that over your left shoulder if you spill some of it.” A considering pause. “Of course, there are many civilizations that believe salt itself can help to act as a talisman against evil spirits, so I suppose if you felt something evil was coming at you, then tossing a little salt might help you to—”
“Maisey.” Odin tangled his fingers with hers. “Don’t give the man more justification than he needs.” Not that Jinx ever needed justification for the things he did.