Deadline≫hemmings a.u

1.6

"Alright, so that's the family over there," Luke said lowly. I looked in the direction where he tilted his chin towards and could see a nicely dressed family sitting at the bar in the casino we were standing in. We had arrived at the hotel one of our subjects was staying at in Myrtle Beach, and I barely had two minutes to use the bathroom before Luke pulled me into the casino to start planning.

It was less than a half hour ago that the two of us were having a snowball fight, giggling and panting for breath. But in the time that it took Michael to navigate us through traffic and get downtown, Luke had gone from a normal teenager to an all-business type guy, complete with a new type of wardrobe. Luke swapped his damp sweatshirt for a white button up shirt and a black leather jacket. He changed into a new pair of skinny jeans. He kept his black shoes, but ditched his beanie to style his blonde hair up into a quiff. It still fascinated me how he could be one person one moment, and a completely different one the next.

"And in three minutes, the parents are going to leave to participate in an auction, leaving their nineteen year old son and eighteen year old daughter to wander around the hotel alone," Luke continued, shoving his hands into his pockets and leaning back against the wall. "But judging by the fact that both of them have a fake ID and they all just got out of dinner, they're gonna hang around the bar."

"Which is perfect for you," I concluded, with an edge in my voice. This plan was all too familiar to me, except the last time I saw it happen, I was the subject in all of it.

"Which is perfect for us," Luke corrected, either not noticing my mood or not caring to enough to acknowledge it. For the first time, he looked down at me, surprise and annoyance passing over his face. He groaned. "Jesus Christ, Melanie, what the hell are you wearing?"

I looked down at my sweatshirt and jeans and shrugged. "Clothes?"

Luke rolled his eyes at me. "Don't you have enough sense to realize that when we go to a place like this for a job, you don't dress like you just got out of bed?"

"I didn't realize that what I was wearing would in any way affect how you pick up girls." I snapped, reveling in the surprised look I got from him.

But quickly, my brief feeling of triumph faded as I learned the true reason why Luke reacted the way he did. "Oh, Mel," he clucked his tongue and smirked. "You don't know, do you?"

I frowned at him. "Know what?"

Luke rolled his eyes and grabbed my wrist, pulling me towards the exit. "You're a part of this operation too."

Before I could ask anymore questions, we were outside, bracing ourselves against the cold weather as Luke dragged me down the street. We ended up in front of a dress shop a few minutes later. Without saying a word, Luke opened the door and stepped in, pulled me along with him.

"What do you mean that I'm 'a part in this operation too?'" I hissed at him and yanked my wrist out of his grasp, earning an amused chuckle from him.

"I'll explain later," he said, pushing me towards a lady who was coming towards us. "But go pick out a dress first."

The woman came, greeting me with a smile and began to pull me away to show me a few dresses before I could protest or call Luke a few of the names I had on my mind for him. I settled for flipping him off when the lady wasn't looking. Luke only chuckled and gave me a wave before I was out a view, going to the depths of the store.

***

Fifteen minutes later, I emerged from the back of the store, shoving what was left of the money Luke gave me to buy my outfit into my new little black clutch. I was never really a huge fan of shopping, much less trying stuff on, so I stuck with the third thing I tried on. It was a strapless dark blue fitted dress that fell above my knees with black stilettos.