Page 106 of The Matchmaker
“What?” he asks, when I give him a look.
“I meant sit in the main room.”
“Did you?” he asks innocently.
“And in my own chair.”
“Well, that’s nowhere near as fun.” He rubs a slow circle into my back while the other hand toys with my dress. I don’t really mind, though. His lap is oddly comfortable. And the way my feet dangle off the ground comes as a huge relief. I relax into him even as his fingers trail up my leg, slipping through the folds of my skirt to caress the bare skin he finds there. “I really like your dress.”
Goosebumps follow the trail of his touch, but I keep my expression stern.
“Callum,” I warn, though I don’t move away.
“You need a distraction.”
“What?”
“You’re not enjoying yourself,” he says. “The one thing everyone wanted you to do tonight, and you can’t do it. So you need a distraction.”
“What kind of distraction?” I ask, even though I can guess where his mind’s gone as he gently grips my thigh. A smile pulls unwillingly at my lips and I’m just about to say to hell with it and stay back here with him when the door opens.
I scramble off his lap so fast, I almost fall to the floor, and turn to see Harry standing in the doorway. He doesn’t seem fazed to catch us like this, and I’m stopped from feeling my usual embarrassment, when I see his worried look.
“What is it? What’s wrong?”
“I’m not sure,” he says. “I thought I’d better come find you and see what you think.”
Callum and I share a look before hurrying back into the pub.
I have no idea what he’s talking about at first, the lounge is busy with people dancing and talking and…
Hmmm.
Callum checks the time on my phone as I seek out the clock on the wall for the same reason. It’s still early, not even ten p.m., and yet the dancing on the floor, the volume of conversation…
“They’re just a little drunk,” I say.
“More than a little,” Harry mutters, his eyes on two people making out nearby.
I shake my head, looking toward the bar. “The guys know to keep an eye on people. It’s Adam, he wouldn’t serve anyone who he thought was too far gone.”
“Then maybe it’s not that,” Callum says, frowning as he looks around the room. He takes off suddenly and I follow, slipping through the packed crowd as he makes his way to the buffet table, straight to Nush’s punch.
One bowl is already empty, and the other is quickly on its way to being so as Callum politely cuts through the people gathered around it and pours himself a cup.
He grimaces as he sniffs it but takes a sip anyway. “Okay, yeah. Try that.”
“Why? What’s wrong with— oh my God.” I start coughing on the first sip. I’ve never been a big drinker, but I don’t consider myself a lightweight either. But that’s…I mean, that is…
“I’m going to kill her,” I say, setting it down. I head to the kitchens and then to the storeroom until I eventually find Nush standing outside the ladies’ bathroom, scrolling through her phone.
“Monica’s fixing her makeup,” she tells me, when she sees me. “And then we’re going back to dancing. She has two cats, Katie. Two.”
“Great,” I say. “What did you put in the punch?”
“Huh?”
“The punch, Nush. You said you were going to make it earlier.”
