Page 109 of Party Favors

“Nope.” This was all on Margot Belmont. Who I was sure was a nice person deep, deep down, but I was feeling a bit too stressed to look that hard.

I started raiding kitchen cabinets and found enough plates, cutlery, and glasses for the new guests. There was even a passing similarity to the ones Jeanine had brought with her.

After that was organized, I went out into the dining area and helped Max and two waiters set up the extra tables and chairs. We were as quick and efficient as we could be so that we’d create the least amount of disturbance to the guests, all one hundred and thirty of them.

Somehow everything came together. Jeanine reportioned the salads so that we could serve the first course, and the additional tables looked nice. Not as good as the others that I’d originally set up, but there wasn’t much I could do about it.

The sous chef and a waiter finished setting up the grazing table. If it had been left up to me, I probably would have bought prepackaged vegetable and fruit trays, but Jeanine had directed them to create a masterpiece. Everything was artfully arranged and appealing, like it had always been intended to be included.

Max came over to my right and looked over the grazing table and said, “No veggie dip? I don’t want to know what celery tastes like.”

That made me smile. “What’s wrong with celery?”

He grimaced. “It’s crunchy water with hair.”

“Do you also have strong feelings about the fruit?”

“Fruit is hit or miss. It kind of depends on what season it is and how fresh they are. Sometimes strawberries are amazing, other times they’re vile.”

I nodded. “That’s why you can’t go wrong with Oreos. They always taste the same. I also have an appreciation for grapes. Mostly in their liquid form.”

“So do I,” he said. “Especially when I can taste them on your lips.”

A warm tremor passed through me. I couldn’t let him distract me by saying or doing sexy things. I welled up all of my courage and let out a deep breath. Now or never.

“Max, we need to talk.”

CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

“About the celery?” he asked with a wicked glint in his eye.

“No. Are you okay to skip lunch?” Jeanine had all of this well under control now. I wasn’t going to be needed until after everyone had finished eating, and they’d only begun their first course. We had some time.

“I’m not very hungry,” I added.

I was. But not for food. It was hard to stand here and talk to him like everything was normal when all I could think about was his body pressing into mine, pinning me in place, his mouth ravaging mine, and how delicious all of it had felt.

But we’d had the actions upstairs and now it was time for the words.

“I’m fine with skipping lunch. Let’s talk.”

I led him by the hand to the base of the stairs and sat down. I’d be nearby in case anyone needed me, but not in some closed-door room where I knew he could easily distract me. He stretched out next to me and I tried organizing my thoughts, figuring out the best way to have this conversation with him.

Max beat me to the punch. “How did your date with your boss go?”

“It was not a date,” I said, and then had to correct myself. “It was intended to be a date, but I left three minutes after I arrived.”

He seemed to consider this information carefully and then announced, “I’m glad. Vella told me he was a bad guy.”

“When did you talk to Vella?” I glanced over at her and she immediately swung her gaze away, staring at the ceiling and acting innocent, like she hadn’t prepped Max and then sent him over.

She had always told me that she wasn’t the type to interfere and yet here we were.

“I talked to Vella earlier, before I went upstairs and found you.”

Memories of him finding me were making my knees sweat, so I forced myself to pay attention to the conversation we were trying to have. “Adrian’s not a bad guy. He’s clueless and helpless, but not bad.”

Max had no response to that and just absorbed the information.

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