Page 47 of Pretty Lethal
I chuckle again.
“That, or they’re doing it as a tax deduction.”
“Mmm, I’d well believe that.”
We continue on our never-ending loop of the party—seriously, how vast is this house? The party appears to have spread out over the entire ground floor. I’ve officially lost count of the number of rooms we’ve walked through. How can anyone need this much space to live in? The entire student population of Ridgeway could live in this mansion and still probably wouldn’t feel as though they were living on top of one another. It’s insane!
“Emilia!” A voice carries, and I turn to find Alice and Carrie waving at me.
“Those are my friends from work,” I explain to Kai as I wave back.
“Well, let’s go meet them,” he says, pushing me forward with a gentle press of his warm palm to my back.
All four of them are tucked into a corner of the room with a bottle of champagne each and two entire trays of canapes.
“Hey, guys,” I greet when we approach.
“You look beautiful,” Alice squeals a little too loudly as she pulls me in for a hug.
“So do you,” I return when she lets me go.
“This is my boyfriend, Kai.” I beam up at him, feeling like I’m floating on cloud nine.Boyfriend. It feels so amazing to say it aloud.
Kai’s gaze softens as he meets my eyes for a second before holding his hands out to shake each of my colleagues’ hands.
“Ooh, he’s yummy,” Alice whisper-shouts in my ear.
“Ignore her,” Carrie laughs, dragging Alice out of my personal space. “She’s had a little too much to drink.”
“We all have,” Daniel adds, his words slurring slightly. “Not every day we get to drink ourselves stupid on alcohol that costs more than our monthly salary, so why the hell not.”
“Amen to that,” Kai agrees, lifting his glass.
“See! This guy gets it!” Daniel clinks his glass with Kai as we all laugh and fall into easy conversation. They all pepper Kai with questions about what he does, and Alice refers to him as a real-life G.I. Joe. Which I figure is pretty on point. He’smyreal-life G.I. Joe.
Since we don’t know anyone else here, we squeeze in with the others, deciding to spend the rest of the night in our quiet corner, pretending the rest of the party doesn’t exist.
“Excuse me,” Carrie says a while later as she wedges out from between Isaac and Alice. “I see an old acquaintance. I’d better go say hi.”
“So, how did you two meet?” Alice asks as Carrie disappears into the crowd.
“Ummm.” Kai and I share ahow the hell do we answer thatlook, before he slides his arm around my shoulders and says, “I crossed paths with her while I was on a job. I heard her god-awful singing and knew I had to have her in my life.”
Alice swoons while Daniel cackles, and I drive my elbow into Kai’s side—not that he so much as flinches.
“My singing is not that bad,” I protest.
“You’re right, it’s not,” Kai agrees with a serious expression. “If you’re deaf.”
I gasp as I give him a mock glower while Isaacohhhsand Alice giggles like a schoolgirl.
Before I can think of a comeback, Kai swoops in to kiss my lips, before murmuring soft enough for only me to hear, “But I love you regardless.”
“Well, I’m not sure I love you,” I bite back, pretending to be sour.
His grin only widens. “Liar. We’ll find out how much youdon’tlove me later tonight when you’re coming on my tongue.”
Well, there go my panties. Is my dress even still in one piece? Because I swear my body just blared with the heat of a furnace. I wouldn’t be surprised if my clothes were incinerated. Nothing but ashes on the floor.
