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my mind. I could see them kissing. I pictured Luke taking the ribbons from Suzie s pigtails and moving her hand beneath Suzie s skirt. Horrible! Suzie surveyed me, and a small innocent frown wrinkled her brow. Want a lobster mousse boat? she offered. When I shook my head, she waved to one of her waiters and the young woman straightened her white apron over her black pants and picked up a tray of the awesome lobster pastries. Enjoying your party? Luke asked me. I shrugged. Mr. Goldman had invited a horde of booking agents, session musicians, fans, and industry people. I d seen some of them around, but most were strangers. Virgin Blessing would play later, supposedly an impromptu jam. He said it was all about the right kind of exposure. I took his word for it and made nice to everyone. I was telling Lucrezia about Kinky Salon, Suzie said perkily. She says she ll take me if you don t want to go. Oh, I just bet she will! I could hardly form a response. Suzie looked like she was loving the idea. That won t be necessary. I ground the words out like my lips were made of sandpaper. I think I ll be in town. Then we can all go, Suzie chirped. Oh, wow. I can hardly wait. I was about ready to grab a handful of cocktail olives and throw them on the floor, when Luke said, You wanted me, Chance? The softly spoken question made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. I hated that after all these months of us being buddies, I still read double entendre into half the things she said. Suzie compounded my angst by choosing that moment to joke, I know what you want! You ve come for your birthday kiss. To Luke, she announced, She told me she was going to proposition you. I knew my face was scarlet. My cheeks were so hot the kitchen lights felt like sun lamps. I thought I glimpsed a speculative glint in Luke s eyes, but it was gone before I could be certain and with her " 157 " Grace Lennox customary sangfroid, she responded, Feel free. Everyone else does. I mock scowled at her, then gave Suzie a playful shove, like I was in on the joke. Troublemaker. Suzie sighed melodramatically. Looks like she doesn t want you. She sidled over to Luke, full of sass. You ll just have to settle for me. I m used to it. Luke grinned. I can t even get to first base with her. As if, I snorted, dismayed that she was playing along with Suzie, teasing the birthday girl. If I were brutally honest, it also bothered me that Luke had never actually tried to get to first base. Not that I wanted her to hit on me. I didn t have sex with my friends. But occasionally I wondered what I would do if she made a move on me. I pushed my hair back from my forehead so it wouldn t be obvious that I was looking her up and down, and with a shock, I realized I would totally crumble. If Luke kissed me right now, I would not only kiss her in return but probably want more. I was mortified. Was I not getting enough sex that I was prone to lurid fantasies about my friends? Had someone slipped a pill into my beer? I dragged my traitorous gaze away from the crotch of Luke s jeans and inspected the canapés on the counter with the kind of fascination normally reserved for food with the face of the Virgin Mary on it. All the while I was aware of Luke and Suzie standing in body contact, acting like everything was completely fine and they could just go right ahead and flirt with each other in front of me. I refocused my thoughts on my mission. I still hadn t passed Peaches s coded message on to Luke. Here was the perfect excuse to get her away from Suzie before something dire happened. At the rate they were going, they would be out of here at the end of Suzie s catering shift and heading back to her place. Tomorrow I would hear all about how great Luke was in bed. Not amused by that possibility, I said, It s about Siren. Want to talk in the den? We d learned to have our own private parties within parties and had built a small den out the back when the basement was remodelled, a room we could escape to with our closest friends. Good idea. Luke s eyes lingered on Suzie for a second too long and she said, I hope it pans out with the new chef, Suzie. Catch you " 158 " CHANCE later. As we squeezed past the party animals, I said crankily, Are you into Suzie? No, Luke said with mild amusement. Why? How was I supposed to answer that without sounding like one of those interfering people who can t let their friends live their own lives? Luke wouldn t put up with that kind of crap for a minute. Making a big effort to appear casual, I said, Just asking. She measured me with a cool stare. You seemed jealous back there. What s up with that? Are you into her? No. She s my best friend, that s all. I don t want her getting hurt. Luke opened the door and we entered the den. We d kept some of Mrs. Goldman s unwanted furniture in there. It made the place feel more like a home. Hurt, she echoed. You mean by me? Who else? I dropped into an armchair and stuck my feet on the ancient coffee table. She s not a toy. Luke s face grew serious. You have nothing to worry about. I like Suzie but she s not my type. I wanted to be mollified by this, but I still felt agitated and I couldn t stop thinking of Luke with Suzie. In fact, with several of the women out there. She was bound to choose one of them to take home. She always scored more easily with the interesting ones than I did. For some reason the thought bothered me more than usual. Was I envious? If so, that was pathetic. Determined to get a hold of myself, I said, Peaches wanted me to tell you it s time. Ah. This obscure message evidently meant something to her. She took her cell phone from her belt, excused herself and went out onto our little deck. Ignoring the cool weather, she stood there talking for a minute or two. I took that opportunity to reflect on my irrational behavior. So what if she and Suzie were flirting? It didn t have to mean anything. And she d just told me she wasn t interested. Luke never lied about that stuff. Nothing was happening, so there was no reason for me to feel fretful. I stared at her through the glass-paneled door and reminded myself that Luke was a good friend to me and a good person. The least I could do was behave accordingly. I gave her a big smile as she came back into the room and was gratified to see her expression soften. She came over " 159 " Grace Lennox and sat on the sofa opposite me. I need to go out for a while, she said. I want you to make sure Siren stays here. Sure. What are you doing? Getting her stuff and having that jerk arrested. She won t talk to the cops. We d been through this before when he broke two of her ribs. For a smart, attractive, talented woman, Siren was amazingly stupid when it came to males. She won t need to, Luke said with calm assurance. When we take her stuff, he won t be happy. My guess is he ll throw a punch or two, and when he does, I ll be the one filing charges. You can t be serious. You re going to let him hit you? Don t worry. I know how to take care of myself. What if he has a gun or a knife? I was alarmed. This is crazy. [ Pobierz caÅ‚ość w formacie PDF ] |