Page 20 of Easy Come

I stopped cold in my tracks thinking that he was going to be anything but happy. "Uh, I'm thinking I might just head back home. It sounds crowded in there, and I don't want to, you know, push the capacity number. Fire department might show up."

Zane laughed. "Sexy and funny, no wonder Trey is so damn obsessed. Come on. We'll take a chance with the fire department."

I followed him, reluctantly, and tried to decipher what he'd said about Trey being obsessed but couldn't make sense of it.

The music was loud enough to shake the walls, but the talking and laughter nearly drowned it out. It was a blur of glittering chandeliers, expensive designer clothes and cocktail glasses.

Zane led me through the maze of people, but I took hold of his arm to stop him. "You know, I think I'm going to get a drink before I journey into the crowd." I motioned to the bar. "I'm sure I can find Trey on my own."

"If you're sure." Zane had to speak loudly over the clamor in the room. "Last time I saw him he was at a table in the northeast corner of the room."

"Thank you."

Zane walked away. I was somewhat relieved. I considered quickly making a getaway, no longer convinced I had even close to the amount of courage I needed to deliver my lecture. I decided the drive wouldn't be wasted if I tried a few appetizers and a wine spritzer. I headed toward the center of the room where a three story display of food and drinks had been laid out on shiny blue tablecloths. I picked up a small plate and grabbed a few stuffed mushrooms and a sparkling glass of wine.

My gaze shot in the direction that Zane had pointed, but there were far too many people in the room to see the northeast corner. The dance floor was packed with people. Many of them already looked solidly drunk. So this was what a Plaything party looked like. Actually, it was exactly what I’d expected, a lot of beautiful, rich people enjoying the excesses of their wealthy lifestyle. I wondered how many were friends and how many were business partners. One thing was for sure, there was no shortage of gorgeous, sophisticated women in Trey's life. I was starting to feel beyond silly for even being there. I needed to go back home to my movie marathon and my cat and either write a story or my resignation letter for the magazine. I was leaning toward the latter. I could manage for a few months without a salary.

I finished my mushrooms and wine and was devising a plan on how to sneak out a few chocolate strawberries and mini cakes in a napkin when a man came up to the table. He had his long hair tied back in a ponytail with a black bow like a man from the eighteenth century. He was even wearing a white cravat under his black suit. Apparently he was trying to bring back an earlier century, and he was doing an admirable job of it. He looked fairly dashing in the cravat. There was something familiar about his face, but I couldn't figure out where I'd seen him before.

He looked pointedly at the strawberries. "Have you tried one of those?”

"No, but I was considering sneaking off with a few in a napkin. I'm not normally a fruit thief, but when something is robed in chocolate, it's much harder to resist."

He laughed and picked up a berry. "Robed in chocolate. I like that." He bit off the end with the chocolate. "Very good. You should try one."

"Probably a good idea." I ate the strawberry, well aware that he watched me closely as I ate it. "I was right. Hard to resist."

"You certainly are." There was something familiar about his tone, but I couldn't put a finger on it. All I knew was that it had momentarily taken my breath away. "Would you like to dance?"

"Oh, I was just thinking about leaving."

"But it's early. One dance."

"I suppose I can stick around for one dance."

With the manners of a man from an earlier century, where chivalry was all the rage, he gave me his arm. I took hold of it, and he led me to the dance floor.

Now that I was moving through the crowd, my odds of running into Trey had greatly increased. I wasn't sure what I'd say or do if I ran into him. On the flip side, something that made me more nervous was his reaction to seeing me. He had been the one to give me the invitation, but after the disastrous ending to the boat trip, he no doubt never expected me to show up to the party. Oh, why hadn't I just stayed on the couch with Doris and Rock?

We neared the dance floor. A hiccough chirped from my mouth before I could cover it.

My dance partner laughed. "I used to get hiccoughs all the time when I was a kid. My older brother would get so annoyed. He used to make me lift my arms up above my head to cure them. By the way my name is Quinn, Quinn Armstrong."

Chapter Nineteen

Trey

Katrina placedher hands on her hips as she stared down at me from under some extremely long fake lashes. We had dated off and on a year ago, but, other than great sex, nothing ever came of it. "Trey Armstrong, I have not seen you dance once tonight."

I got up from the table, picked up my drink and swirled it around. "Not in the dancing mood." The truth was, I wasn't in any kind of mood to be socializing. I hadn't recuperated from the shitty ending to my excursion with Georgie, where I'd acted like a fucking cocksure idiot. Chuck and Jordan were basically drooling over the side of their boat when they saw Georgie in her bikini. An unexpected surge of jealousy caused me to snap at her. I wanted to shield her from their eyes.

"Your brother sure is in the dancing mood," Katrina said. "He's been out there for twenty minutes tearing it up with a cute little blonde in a black dress. I'm sure it's straight off the rack, but somehow she manages to make it look like it came from a designer's collection. Who is she?"

"No idea, Kat. I don't keep track of Quinn's social calendar."

Aidan and Chase joined us. Chase had a model on each arm. Aidan gulped his beer. "Who are we talking about?"

I wasn't in the mood for small talk, especially small talk about my brother's dance partners, so I didn't bother to respond. But Katrina felt the need to fill them in.

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