Page 50 of That One Night
“She’s a wild one, isn’t she?”
“She has the Hartson blood in her.”
“Hey!” a voice shouted from the corner. His cousin was waving at them. Okay, she was waving at Emery. “We’re over here. We have drinks.” Sabrina pointed at the glasses stacked up on the table.
Oh boy. This wasn’t going to end well.
“Stop looking so worried,” Emery told him. “I’m a big girl. I can handle your cousin.”
“Just don’t let her lead you astray.”
Emery wrinkled her nose, her eyes shining as they locked with his. “Now you’re making it sound fun. Go.” She pushed his arm, a laugh rumbling from her throat. “Chill out. And have a good time, too. You deserve it.”
Before he could say anything else, she rolled onto her tiptoes and pressed her soft lips against his cheek, her breasts grazing his arm. His body froze for a moment. Then he reached down to steady her, his hands curling around her hips.
And then she was gone, walking over to Sabrina’s table, as his cousin stood and threw her arms around Emery, introducing her to her friends.
He was glad his cousin was taking Emery under her wing. The woman deserved to have a good time.
Just not too good.
Chapter
Fourteen
The music stoppedand everybody cheered. Emery couldn’t help but grin as Sabrina flounced back from the podium where she’d just belted out a karaoke version of ‘I Need a Hero’, her voice as thick and sultry as Bonnie Tyler’s.
And from the way she was stopped several times by guys as she headed back to their table, it was clear a lot of them were trying to volunteer to be her partner for the night.
“How was I?” Sabrina asked as she took the seat next to Emery.
“You were fabulous.” Emery grinned at her. “And that’s not me just trying to inflate your ego.”
“That’s good,” Mariah, one of Sabrina’s friends commented. “Her ego is big enough as it is.”
“For that, you have to buy me another cocktail,” Sabrina told her, grinning because she knew it was true. “And I can’t help it. It’s the Hartson side of me. I swear the big dick energy my cousins have has turned into big…”
“Pussy energy,” Mariah said, smugly.
“BPE. Whatever.” Sabrina shrugged. “And you still owe me that cocktail.”
“I just ordered a round,” Emery told her. “It was my turn.”
They were on their fourth. Maybe fifth. And definitely the last for Emery. Her head was starting to feel fuzzy. She liked the buzz, though. The way she couldn’t stop smiling.
The way she felt freer than she had in a long time.
Truth was, she kind of wished she had Sabrina’s confidence. Maybe she was right. You were either born with it, or you weren’t.
Or maybe it had been squeezed out of her by a million different compromises. Making herself fit the mold of being the best daughter to her mom. The best fiancé to Trenton. But it didn’t matter, because now she was getting it back.
“Are your cousins going to sing tonight?” Lila, a blonde who worked at the local diner, asked Sabrina.
“No, thank God. They’d embarrass the rest of us.” Hendrix’s older brothers, Presley and Marley – along with Pres’ wife, Cassie – sang professionally in a band.
“How about Hendrix? Maybe we should get him up on the stage?” Mariah asked.
“You’re only saying that because you have a crush on him,” Lila replied, elbowing Mariah in the side.
