Suddenly Sorceress (12 page)

“That’s it?” I scowled at him, folding my arms. “She
stopped
you?”

“Yes, she stopped me.” He stared at my pissy expression before blowing out a breath. “She gave me a nasty look and shook her head. I’m guessing this sort of thing happens a lot.”

“So let me get this straight… One nasty look from a harmless little flight attendant prevented you from a sexy rendezvous with a
witch
?” I mouthed the last word, glancing around me to be sure no one was paying attention.

Jack laughed. “Yes, Ivie. At the moment, I was far more concerned with being arrested by an Air Marshal than you turning me into a little white rabbit.”

A growl I didn’t even know I was capable of emanated from my chest. “Well, that’s just stupid.”

“It may be stupid, but we already have enough to worry about without adding an indecency charge to it.” He leaned in to kiss me, and I turned my head so he got my cheek instead.

“You had your chance, Houdini.” I shifted toward the window and watched him out of the corner of my eye.

Jack shook his head with a smirk. “I’m going to the restroom.”

I spun my whole body to face him and narrowed my eyes.

“I really need to go, okay?”

“Whatever.” I dismissed him with a wave.

He laughed the entire way to the restroom, and I swear I heard him even after he closed the door.

Trying to focus on anything other than my recent string of bad luck, I scrutinized the clouds. It’s funny how I can never find a silver lining when I need one.

Chloe plopped down in Jack’s seat. “What are you pouting about?”

“Where’s Matt?”

“Oh, I left him in first class snoring away. I’m telling you, Benadryl is a wonder drug. So spill. What’s got your panties in a bunch?”

“It’s nothing. I tried to convince Jack to meet me in the bathroom for a little… you know, and he wouldn’t do it.”

Chloe’s eyes popped open wide. “What the hell has gotten into you lately? I’m beginning to think you really are in heat. First the sexy vet, then the goat, and now the hot magician. You’ve gotten more action this week than in the rest of your entire life.” She giggled.

“Ugh.” I groaned. “Please, never mention the goat again.”

“You’re just mad it was the goat humping you from behind and not the hot vet.” She fanned herself with her hand. “Only you could get lucky on a kindergarten field trip.”

Just as the words spilled out of her mouth, I heard Jack choking behind her, and I spun around to see his face turning a bright shade of red.

Holy humiliation!
“Oh, God! Please forget you heard her say anything. I swear it’s not what it sounds like.” I pushed Chloe from his seat. “You go back to first class before you cause any more damage.”

Jack blinked a few times, shifting his attention from Chloe, snickering behind her hand, to my horrified expression. “You were… um…” Jack swallowed hard, and lowered his voice to a whisper. “Humped
by a goat… on a—a kindergarten field trip?”

I gave a weak nod.

Jack’s head bobbled a few times like a gift shop toy before he burst out in loud laughter, drawing stares from all over the plane.

“It’s not that damn funny.” I faced the front again, my arms pulled tightly across my chest.

“You’re right. It’s absolutely
hilarious
,” Chloe said with a smirk before heading back to her seat.

Beside me, Jack continued to shake with quiet laughter. “This has got to be the strangest few days of my entire life.”

Preaching to the choir.

Fifteen

“P
ick up the pace, Chloe,”
Jack shouted as we dragged our luggage through the Las Vegas concourse.

The wheels on Chloe’s carry-on squealed against the hard floors like Matt had in Karma’s mouth, but at least she was still moving. I’d pried her away from a slot machine more than once already.

“I’m moving as fast as I can!” Chloe yelled, trying to run in a pair of Ferragamo wedge-heel strappy sandals.

“Those shoes are ridiculous,” Jack said to no one in particular.

Her feet clacked against the floor as she huffed from behind us.

“They match her bag,” I whispered, throwing a look over my shoulder to be sure she was still moving forward.

“Of course they do.” He shook his head.

I was never more relieved I’d refused Chloe’s pleas to check her luggage. We didn’t have time to wait for the carousel to bring our bags around. We were already late.

Jack reached the sidewalk and flagged the first in a long line of yellow cabs while Chloe and I caught up. I waited for her so she wouldn’t do something foolish like go off on another one of her spoiled-girl rants. Or worse, swipe her card in another slot machine.

“Sorry,” she said with half a smile as she jogged to catch up. “I probably should have worn the other shoes.”

I forced a smile. “You think so?” I would have snatched the Ferragamos off her feet if I thought it would make her move a little faster.

