Page 46 of Heartstruck at Dawn
“You’re kidding, right?”These lawyers.Apparently, he was a fabulous one.
“Of course not. Chapman & Payne has liaised on quite a few governmental projects between the United States and Great Britain. Your father was involved in such a venture a few years back,” he explained, his voice all—lawyerly. “You must’ve been a poppet at the time. It was before his ambassador days, and as I said, he’s close to Mr. Chapman.”
“I meant the part with the beers—withJames.” I chuckled. They were already going on a first-name basis. But I was impressed by the story—by him. And also, by how small he made the world seem.
“Oh, that. It’ll practically be a business meeting. With beers.” He grinned. “Would you be a lamb and give me his number?” That crisp accent was stirring up things inside me I had promised myself I wouldn’t allow in a while. But somehow, I felt like a child beside him. He seemed like such a grown-up, and that made him feel so out of reach.
I gawked at him. “No one’s ever asked for my father’s number before mine.”
There goes a first.
“That’s because I already have your number, silly. Tobias gave it to me.”
I crossed my arms loosely in front of me and puckered my lips to the side. I was still trying to decipher Nathan. But I can’t deny I was curious about getting to know him better. “I should start figuring out how to make myself look like Michelle Pfeiffer,” I told him. “See you at eight?”
“Looking forward to it, Murph,” he said, walking away.
“Nathan!” I yelled. He looked over his shoulder and met my gaze. “Thanks.” I smiled. I really meant it. I appreciated him having the guts to talk to my father and figuring a way to come with me to the party.
Nathan lifted the right corner of his mouth and said, “Pleasure.” He turned around and left. Somehow, I didn’t like the growing distance between us. And there I was, thinking I could take a break from dating for a while.
Well, crap.
I WENT BACK INSIDEmy apartment and told Sophie and Cecile everything that happened with Nathan and Caleb. Cecile thought Nathan was one of the hottest guys she’s ever seen. “He’s so—manly. I don’t know what’s a good word to describe him. But he’ssohot. William can suck it.”
I replied with a nod, somewhat disagreeing on the inside. William had ruined me forever. It’s as if I’d curated William in a create-your-perfect-man-machine of sorts. Too bad he had to be recalled afterward for its messed-up trustworthiness parameters.
But yeah, I obviously could understand what Cecile was saying about Nathan. I’m not freaking blind. I was just—annoyed. I needed to be alone for a while and just take a breather.
We kept mincing the topic, going over and over the same stuff, but it was getting late. And if nobody stopped us, we could go all night talking about everything and nothing.
Sophie and Cecile went to their room to get ready. I needed to take my time to figure out how to do my makeup properly since I never wore much. I googled images of Michelle Pfeiffer’s makeup look in Scarface, and although it was a simple look, sometimes those are harder to achieve.
I went for a subtle smokey eye with a touch of golden eyeshadow on the inner eyelids. On the bottom, I used the same smoky taupe color as a liner. I applied lots of mascara and accentuated my cheekbones with a peachy blush. I tinted my lips with a rosy-terracotta shade topped off with clear gloss.
Sophie helped me secure the wig in place with a wig net I bought earlier at the costume place. I wore a pair of the many earrings that belonged to my mother to complete the look. The only thing missing was for me to spray some perfume and put the dress on.
Sophie was ready, and she looked super cute with her Cher outfit. Cecile looked extraordinary, and her blue eyes stood out wonderfully with the smokey shadow she applied to her eyelids.
The doorbell rang at eight sharp. My stomach felt immediately warm and overflowed with nerves as I opened the door.
Nathan wore Joel’s Scarface white suit and the red shirt with the top three buttons undone. A chunky golden chain hung around his neck and rested on what seemed to be averydefined chest.God,help me.
“Hi! You guys look great!” My greeting came out a bit high-pitchy, but what are you gonna do? Tobias held the tequila bottle with a wicked smile. He wore a black suit, with a Superman logo t-shirt underneath his white button-down shirt, and topped it off with black-framed glasses. Sophie was going to flip. This was one handsome Clark Kent.
“Wow, Billie. You look—great,” Tobias said, quickly eyeing me up and down. “The blonde hair suits you.”
“Innit,” Nathan said, kissing my cheek as they walked in. Really kissing it. It wasn’t one of those air kisses.Don’t blush,don’t blush,don’t blush.
I think I didn’t.
“Um, thanks. So, Clark Kent?” I asked Tobias. Not that it wasn’t obvious, but I needed to redirect my attention into something less distracting.
“Yeah, it was the easiest costume I could put together. I borrowed the glasses from Billy.”
I’d never seen William wearing glasses. But then I thought about how there must be a ton of things I didn’t know about him. I pressed a crooked smile on my face and gestured for them to follow me.
“You ladies all look great,” Tobias said as he walked into the living room. Sophie and Cecile stood up to greet them both with double-cheek kisses.
