“Who’s the hottie that won’t stop staring at you?”
“Who?”
She indicated across the bar.
“Oh. That’s Steve.”
“Steve,” David muttered to himself, rubbing his eyes with his thumb and index finger.
“He is s-e-x-y. But you probably don’t think so, do you?” she asked me.
I shifted and gave her a look.
“Liv never did go for the blonds,” Gretchen explained to David. “But that’s okay, more for me.”
“You smell like tequila,” I told her.
“I took a couple shots.” She leaned forward and put a finger over her lips. “Shh. Don’t tell Greg.”
“Aren’t you working?”
“No, no . . .” She swayed. “I’m just here to party.”
“Okay,” I said, stifling a laugh.
“I’m going to talk to Steve.”
“Steve?” I asked. “What about Greg?”
“Oh, he won’t care,” she said, waving her hand at me. “Look but don’t touch, right?” she shouted and bolted upright. She steadied herself on David’s shoulder. “Be back in a minute.”
I searched the room for Greg until I noticed that David was staring at me. He shook his head and swiped a hand over his face. “I’ll be a saint if I get through this night,” he muttered.
I returned my focus to him. His shoulders had risen, his jaw tense enough to snap. “You’re upset.”
“Youare pissing me off,” he said suddenly. “Not Maria. You.”
My mouth fell open. Last I’d seen David, we’d left things on good terms. “What?” I asked, trying to pinpoint anything in particular I might have done. “Why?”
“You show up here, looking like that . . .”
“Like what?” I asked, glancing down at the jumpsuit.
“I want to rip that fucking thing off you.”
I sucked in a breath and flushed as a sharp thrill ran through me. We were very much alone, and as promised, he was done pretending. And it made me tingle in places it shouldn’t. “David,” I said and exhaled.
“Fuck.” He sat forward abruptly, scrubbed his face with both hands, and looked over at me. “I should go.”
“You’re leaving?” I asked as he stood.
“Hey, Liv, over here!” Gretchen called, waving at me.
I lifted a finger in her direction to say I’d be a minute.
She said something to Steve and hurried over. “We’re all going upstairs to see the view from one of the rooms,” she told us. “You can come, too, David,” she added with a smirk.
I glanced at him. “David was just leaving, actually.”