Once Chloe reached the yellow taxi, Jack grabbed her red Louis Vuitton suitcase and heaved it into the trunk with our much smaller bags. The three of us, plus one irritable dog coming down from a Benadryl high, piled into the back seat.

“Ivie, can you please shut him up?” Jack asked as he punched a number into his cell. He sank a finger into one ear while pressing the phone to the other.

Leveling my scariest scowl at Matt did nothing to stop the noise. “I’m trying.” I shook the carrier and whispered to my furry ex-fiancé, “Shut up, or I’m going to stop trying to turn you back. You can stay a dog forever for all I care.”

He whimpered for a second then went back to barking. I guess he didn’t believe me. I suppose under the circumstances, I didn’t blame him. We both knew I’d change him back the instant I figured out how.

“I’m serious, Matt, you’d better behave. I’m the only chance you’ve got of being normal again.” As normal as a classic narcissist could ever be, anyway.

The barking quieted, and Jack hit the redial button to connect his call again. After several tries, he threw his phone into his lap and scrubbed a hand across his face. “I can’t get a hold of him. Damn it! This is just like him. Unreliable son of a—”

“So we just get tickets to the show and flag him from the audience,” Chloe suggested.

Jack bobbed his head and scowled. “Sure, we could do that. If the show wasn’t already sold out.”

“Oh,” Chloe and I said at the same time. I almost added, “Jinx,”
before remembering I didn’t need any more bad luck.

“Can’t we just, I don’t know, wait outside for him? Stalk his room, maybe?” Chloe said.

“That would be a great idea if my brother didn’t have an entourage worthy of Elvis. We’ll never get anywhere near him if he doesn’t know we’re coming.” He picked up his phone to dial again.

“Anything?” I asked.

Jack’s jaw clenched, and he shook his head.

Great. We have to wing it.
Not usually one to go off without a plan, I’d done more than my share of improvising over the past few days.

“Oh, I have the perfect idea.” Chloe beamed.

I knew that smile. We were headed for trouble.

I tugged on the tiny black lace skirt riding up my fishnet-covered thighs. How she’d convinced me to wear something no self-respecting kindergarten teacher—or novice witch, for that matter—would be caught dead in, I would never know. There was no way we would get away with her ridiculous scheme.

Chloe leaned forward and wiggled her shoulders until her cleavage swelled over the top of her stolen bustier. “Stop thinking so hard. I told you before, this will work.”

Easy for her to say.
She
didn’t teeter on her five-inch platform stilettos. Mine threatened to give me nosebleeds. Chloe might have looked the part, right down to her identical tutu hanging perfectly still across her thighs, but with my streak of bad luck, I was in the wrong city for playing the odds.

Chloe giggled. “Ivie, it’s not that bad. You’re a redhead now. Start acting like one.”

My face screwed up in disgust. I didn’t want to act like a redhead. I didn’t want to
be
a redhead.

“I wouldn’t go that far.” Jack wrapped an arm around my waist, tugging my body against his, and kissed the top of my flaming head. “We need to get in and out with as few people as possible seeing you like this.”

The sweet gesture caught me off guard.

“Stop with the sour faces, both of you. I think this will be fun. I’ve always wanted to be a magician’s assistant.” Chloe smeared another blob of red gloss over her already shimmering lips and then turned the tube on me, making me feel as if I’d just kissed a beehive.

I made myself a promise that I would dye my hair dark as soon as we got home. If we ever made it home. “Tell me again why we’re doing this?”

“Because we’ve tried everything else, and you won’t use your hocus pocus to get us where we need to be.” Chloe fluffed her already fluffy hair. “Now just stick to the plan and don’t fidget.”

I didn’t need to remind her what happened when I used my “hocus pocus.” We had a living, breathing example with us wherever we went. “Nobody’s going to believe we work
for
the hotel. We look like we’re
working
the hotel. As in prostitutes. We look like hookers.”

“Speak for yourself, Sabrina. I look hot.”

Jack released me, shooting Chloe a stern look. “Ladies, please. Quit the bickering. If we’re going to have even half a chance of pulling this crazy plan off, you two have to work together.”

She pouted out her bottom lip and nodded.

“Fine,” I said then snapped my mouth shut.

“Okay, good. Now we need to get backstage to catch Jon’s attention. Once he sees us, we’ll be golden. We can wait out the show in the wings and talk to him after.” Jack went over the plan for what was probably the twelfth time.

It sounded so easy, but I knew better. Nothing in my life was easy.

