“Your hair is gorgeous.” She reached out. “Have you thought of bleaching—?”
Snatching her hand out of the air, I turned the move into an awkward handshake.
It was that or let the y’nai chop her off at the wrist for the insult of touching Asa’s braids.
“It’s been nice meeting you.” I released her. “Do you guys work here? Can you give us our keys?”
“Sure.” Trinity flushed bright red. “Our parents own the inn. We work here after school.”
“We slave away on weekends too,” Markus added glumly. “Obviously.”
Hard to believe it was still Saturday with everything we had seen and done already.
“Half days,” Trinity muttered, rubbing her thumb over the desktop. “We have twenty minutes left.”
“She’s sorry about the hair,” Markus told us when his sister kept her head down. “She’s very handsy.”
“I make wigs. For the other LARPers.” Excitement bubbled up in her. “Everyone wants to be a Legolas or a Thranduil, so I study men with long hair.” Her cheeks pinked. “Can I take some reference photos? Would you mind?”
Para photos in the hands of humans were a big no-no, but I wasn’t sure how to beg off her request.
“I’m a bit of a wig aficionado myself.” Clay removed his hair du jour with care. “I didn’t bring any super long ones, like you mean, but I have a shoulder-length wig in brown. I can let you inspect it later, if that sounds good to you. It’s handmade, and the stitching is phenomenal.”
“That would be amazing.” She bounced, and her visor thumped shut. “Thanks.”
“No problem.” He resecured his hair. “We can meet here at the desk later tonight.”
Visor shoved up again, Trinity bit her lip. “I’m not sure if…”
“I’ll come too,” I volunteered, “if you’re concerned about being alone with a stranger.”
“Yes,” Clay said wryly, “because two strangers is so much better than one.”
“I’ll come three.” Markus quirked his lips at Trinity. “You have been promising to help me with my beard game.”
Delighted to have found like minds, Clay handed each of them one of his cards. “Happy to do it.”
“You’re with the FBI?” Markus’s jaw dropped open. “For real?”
“For real,” Clay lied. “Just call when you’re done with your thing, and we’ll set up a time.”
“Are all of you FBI?” Trinity looked straight at me. “Are you working a case?”
“We are all FBI,” I confirmed, “and we are working a case.”
“We should get unpacked.” Asa offered Trinity a tight smile. “Can we get our keys, please?”
“Oh.” Her cheeks flamed again. “Yes.” She dropped our keycards twice. “Here.”
To keep Trinity a safe distance from Asa, Clay took the cards and passed one to Asa.
“You head on up.” Asa gave me the card. “I’ll grab our bags.”
Once he was out the door, Trinity goggled at me. “You’re together?”
“They’re engaged.” Clay’s eyes sparkled. “She just met her future father-in-law.”
Aware it would hurt me more than Clay if I smacked him, I had to settle for plotting revenge.