Chapter Text
The phrase “A PI and a Lawyer were best friends” sounds like the beginning of a joke. Normally, it’s not, but there are certainly times they get into messes that might as well be.
“Okay, remind me again why I agreed to be your fake date tonight?” Rosa asked.
“Is that a honest question or a hypothetical one because you regret saying yes?”
Rosa paused, staring at herself in the bathroom mirror as her lipstick tugged at her bottom lip. A lip Luke really wanted to kiss, if he was honest, but that was a trope for another time.
Breaking from her thought, she smoothly finished applying the ruby red before clicking the cap back on the silver stick. “Both?”
“You don’t have to come.”
“You say after you nearly begged me for my help.”
“I can figure out—”
“Luke.” Rosa leveled him with a look that caused a hardened and unshakeable PI to tremble in his fancy dress shoes. “You asked for my help; too late to turn back now.”
He hung his head. More like he made an offhand comment about needing help and she forced him to agree when she volunteered. No matter how old they got, it seemed nothing had changed since their childhood. “Fine. Just be careful.”
“I have you with me,” she said, throwing him a bright smile that was going to be the death of him one of these days. “I’ll be fine. Now, make-up is done, I got to go change.”
“’Kay,” he commented offhandedly as he stepped out of her bathroom to give her privacy. He then headed into the kitchen, where his suit jacket was still hanging on the back of a chair. He plopped down in the chair, pulling out his phone to shoot off a few messages dictating their approximate leaving time. They still had plenty of time before he and Rosa were required to arrive at the venue, thankfully. There was no need to rush. Furthermore, he had plenty of time to review basic safety procedures with Rosa again.
“Okay, I’m ready.”
“Okay,” he said, turning around in his chair. “Then let’s—w-w-what are you wearing!”
During his quest to not fall off his chair at the drop-dead gorgeous woman that emerged from the bathroom, he somehow registered the frown that marred her pretty features. “Do you not like it? Your colleague, Mr. Yishmir, brought it over and said his wife had kindly picked it out for me.”
Luke made a mental note to strangle Aaron later, but there was also a chance he wouldn’t quite remember because his brain was fried at the moment. He knew nothing about women’s clothing, so he didn’t know how to describe it other than it showed off her shoulders and back while also showing off nearly her entire leg because the skirt was cut all the way up to her hip.
And why was she wearing a thigh strap?
“Oh, this?” she asked, pointing to the strap. “It’s got a little pocket pistol on it. I’ve been practicing with Artem and just got my CCW permit, so Aaron gave me the holster.”
Had he asked that question aloud? He hadn’t realized it, but at the same point, he really wasn’t focused on a lot of things.
“Hey.”
He jumped when she leaned close, his ears now burning burning burning and his heart about to stop three years too early. “Sorry! We should go!”
“Luke.”
He stopped when she grabbed his arm, forcibly turning him back to face her. “What’s wrong? Is it the dress, does it look bad?”
How in the world could she think it looked bad when he really wanted to say it looked too good on her? There was a part of him, a part he had been struggling to not acknowledge, that wanted to tell her to change because he wanted to be the only person to ever see her in a dress like that. The woman standing here before him now felt so much different than his sweet and cute childhood bestie. She was graceful and stunning and sexy. And that combination sparked a raging fire in him. He had to be careful, or he had the feeling he was going to be a possessive, green-eyed monster tonight. Just the thought of other men seeing her like this…
No, that wasn’t fair. She wasn’t his. He didn’t get the right to tell her not to wear that dress if she wanted to.
“No,” he finally answered, looking her up and down again even though he really shouldn’t have. “It looks… really good.”
“Eye catching enough?”
He forced a smile. “Almost too much.”
She grinned. “Good. That’s the point, after all. I’m supposed to be your distraction for the evening.”
Oh, she was going to be his distraction, all right. On top of being the general distraction so he could slip away unnoticed.
He was absolutely going to kill Aaron.
“Luke,” Rosa said, her expression fallen again. “What’s wrong.”
He shook his head. “Nothing. I promise. Just… promise me you’ll stay by my side for as long as possible. And be careful otherwise?”
The smile she gave him was one he knew well, one that tugged on his heartstrings far more than he would have liked it to: equal parts sweet and loving and reassuring. “Don’t worry over me, Detective Pearce,” she spoke softly as she fixed his tie. It wasn’t tight around his neck, but he suddenly felt like he was being strangled with it the way it was hard to breathe. “You’re the one in real danger, yeah? Besides, you taught me the self-defense and observational techniques I’ll need in an emergency. But considering it’s you on this case, nothing’s gonna happen.” She then fixed his jacket, running her hands down his chest and he was sure he was going to die. The reassuring pats she placed on his shoulders barely brought him back out of it. “It’ll be okay.”
He sighed, the tension not leaving his body but him simply resigning himself to this mission. “Okay. I trust you.”
Her smile was a reward in and of itself. “Then let’s roll.”
When they headed down out of her apartment to the parking lot, Luke found their ride: a chic luxury car.
Like a gentleman, Luke opened the back door for Rosa. “After you.”
“Thanks, Luke.” She took his hand and carefully situated herself in the seat behind the driver. “Hello, Mr. Yishmir.”
“Please,” the driver dismissed with an easy grin. “Call me Aaron. We’ve been over this.”
