Racing Hearts (Shadow Quest 4.5) (2 page)

She ground her teeth and tightened her
fist. How could Aidan ask this of her? This could end up being
detrimental to the entire group.

Could she put away her past, the
heartbreak, and work with Vin? She could say no, she reasoned. She
could walk away right now and not look back. But, out of respect
for Aidan, she would take his advice and chew it over. It was the
least she could do.

And the least Aidan could do was
provide free room and board for her to do it in.

Without facing him, she slowly nodded.
“I’ll think about it.”

From behind, came Vin’s low and—damn
it—sexy voice. “Priya, can we talk?”

“Screw off, Vin. You’re good at that.”
Quick strides led her back the way she came.

“Run away!” he retorted. “You’re good
at that!”

——

With a swift motion, Vin
whipped his damp rag at Aidan. It hit his shoulder with a
splat
before flopping to
the floor.

Aidan avoided Vin’s gaze as he darted
into the ship.

Vin followed, letting his outrage
escape through his voice. “You sent for her!”

Unperturbed, Aidan replied, “I did.” He
continued down the hall, coming to stop in the lounge.

“Were you ever going to tell
me?”

Taking a seat at the cheap metal table,
Aidan replied with a mocking grin. “I just did.”

Vin threw his hands in the air. “No,
you didn’t. I just found out.” And he had stood there like an idiot
as he had gazed upon the woman he’d once loved. Did she have to be
as beautiful as he remembered? He always liked to picture her
haggard and broken with regret, like him.

What he saw instead was a sexy-as-hell
redhead with the luscious curves he used to know by
heart.

He ran his hands through his brown
hair, wishing he’d gotten it cut. “You could have given me a heads
up! She got to look all…” He gestured incoherently with his hands.
“While I look like a bum.”

“What? You would have put on a suit and
tie?”

“I would have put on a clean shirt, you
son of a bitch.”

Aidan grew serious. “I wanted a winning
team. And that means both of you.”

Zeek and Ash entered, claiming seats as
if he and Aidan were putting on a show.

Aidan ignored them. “What was that
fight about anyway?”

“Like I can remember,” Vin
lied.

Zeek lifted a finger in the air. “You
bought her a tool kit for her birthday.”

Through clenched teeth, Vin said,
“Thanks for the reminder.”

“As I recall it was a set you’d had
your eye on for a while.”

Lear appeared in the doorway with his
arms crossed and an amused expression in place. “I’m guessing she
did no’ appreciate the gesture.”

Vin scrubbed a hand down his face, not
noticing the oil stains covering his fingers until afterward. “I
don’t need a play-by-play,” he replied snidely.

They didn’t know the half of it. Priya
had always been an easygoing chick. He could have easily fixed it.
If only he’d turned right—into that flowery gift shop.

Instead, his anger had directed him
left, straight into a gentlemen’s club.

“Go talk to her,” Aidan
suggested.

“Is that wise?” Lear asked warily. “If
these two have a history, it could affect their
performances.”

Vin spoke directly to Aidan. “Tell your
prince to keep his opinion to himself or I’ll shove it down
his—”

“Enough,” Aidan admonished. “She’s the
best gun hand I’ve ever seen. We need her. You will talk to her.
You will convince her to join us. And we will all act professional.
Got it?”

Everyone gave reluctant
nods.

“And just so we’re all
clear, Lear is not
my
prince.”

Ash retorted, “In my culture, when you
offer vows of allegiance to a royal family, you become their
subject.”

Amusement danced in Lear’s eyes, and he
gestured toward Ash with one hand as if he’d made a good
point.

“I only vowed to run Phase Nine in the
Legura name.”

Zeek chimed in. “And to do that you had
to join the Legura Clan…ergo.”

“Shut up, all of you.” Aidan stood. “I
need a drink.”

“Me too,” Vin said. “Let me clean up
and I’ll join you.”

Zeek jumped to his feet. “Why don’t we
all go? It should add depth to this riveting conversation. Plus
Chastity is dancing tonight.” He rubbed his hands
together.

“Lear, you stay here and guard the
ship,” Aidan ordered.

Lear nodded, uncaring.

In the bar, Vin and the crew claimed a
table near a stage full of barely-dressed dancers who were keeping
step to a poorly choreographed number.

A waitress took their drink orders.
When she returned, Vin spotted Priya, and his heart stuttered. She
faced away from them, perched on a stool. A quick survey of the
drink in her hand told him she was going heavy tonight. Usually she
sipped those theme-cup drinks with matching straw and umbrella. He
always gave her shit for that, but secretly considered it
adorable.

Tonight, she drank something hard on
ice. Could it be she’d been just as thrown by their meeting as he
had been?

Or perhaps she had changed. Maybe she
was a different person now, with different tastes and different
preferences in men…in bed.

Gods, he hoped not.

He missed the noises she made when he
nuzzled her just right. Remembering made him stiffen and he had to
adjust himself.

She swiveled in her seat, and he
quickly turned away. When his gaze met the gyrating ladies on
stage, he nervously shifted again, finding himself looking straight
at Aidan, who studied him with a keen eye.

Vin stifled a growl of irritation, and
scowled.

With the smallest movement, Aidan
gestured his chin toward Priya.

How could Aidan expect him to confront
her? And here of all places? The location was different, but still
reminiscent of the last time he’d laid eyes on her. Only this time,
there wasn’t some drunk, flirtatious working girl running fingers
over his shoulders and whispering in his ear.

He cringed.

Aidan’s gaze shot past him, his eyelids
lifting a fraction.

