“No more champagne?” Bran scratched his head. “I could have sworn I ordered a bunch of the good stuff a few days ago. I’ll take care of it.” He scanned the room. “Appetizers are moving. I’ll have more sent up.”
Before she knew it, Emily was down three Cade brothers, with a horny lady on the docks, a womanizing Wes on the loose, and Levi nowhere in sight. Presumably he was catching up with her sister.
This night sucked.
She stormed across the room to Wes. “Can I speak to you for moment? We have a bit of a…golf crisis.” She smiled apologetically at the woman he was talking to. She was pretty, with long black hair and a slim figure. If Emily’s dress was knockoff couture, this woman was wearing the real deal.
Shin employees didn’t mess around when it came to their fashion. Another good reason she’d had Lisa put together a suitable wardrobe this week.
Wes followed her a few feet away. His hair was neatly combed, but he had the longest hair of the Cade brothers, and one dark lock kept drifting over his forehead seductively. He tucked it back, which just made him look like a Calvin Klein model posing for pictures. “What’s going on? I’m assuming ‘golf crisis’ is code for something. You know—since we’ve never actually had a golf crisis.” Wes had opted for a silver tie to pair with his black tux, and the color made his dark blue eyes pop.
“Never say never,” she said dryly. “But no, that’s not why I pulled you away. Your brothers were too wimpy to talk to you.”
“What’s up?”
“Stop flirting with the guests.”
“Excuse me?”
“You heard what I said. No more flirting. Or rather, you can flirt, but don’t touch, kiss, or sleep with any of the guests. In other words, that woman you’re talking to is off-limits.”
He laughed. “Wow, Emily, throw down the velvet hammer, why don’t you.”
Did she have another choice? She felt like shit, she still hadn’t seen Levi, and tonight wasn’t the perfect send-off she’d envisioned for the company they were trying to impress. Nothing had gone drastically wrong, but there was always dinner.
It turned out they didn’t need to wait for dinner.
“I will not go home!”
The shout came from across the ballroom, and both Emily and Wes turned toward the sound.
A woman in a slinky dress stood at the front of the room, reaching for a glass of wine from a passing server. Hunt stood at her side, attempting to talk to her.
Emily had to give Hunt credit. This was no sleepy drunk. She was loud and taking no cues from his gentle encouragements to leave.
“Shit.” Emily strode to where the woman was making her way across the room, smiling and holding on to the arms of guests—men and women alike—to keep her balance in the spiked heels that appeared two sizes too big with her wobbly equilibrium.
Was that a nip slip?
“Hey,” Wes said, catching up to Emily. She hadn’t realized he was following her. “I think I just saw her nipple.”
Son of a bitch.
“Get your hands off me!” the woman yelled, and this time, the noise in the room didn’t just subside, it went away completely.
Hunt was grabbing the woman’s arm, trying to drag her back the way they’d come, and she was pulling with all of her might in the opposite direction, her breast bobbing in the air and waving hello to everyone.
“Ma’am.” Emily pulled up the woman’s strap, which had fallen and caused the breast greeting. She tucked the woman’s hand through the crook of her own. “I have something very special for you. If you’ll come this way?”
“Why should I go with you?” The woman’s eyes nearly crossed as she tried to size up Emily and tug her arm free at the same time. She was dressed prettily, but her breath smelled like a gin distillery, burning Emily’s eyes with the fumes.
“Unfortunately, this is a private event,” Emily said. “But to make it up to you, I’d like to comp you a ninety-minute massage in Club Tahoe’s world-renowned spa. How does that sound?”
The woman glanced around at the people staring. She rolled her shoulder. “I suppose. Kind of stuffy in here, anyway.”
“Exactly.” Emily ushered her to the door, and Hunt and Wes kept close. “I’ll have the front desk draw it up for you. Return at any time to redeem it.”Any time after this week, Emily silently chanted.
The woman glanced back at the brothers and smiled. “Do I get to take them home with me?”
