Total pages in book: 67
Estimated words: 62620 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 313(@200wpm)___ 250(@250wpm)___ 209(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 62620 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 313(@200wpm)___ 250(@250wpm)___ 209(@300wpm)
“Totally. They totally do.” Christian loops an arm around my shoulders, leaning heavily against me as he adds, “Right? It’ll be fine, right? It’s okay that there are two of you right now.” He rests his forehead against my temple with a goofy laugh. “Wait, there we go. Now there’s just one. One. One Starling. Mwuah ha ha. Did I sound like the vampire from Sesame Street? Sarah Beth says I do a great impression, but she’s my niece and loves the shit out of me so she’s probably biased. I want real feedback from people I can trust.”
I cast Nora a “what should I do with him?” glance.
Nora widens her eyes and shrugs in the universal sign for “hell if I know, water maybe? Water is always a good idea.”
I nod and wrap an arm around Christian’s unsteady torso. “Okay, buddy. I’ll give you my honest opinion of your Count impression, but first we’re going to get you some water and bread to soak up that alcohol.” I shift my gaze to Theo. “I’ll be right back. Save my spot?”
“Sure,” Theo says. “Or Nora can save our spots and I can come help with Chris. Wouldn’t be the first time I’ve helped him sober up.”
“I’m not drunk,” Christian says, pointing a wobbly finger at Theo’s face as he draws me closer to his side. “And I want Starling to go with me to get bread and water. Just Starling. She’s my friend, and she smells better than you.” He turns his head and pulls in a deep whiff of the top of my head, nearly stabbing himself in the eye on my crown in the process. “Ouch. Your hair is sharp.”
“Sometimes hair is sharp,” I say, humoring him as I start toward the far left of the banquet area, where I can see just a sliver of the bar Christian will be tending behind the tent flap. Surely, I’ll be able to get him water there. Then I can go looking for bread while he’s pounding the H20. “Watch your step, there’s a—”
“Ow,” he says as he trips over the rock, I was trying to warn him about.
“A rock,” I finish with a sigh, adding beneath my breath, “You’re in rare form, McGuire. If I can get you sobered up and functional before Melissa finds out you made bad, drunk person choices, you’re going to owe me one.”
We reach the tent and I pull the heavy fabric to one side.
Christian ducks inside first, waiting until I’ve joined him and dropped the flap back into place before he adds in a perfectly crisp voice, “I seem to remember you making some drunk person choices not long ago.”
I jerk my focus his way, studying his face in the dim light. There are candles and lanterns on top of the bar to our left, but no one’s lit them yet. Still, there’s enough sunset creeping in between the cracks in the tent to see his bleary eyes are now clear and sharply focused on my mine.
My jaw drops. “Were you faking all that?”
“I was faking all that,” he confesses without hesitation. Or shame.
I prop my hands on my hips. “What? Why? And how? I don’t want to encourage your sociopathic tendencies, but your acting wasn’t half bad.”
Though, now that I think of it, I should have expected these skills. His cop stripper was also very convincing.
“Yeah, well, guess I perform well under pressure,” he says, stepping in close and fast, making me instinctively sway backward. But the bar is only a foot behind me and soon the back of my skirt is pressed against the heavy wood and Christian’s arms are braced on either side of my chest.
He leans down until his face is nearly level with mine before adding in a husky whisper that goes straight between my legs, “You’re not fucking Theo. Not tonight, not tomorrow night, not ever. Is that clear?”
“You don’t get to tell me what to do,” I whisper back, a smile curving my lips as I realize what this is all about. “Jealousy is a bad look on you, buddy.”
“No, it’s not,” he shoots back, his focus dragging down to my mouth, sending my tingle levels shooting off the chart. “In fact, I’d bet a hundred bucks your panties are already wet.”
My breath rushes out and my nipples pull into tight points, making me grateful for the thick corset fabric. If not, Christian would instantly know what he’s doing to me, and I can’t let him know, not yet.
Not until I’ve taken control of this situation…
“Maybe they are,” I say, fighting to keep my cool. “Maybe they’re not. Too bad someone could head over here and spot us at any moment, or you could slide your hand under my skirt and check.”
His jaw clenches, the muscle balling into a knot beneath the skin that makes me think he’s finding it as hard to keep his hands to himself as I am. “Just tell me you’ll mark Theo off your mentor list, and we can stop torturing each other.”