Vin snatched his ale and gulped it down
just before he heard her voice.

“Could you guys get any
closer?”

Zeek answered. “I don’t think they
allow you on the stage.”

“How do you know if you don’t
try?”

“Good point.”

When Zeek pushed back his chair, Aidan
snapped, “Z, down.”

Zeek plopped back down with a smile and
sipped his drink.

“Why don’t you join us, Priya?” Ash
offered.

Surprisingly, she pulled up a chair.
Vin lifted his bottle to his lips, forgetting that he’d emptied it.
He motioned to a nearby waitress for another.

“So I’ve been thinking,” Priya said,
propping one arm on the table and resting her chin on her palm.
Using her other hand, she motioned to the entire group. “I don’t
think this is a good idea.”

Aidan replied first. “You haven’t even
thought about it for a minute.”

She gestured to her half-filled drink.
“I’ve had three of these to think, and I still—”

“Don’t say anything now. Take the
night. And if you feel the same in the morning, then Vin is
out.”

“Hey,” Vin protested, leaning back in
his seat.

Aidan leveled him with a stare. “Talk
to me when you can shoot like her.”

Vin shrugged, conceding the point. He
may be a great mechanic, but Priya was a badass with a
gun.

“So what have you been up to, Priya?”
asked Asher.

“I’ve been working security on Uli
Rings.”

So that’s where she ran off to, Vin
thought.

Ash raised a brow. “Impressive. They
let you temporarily leave your position to run Phase
Nine?”

She frowned. “Not really.”

“You quit to come here?”

She didn’t respond, but her silence
said as much.

“Then you have to join us,” Zeek
exclaimed. “You and Vin don’t even have to interact. In fact, I’ll
do you one better and staple his mouth shut.”

She rolled her eyes. “I saw the size of
your ship. We’ll basically be living on top of each
other.”

“Mmm,” Zeek replied playfully. “Thanks
for the visual.”

Vin knocked him in the shoulder with
his fist.

“Ow.” Zeek rubbed the spot.
“Joking.”

Priya observed the exchanged with an
air of indifference. She brought her glass to her lips and took a
long swig. Her expression told him she didn’t like the taste. Maybe
she hadn’t changed that much after all.

She caught him staring, and her eyes
narrowed.

He tried to keep his features passive.
“Can I buy you a drink? Maybe one of those foofy ones?”

Her lids slit further.

Damn, he shouldn’t have added that last
part.

“I’ll buy my own drinks. In fact, I’ll
buy the next round for the table.”

Despite his glass being full, Zeek
ordered another drink.

Vin leaned forward and muttered,
“Priya, can we talk in private?”

She pretended to think, tapping her
chin and lifting her eyes to the upper right. “Um. No. Why don’t
you go talk to her?” She pointed to a skinny blond at the bar. “I’m
sure she’ll be real interested in anything you have to
say.”

A muscle ticked in his jaw.

Zeek stepped in. “I’m amazed at how
non-uncomfortable this is. Am I right guys?”

Ash stood and flicked Zeek in the
temple.

“Ow! Enough with the abuse. I’ll shut
up.”

“How about I buy you a drink at the
bar?” Ash said.

“Jeez. Any more free drinks and I’m
going to start questioning the cut of this blouse.” He tugged at
his T-shirt.

Aidan pushed out of his seat. “I need
to get back to the ship and check on Lear. Some weird girls have
been coming by asking to join the crew, and I’m afraid he might
just let them.”

——

Priya watched the traitors scurry away,
leaving her alone with Vin. Most likely, that was their plan since
she’d sat down. With just the right amount of alcohol in her, she
couldn’t muster up the proper amount of outrage, or the conviction
to get up and leave.

She stared blankly at Vin. “Enjoying
the entertainment?”

The ladies on stage reached a pivotal
point in their dance, moving to the fast beat of the music. To her
surprise, he didn’t even glance at them.

“What are you drinking?” he
asked.

“Solar orbit on the rocks.”

“That’s a pretty stiff
drink.”

“Yeah, a guy turned me on to it a few
months ago. It tastes good. He tasted even better.”

His fists clenched around his bottle.
She waited for satisfaction to flood her, but it never did. He took
a long drink, placing his attention on the stage. She studied the
table and sipped from her glass. The harsh bite of liquor hit her
throat, warming her body as it made its way down.

When she looked up, Vin’s eyes had
creased in amusement and his lips had curled into a sexy, lopsided
smile.

“What?” she barked, mentally denying
the desire that bloomed in her from that simple look.

“Don’t you think I know you well enough
to realize when you’re lying?”

“You haven’t known me for a long, long
time,” she countered.

A flicker of doubt ran across his face,
but he quickly turned it into disinterest. That bothered her. She
wanted to hurt him like he had her. She raked her mind for
something cutting to add, but came up empty.

“So…” he said, after a moment of
silence had passed. “Uli Rings?”

“As if you didn’t know?”

“How would I know that’s where you
went?” He took another drink.

“Because I bought my ticket with your
credits.”

He sputtered before working the liquid
down his throat. His expression danced between stunned-confusion
and horror, making her realize he hadn’t checked his invoice before
paying the bill.

All this time, the fact that he hadn’t
come after her had been devastating. She’d used that devastation to
fuel her rage, but now she felt it escaping like a leaky valve. If
he’d taken the time to go over his expenses, would he have come for
her? Begged forgiveness?

She snorted out loud. Knowing him, he
would have demanded it. However, the idea that he might have come
after her made her to hope for something she’d long since given up
on.