Chapter 46
Sequins and Suits
The next few days passed normally, with no sight of Dahlia. I hoped she’d given up and found someone else to harass. Something told me it was wishful thinking.
If I needed to go to town Ethan came, at home he didn’t invade my space, but I always knew he was there.
My dreams at night were invaded by horrifying visions of vampires and death.
Bloody and violent murders which woke me, shaking and soaked with sweat.
The visions were so heinous I buried my questions about vampires and witches broiling through my mind.
It felt like I was perched on the cusp of a black hole and if I fell into it, I’d never get out.
I spent a large portion of time daydreaming about Karson.
I couldn’t stop thinking about him. My core stirred whenever he appeared in my mind’s eye.
As if the mere sight of him awakened a primal sexual charge I hadn’t thought I’d ever fell again, not after Tom.
I had heard nothing from him, and the truth was, for some inexplicable reason, I missed him.
I wouldn’t contact him. No way. I sat on my bed, legs crossed and bored. I looked at my phone sitting on the bedside table.
I reached across, picked up my phone and I found myself typing a message:
‘Any news?’
I hit send.
I stared at the blank screen, willing it to light up, barely breathing. Was this too obvious, too random, would it make him I think I’d been thinking of him? No, it was just a simple inquiry, it didn’t mean anything. The phone vibrated and flashed bright. My heart pulsed.
‘Not yet. Am I to take it you’re not enjoying your time stuck with Ethan?’
He must be wondering why I suddenly messaged him. Was he fishing for the answer or making simple conversation? I pondered my response then I wrote:
‘Ethan has been considerate, however I am concerned he may get withdrawals from playing Eeny Meeny, and I’m the only girl here. It may not end well. For him.’
I re-read my message before I pressed send.
That wasn’t saying I couldn’t stop thinking about him.
Not at all. But it opened up an opportunity, like a job notice pinned to a board.
Benign in itself, he could see it, sure, but the notice wasn’t aimed specifically for him.
He could decide for himself if he wanted to take the little slip and open up the channels of possibility.
‘Do you need rescuing, Miss Williams?’
Yes, yes, yes, come and get me now. My heart beating like a humping rabbit, I wrote:
‘Do you know any knights in shining armor capable of fulfilling that duty?’
‘Yes, I do actually. He’s tall, dark-haired, and extraordinarily handsome.’
I smiled. So conceited. A rush of adrenaline bubbled inside me.
‘He sounds captivating. You must introduce me to him sometime.’
‘Funny, Amelia. I must go, my line of inquiry has just turned up. Talk soon x’
I couldn’t help feeling disappointed at the abrupt end. Without thinking I tapped straight back:
‘Try to leave their heads on, people struggle to talk without them.’
I hit send and then immediately regretted the comment.
He’d killed one of his own to save me and a few short days later I was making jokes about it.
Would he be angry? I bit my lip and stared at the phone, it stared back blankly.
Shit. I should have written okay, sent a kiss face right back at him.
He’d said talk soon, that sounded like a promise, but I just had to try and be what?
Not funny, it wasn’t funny. On the scale of wit it wouldn’t get past the first rung.
I was such an idiot. I threw the phone on the bed, groaned and flopped back on the bed.
I picked up a book off the bed side table and read one page. At the end of the page, I couldn’t tell anyone what I’d read, nothing had absorbed into my head. I checked the phone. Nothing. I stood up and roamed the room like a restless prisoner.
The phone buzzed. I nearly leaped onto the bed and with a hesitant breath I picked it up. Cringing, I read his response.
‘I will keep that in mind.’
Okay, he didn’t seem upset then. Not exactly laughing faces but not angry. No kiss on the end either though . . .
The days whizzed by, and the night of the ball arrived before I knew it.
Ethan had also secured an invite to the party.
His invite was as much to do with keeping me by his side as it was with knowing Jefferson would have his laptop in the house.
He’d mentioned that if he saw me move toward his office.
He’d haul me over his shoulder in front of everyone and out the doors.
He would too, if the look he gave me was any indication.
We walked up the stairs of Jefferson’s house a little after eight.
Jodie linked her arm through mine as if we were on a proper date.
Ethan walked on my left. I held up the bottom of the dress Jodie had brought for me to wear.
It was fitted, with a low-scooped sweetheart neckline.
