11. Nick #4
“Aiden’s girlfriend loves red flowers, especially lilies. One of my friends is an amazing artist and Aiden had River draw a bouquet of all her favorite flowers for Valentine’s last year.”
“He gave her a picture of flowers instead of actual flowers?” Vlado looked dubious. “And she’s still his girlfriend?”
“He gave her a one-of-a-kind piece of hand-drawn art, with her favorite things in it.” I shot him some serious side-eye. “She loved it. And she would have kicked Aiden’s ass if he spent that kind of money on cut flowers in this economy. A picture lasts forever, a bouquet doesn’t.”
“Hmmmm.” Vlado nodded pensively. “Sounds like your boy is on to something.”
Evan sighed heavily.
“What?” I peered at him.
“I need to speak to Arnold.”
“The cockblocker?”
Vlado snorted.
Evan kissed my cheek and grinned. “I won’t be long. He’s been avoiding my calls, and I can’t figure out why.”
“So weird.” I giggled.
“Do I want to know?” Vlado asked after Evan left.
“Arnold kept calling Evan that night you cockblocked me. So he’s the first blocker, you were the second.”
“There’s more to this story if you’re involved.”
I smirked. “I may have answered the phone and pretended like I had Evan tied up and gagged so he couldn’t answer. Worked like a charm.”
Vlado laughed. “That sounds about right. And I know for a fact I didn’t cockblock you. I just paused things for a bit.”
“Did Ev tell you?”
He shook his head. “It’s my job to know everything he does. I know he went into your room, and he left a while later. Whatever happened isn’t my business, but I can put two and two together.”
“Excuse me?”
I turned to find a guy in a suit next to me. He was around Evan’s age and attractive, but he was clearly drunk. “Yes?”
“How much?” he asked, his words slurring a bit.
“How much what?”
“For you.”
Vlado stepped closer.
“I’m sorry?” I glanced around to make sure no one in our vicinity was close enough to hear.
“You’re the hooker Evan hired, right? How much for someone else to get a go at you?”
“You need to take a step back,” Vlado said, his voice eerily calm and cold.
“Why?” The guy waved his hands erratically. “Am I wrong?”
“So wrong,” I started.
“So you’re not a hooker?” he demanded loudly.
Several heads whirled in our direction.
“Why do drunk people lose their volume control before their ability to say stupid shit?” I muttered.
“Time to go.” Vlado stepped in front of me.
“What’s going on?” Evan appeared beside me, his hand on my back and his voice as gruff as Vlado’s.
“Nothing.” Drunk guy grinned, oblivious to just how close he was getting to an ass kicking. “Just asking how much Nicky here charges for a night.”
“His name is Nick.” Evan stepped in front of me so both he and Vlado blocked me from the asshat. “And you will apologize for insulting him.”
“But Angelica said she saw him at Em’s party. That he was part of the entertainment.”
“You need to leave. Now.”
My eyes circled the room. Fucking perfect. We had an audience, and it was only going to get bigger the longer this went on.
“Ev,” I said softly, leaning close to his ear. “Let me handle this.”
I squeezed between him and Vlado. Evan didn’t say anything. I took his silence as a sign to continue.
“That’s what all this silliness is about?” I laughed and gave drunk guy my best smile. “I knew it had to be a simple misunderstanding.”
“You mean you weren’t at Em’s party?” He blinked at me.
I glanced over my shoulder at Evan. He nodded slightly.
“I was there.” I turned back to drunk guy. “And yes, I was part of the entertainment, but I’m not an escort.” I laughed again like it was the funniest thing I’d ever heard. “I’m a dancer.”
“Dancer?” Drunk guy scratched his head. “Really?”
“Yes.” I looked around at the crowd watching us, trying to gauge their reactions.
“I work at a club as a dancer. Evan was there that night, but it’s nothing like you’re thinking.
We’d already been together for almost six months at this point.
We thought it would be fun to pretend like we didn’t know each other. ”
“Oh. That makes sense.” Drunk guy kicked at the floor with the toe of his dress shoe like a toddler who’d just been scolded. “I didn’t mean to insult you. I’m just…”
“It’s okay.” I smiled benevolently. “I get it. Sometimes the brain just doesn’t connect the dots after too many glasses of bubbly.”
He nodded sheepishly.
“I think it’s best you leave,” Evan said coldly.
Drunk guy scurried away.
“Are you okay?” Evan spun me around so I faced him, his arm wrapping my waist and his body pressed up against mine.
“Fine,” I said breathlessly. His proximity was doing things to me. “Just a silly misunderstanding.”
Evan leaned forward and kissed me. And not a polite little peck, but a kiss with tongue and everything. When he finally pulled away, the crowd around us had dispersed.
“Done claiming him?” Vlado asked with a smirk.
Evan smirked back.
“Is it just me, or is it hot in here?” I fanned myself.
“I think we’ve put in enough face time.” He gave me a smoldering look that raised my body temperature another few degrees. “Let’s get out of here and go home.”
“Yeah.” A shiver of anticipation ran up my spine as his look went molten. I didn’t need three guesses to figure out what he was planning. “Let’s. Wait. What about Dressgate? I can’t miss the drama.”
“I’m sure Emily will have a play by play for you tomorrow.” Evan slung his arm around my shoulders possessively and started toward the exit.
“Hell, she’ll probably have video too.” Vlado fell into step behind us. “You’ll get all the tea.”
“Tea?” Evan asked.
“Gossip.”
“What does tea have to do with… You know what, never mind. I think this is another ‘if you have to ask, you don’t need to know’ moments.”
“Bet.”
Evan looked down at me and rolled his eyes.
“Careful, your eyes might get stuck like that,” I said sweetly.
“You’re lucky I care about Vlado’s sensibilities.”
“Huh?”
“The car we took tonight doesn’t have a partition. If it did, I’d be finding something else you could do with that cheeky mouth on the drive home.”
“Guess you’ll just have to wait until we get home to have your fun. Let’s go, Vlado. Final destination: Poundtown. Population: us.”
Evan laughed and held me tighter as Vlado muttered something about partitions and Tootsie Pops.
Tonight had been a success on the family side, and hopefully I’d done enough damage control that drunk guy hadn’t fucked everything up with his stupid assumptions.
Now I was on my way home to get my guts rearranged by my super-hot fake boyfriend.
Best. Night. Ever.