“We just have to get past security and maybe a few crew members and probably his manager.” He planted a quick kiss on my sticky lips, sending a spark of desire through me that had me wishing we had time to sneak off to the closest bathroom or broom closet. “Piece of cake.”

Piece of cake. Sure.

“Now what?” Chloe asked as we made our way down the darkened corridor.

“Left. No, right. No. I’m not sure.” Jack scratched his head.

“Brilliant plan, Houdini.” Chloe jammed her hands onto her hips.

Jack shrugged. “I’ve never been here before. I figured it would be a straight shot once we got through the employee-only checkpoint.”

We were easily within shouting distance of the backstage area but had no idea which way to go. I heard music, but with the echo, I wasn’t sure where it was coming from.

“We could split up?” Jack offered.

“No!” I practically tackled him to stop him from taking a single step away. “I definitely don’t want to split up.”

“No, Ivie’s right,” Chloe said. “Jonathan doesn’t know us. We need to stick together.”

“Fine. We can try—”

“What are you doing back here?” a deep voice echoed from the shadows. A large bald man in a black T-shirt with
Blake
emblazoned across the front in bold red letters came out of nowhere. He was easily twice Jack’s size, and that was being conservative. He looked Chloe and me up and down, shaking his head.

If I thought I could control it, I would have tried a little magic. Instead, we had to rely on Jack’s powers of persuasion.

“Oh, I’m so glad you found us. We were lost. We’re part of the show. First night,” Jack lied convincingly. Of course, I already knew he was a good liar.

“I’m going to be sawed in half,” Chloe said, flashing her perfect teeth in a wide smile. She was good.
I
almost believed her.

I watched the man’s face carefully, and it looked as if he was about to point us in the right direction. Then Matt barked and snarled inside the poorly disguised carrier.

“Sorry.” Jack laughed. “Dog acts. Always temperamental.”

“Mr. Blake doesn’t have a dog in his act,” the man said as he reached for something at his hip.

Matt’s wriggling threw me off balance. I snapped off the heel of my stupid borrowed shoe and tumbled backward, shrieking. I let out a string of obscenities as my scantily clad bottom hit the cold floor.

“Are you okay?” Jack leaned down to pick me up, and the guard grabbed his arm, pulling him to his feet.

“You need to back up and stand still,” the man said, unholstering a gun.

My eyes popped open wide when I saw a glint of light reflecting off the shiny metal. “Don’t worry about me, I’m fine. I’ll just stay down here if that’s okay.”

“No. Off the floor and against the wall with your friends,” he said.

“Really, it’s okay. I’m Jonathan Blake’s younger brother. He’s expecting us. Here, look.” Jack reached for his wallet, and the man pointed the gun at him.

“Hands where I can see them,” he ordered.

Jack held up his hands with his palms facing the man. “I was just going to pull out my driver’s license to prove who I am.”

“You can show them at the police station.”

“You can’t arrest us!” Chloe shrieked as she yanked the collar of Jack’s shirt. “This is Jonathan Blake’s brother.” She grabbed his chin. “Look at his face. See the resemblance?”

The man seemed to run Chloe’s words through his head and scowled. “Where’s the ID?”

Jack turned and motioned to his rear pocket.

The large man pulled out Jack’s wallet and looked at his ID then spoke into a walkie-talkie clipped to his collar. “Jim, will you ask Mr. Blake if he has a brother named”—he looked at Jack’s ID again—“Jackson.”

Another voice—Jim, I suspected—interrupted the crackle on the walkie-talkie. “No one told me about a brother coming to town. He has a brother?”

“That’s what I’d like to know. Some joker has a pair of hookers out here, and he says they’re for his brother. So go ask Mr. Blake if he has a brother named Jackson.”

“I’m on it,” Jim said.

Chloe leaned in as close to the walkie-talkie as she could safely get. “We’re not hookers.”

“Ma’am, you can’t talk into this,” the man said to her.

She let out a nervous giggle and mouthed, “Sorry.”

The radio squawked again. “Mr. Blake said his brother’s in Atlanta.”

“Well, you heard the man,” he said, corralling us against the wall again.

“Jon! It’s me, Jack,” Jack shouted.

“Mr. Blake, please! Don’t let them arrest us!” Chloe and I took turns screaming. Once again, I was imagining handcuffs slapped around my delicate wrists when I heard a voice behind me.

“I guess you’d better let them go, Cal.”

I spun around to see a taller, darker version of Jack leaning in an open doorway.

Jonathan Blake smirked. “My mom would be pissed if I had my little brother arrested.”