“All right, all right,” she sighed. “If you insist.”
With her dress out of the way, Luke shut her door and rounded the car to climb in on the other side.
“You look stunning in that dress, by the way,” Aaron said right as Luke opened the door. The older man then shot Luke an easy grin. “Isn’t that right, Luke?”
It took everything he had not to glare at Aaron, who knew what Luke was thinking and shot him a hidden wink.
He was so going to kill this man. Unfortunately, he couldn’t tonight. Aaron had kindly taken time out of his busy schedule to serve as their chauffer for the evening, which was much appreciated so they knew their car would be protected for the evening. The man Luke had been paid a pretty penny to pursue was a dangerous man, so no expense or precautions had been spared tonight. His only weak spot in his plan was that he’d gotten two of the most important people in his life involved.
Why both had volunteered when both knew that was beyond him.
“You two certain you can pull off the ‘married couple’ rouse?” Aaron teased as he drove them to the location of the event.
“We’ve been best friends since we were in diapers,” Rosa quipped back. “I’m pretty sure we can.”
“Then where’s your rings?”
Luke faltered before beginning to pat his jacket pockets.
Wordlessly, Aaron flipped a plastic baggie back towards Luke. “You gave them to me, remember?”
“Oh, yeah.”
“Getcha head in the game, kid.”
“You sure you’re all right, Luke?” Rosa asked, concern lacing her expression once again.
“Yeah,” he said, feeling the ring he was actually looking for in his breast pocket and pulling it out. “I was actually looking for this.”
Rosa’s eyes widened as she looked at the ring he held. “Is that—”
“Your fake engagement ring,” he said, holding the ring out to her. “It was only the fake wedding rings I gave to Aaron.”
“Come on, kid,” Aaron chipped up from the front. “Put it on her.”
Rosa giggled, then extended her left hand. “You know, you haven’t even proposed to me. How are you supposed to be my fake husband if you haven’t even fake proposed to me?”
Part of him wanted to go die in a hole out of sheer embarrassment. He’d propose to her for real if he could. But he couldn’t, no matter how badly he wanted to. So instead, the excited pounding of his heart and all his emotions were going to have to ride the high of the only proposal he would get to preform: a fake one. “My dear Watson, would you do me the honor of being this Sherlock’s partner for the rest of our lives?”
She snorted a laugh, but it was an adorable snort. At least he thought so. “Forever and always, of course.”
He then slid the ring on her finger, a glittery quartz crystal set in sterling silver. It was not that expensive, but it didn’t look chintzy. He then slid on her wedding band before he pulled his ring from the bag.
“Hey, let me do it,” Rosa said, snatching the ring from him before grabbing his left hand. Gently, she slid the ring on, causing his heart to race. Thankfully, it was mostly dark already, so he hoped his cheeks didn’t show a blush.
“You two are sickening,” Aaron teased from up front, successfully shattering Luke’s illusion.
“No one asked you,” Luke snipped, leaning back in his own seat.
“Well, you should have,” he playfully snarked back. “After all, you want to successfully pass as a married couple, right?”
“Any pointers?” Rosa innocently asked.
“If you want to sell it, you gotta be closer. Touch each other more, yeah? Maybe throw in a longing glance or two.”
“Noted,” Rosa said, reaching over to pat Luke’s knee to prove a point. “Can do.”
And kill me in the process, Luke thought with a sigh. He was already longing too much for this woman. It might put her in danger if he actually sent her true longing looks in the night. He was determined to keep her out of trouble, after all. Although, she did tend to find it anyway more often than not.
When they arrived at the venue, Aaron pulled forward towards the doors of the overtly ritzy event hall. “Have fun, and be sure to sell it, Mr. and Mrs. Finley.”
“Will do,” Rosa said, shooting him a wink just as Luke opened the car door. Instantly, he got into the character of Charles Finley, young business associate of the host of the party. He stuck out his hand to assist his ‘wife’ from the car.
“Thanks, darling,” ‘Cherry Finley’ said, taking his hand and stepping out of the car. She subtly adjusted her dress while Luke shut the car door. From there, he offered her his arm so as to escort her into the hall.
The place was decked to the nines with glitz and glamor. It was an event for the wealthy, that was for sure. A place where connections were made and business deals arranged while seeming to the world like a carefree party. Men were all the same in their black suits and ties while women were decked in the finer things: flowing dresses in all colors while proudly bejeweled in silver, gold, and precious gemstones.
“We’re supposed to be the stand-offish pair of newlyweds, right?” Rosa whispered, leaning close with her hands on his chest.
Shooting her a smug grin, he slid his arm around her waist and pulled her flush against his chest. A terrible move on his part because it momentarily set his nerves alight, but he regained his composure soon enough. “You got that right. You think you got it?”
She chuckled lowly, giving him a downright devilish grin while sensually tapping his shoulder with her fingernails. Oh, he was in such trouble tonight. “You think you got it?”
He bent over, placing his lips right next to her ear. The way she gasped may have sent shivers down his spine. “Target at your three o’ clock.”
“I see him,” she breathily whispered back, causing heat to pool in his gut. “Approaching with host.”
With a grin, Luke stood straight to face the approaching duo, then he pulled Rosa close and mentally begged his body to behave. “Showtime.”