“Oh, really?” He snatched one of her fries and ate it. “Before the end of the first day I’d hired you, you hit me in the head.”

In retaliation for the fry theft, she stole an onion from his plate. “That says more about you than it does about me. And, besides, you were being a first class jerk.”

“Which is why you then kissed me?”

“I suffer from chronic poor judgment.”

But not poor taste. She slid her hand up his arm, following the rigid contours of his muscles. One of Kai’s people had been ready and waiting at Madison Square Garden with fresh shopping bags of pristine clothes. Her excessive wardrobe changes were starting to become something of a joke amongst the commandos. This time, Kai had needed one too, but no one dared tease him about it. Sera had been almost disappointed when he’d returned from the bathroom wearing a new shirt. The old one had been so damaged that she’d kind of hoped he’d go around without one for a while.

“Shall I take it off now?”

Sera blinked at him. Shit. Had she actually said that aloud? She needed to stop getting caught up in her own thoughts.

“Nah,” she said, hopefully casually. “That group of women who have been checking you out since we entered the restaurant would probably faint.”

He glanced across the room at the women in question. They burst into giggles. One of them began to fan herself. Sera distinctly heard the words ‘Mages Illustrated’ buzzing over their table.

“You have fans,” she commented.

He grunted. “I never should have agreed to pose for that dirty magazine.”

“Mages Illustrated isn’t a dirty magazine. It’s a respected publication with thought-provoking articles and features.”

“I’m surprised you got through that sentence without bursting into laughter,” he said.

“So am I.” Now she laughed. “Oh, look. There it is.” She cleared her throat. “Why did you agree to pose for the magazine?”

“Technically, I didn’t agree.”

“You lost a bet, didn’t you?”

“Yes.” He looked like he wanted to punch something. Or someone.

She chuckled. “Just think of it this way. You made the world’s female population very happy.”

His head snapped toward her, his eyes alight with magic. “Including you?”

“Uh…well…that is…”

“You have the magazine too. I saw it.”

“I told you already. That was all Naomi’s doing. She gave it to me.”

“And you never looked? Not even a peek?”

His hand traced her brow, his touch feather-soft. He leaned in, his mouth so close she could practically taste it. She felt herself arching toward him, daring him to kiss her. His eyes were intense. Penetrating.

“Maybe just a tiny peek,” she admitted.

“I thought so.” Then, with a smirk, he tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear and pulled away.

“You’re a bad man,” she growled at him, her heart thumping.

“The worst.”

“When I get back to my room, I’m going to set that magazine on fire.”

“Please do.”

“I might set you on fire too,” she added.

“Interesting.”

She threw up her hands. “Bah, dragons!”

“Was that supposed to be an insult?”

“Yes!”

“That’s not very professional of you.”

Neither was sleeping with him. Simmons would pee his pants if he found out about that. She was pretty sure ‘do not have sex with the clients’ was buried somewhere in her Mayhem contract. Sera didn’t say this to Kai. She didn’t say anything. That was probably smarter than her usual method of just shooting off the first sarcastic comment that came into her head.

“For the record, Sera, I do think you’re more professional than most mercenaries I’ve met. And you actually care about people, not just the money. Even if Bethany Harrower thinks you’re an evil she-devil.”

That ridiculous purple poodle lady again. Sera would never be rid of her.

“Did she tell you that?” she asked.

“Not me personally. She’s been spreading it around her circles.”

Which meant every mage of consequence in the world—anyone from a distinguished magic dynasty—knew what the old lady thought of Sera. Bethany Harrower was a mage socialite of the highest order.

“I don’t know what wild tales she’s spreading, but what happened was all on her,” she said. “That micromanaging granny mage was the one who nearly got herself—and me—killed. She jumped into the middle of my battle with her garden gnomes because she could not stand back and simply let the professionals she’d hired actually do their job. Do you have any idea how hard it is to play bodyguard and monster exterminator at the same time? Of course I told her off for being a moron.”

“Rumor has it you did a lot more than just tell her off.”

“Ok, I showed her my knives,” Sera admitted, adding quickly, “But just the really small ones. I didn’t want to give her a heart attack.”

“She claims she was traumatized for life.”

“And you believe her?”

“No. Bethany also said the same thing when she saw her first pair of hot pants.”

“Hmm,” she said, amusement tugging at her mouth. “Maybe I should have worn hot pants when I went to kill her gnomes.”