When she’d pulled it out of the bag I’d nearly died. It was red.
“What’s wrong, don’t you like it?” she had asked.
“No, it’s beautiful, Jodie,” I reassured her. “I just don’t like to stand out.” I could hardly tell her why red was the last color I’d choose.
“By the time I’m finished with you every man in the ball will want to dance with you,” she’d gloated.
As long as he doesn’t want to suck my neck, I thought.
She’d done my makeup and swept my hair into an elegant style.
When I looked in the mirror I looked nothing like I usually did.
I hardly recognised myself. I stared at my own reflection, as if I was seeing myself for the very first time.
I looked classy, sophisticated even. I’d never thought I was beautiful, but tonight I felt like I might be.
Ethan had let out a wolf whistle at us as we descended the stairs and kissed both our cheeks. Jodie was flattered, secretly I was too. Had I not known what Ethan was, I would have suggested he be Jodie’s date. They would actually suit each other, but with the knowledge I had, it didn’t feel right.
The double doors to the house lay open, soft music and laughter floated into the night air.
The party was set up in the foyer this time.
There wasn’t as many people here as the last function he’d held.
Still, there were easily over a hundred guests.
Everyone was exceptionally well-dressed.
Men wore gray or black suits, the women were dressed to the nines, dripping in expensive jewels, manicured nails, wearing a confidence and an air of superiority that only came with money and class.
Suffice to say, once again I felt way out of my comfort zone. It was apparent from her confidence that Jodie was used to these functions. She wore a navy, figure-hugging dress which sailed out from her knee, and she glided like an elegant swan through the doors.
I surveyed the room; the middle had been sectioned into a dance floor by a row of potted hedges, neatly trimmed into triangle shapes and connected by soft pink ribbon.
Little fairy lights sparkled amongst the green of the plants and ran across the ribbon to the next plant.
Elvis was crooning in the background, and a few older couples were dancing.
A large bar sat off to the side where people hovered, drinking and chatting.
The bottom floor was crowded, but not excessively.
There were no signs of bare asses, fingers buried up skirts or blood-stained teeth.
Above the staircase, white linen-covered tables and chairs with gold bows sat against the railing. The soft glow of tea-light candles danced in glass holders.
“I’ll leave you ladies to it,” Ethan said, moving off to the bar to order a drink. He seated himself beside a stunning sandy haired girl. He turned on the charm. She fell hook, line and sinker.
“Upstairs?” I suggested.
Jodie glanced over to the bar area, where her parents were chatting to Jefferson.
“Yep, good idea.” Her mother was a stunning blonde, with smooth skin and blue eyes. Jodie was a slightly taller replica of her, with the exception of her eye colour, which she got from her father. Her father was tall, dark-haired, and fit—distinguished looking and rather handsome.
We climbed the stairs and entered into a large, open-plan room. There was a bar against the wall to the right, the room was full of people chatting, drinking, and laughing. We found an empty table against the railing and perched ourselves up at it.
“Drink?” The pretty waitress I recognised from the last party smiled at us, she held out a tray filled with bubbling glasses of champagne.
“Thank you,” I said, biting my lips so I didn’t laugh at the thought of Karson and his comments of filling my body with champagne.
Jodie took two glasses, then reached for a third and placed it in front of me. The waitress looked bemused before she moved off.
She looked beneath us to where Ethan sat with the girl. Then back to me.
“You and Ethan seem to get on well,” she said casually, but there was a question in the comment.
“We do.”
“Just friends, then?” She cocked her head to the side and studied me. “Nothing more?”
I groaned. “Yes.”
“It’s just that if it was more than that I’d completely understand. You live together, he’s hot. He obviously thinks you’re hot.” She didn’t finish as she looked at me expectantly and waited for me to fill in the blanks.
I glanced at Ethan, conscious that if he was listening, he could hear everything we said. The girl was laughing at something he said. Thankfully, I didn’t think he was.
“He doesn’t think I’m hot, and we are friends. That’s it.”
She sat back, analyzing my face and took a long, leisurely sip of champagne. “He definitely thinks you’re hot, if the way he looked at you when you came down the stairs is any indication.”
“He looked at you the same way,” I appealed.
“He hardly gave me a sideways glance, but he couldn’t take his eyes off you.”