“I mean,technicallywe were stepsisters, but we were never close or anything. Not anything like that. Not close.” Now I was rambling, desperate to prove to these people that Vail and I hadn’t ever been anything like sisters and us being here together wasn’t weird.
Cade nodded. “No, no, I get it. I’m not accusing you of anything. Just trying to get your story.” As long as her romance-writing girlfriend didn’t use my story for a book, we were fine.
Wanting to change the subject, I faced Eloise. “Do you get ideas from everywhere for your books?” We’d talked about my job and hers was far more interesting. I couldn’t imagine being able to come up with so many unique characters with distinct stories. Enough so that you weren’t writing the same idea over and over and just changing the names. Her mind fascinated me, as a lover of books.
Vail came back with a glass of water with ice and a lemon wedge on it that was wrapped in a napkin so my hand wouldn’t get wet.
“Thank you,” I told her.
“You’re welcome.” I searched her eyes for any panic or desperation, but she seemed okay. Still a little stiff and wary, but not panicking.
She took her seat next to me and I sipped the water, almost wishing it was something stronger.
“Did you want to go check on the kittens?” I asked her, giving her an opening to leave if she wanted to.
She reached out and squeezed my thigh. Briefly, gently, but the contact still hit me like a ton of bricks.
“I think they’re good.”
My mouth opened but no sound came out. She’d robbed me of speech.
“Hey, can we get you anything else?” I looked up to find Stace standing in front of us. She seemed to be doing the rounds.
“No, I’m fine. Thank you.” Good, I could still talk. Just not to Vail.
Cade and Eloise went to get more drinks and Delaney and James took their seats.
Delaney ended up bringing up books, drawing Larison and Jo in, and before I knew it, nearly the entire party was sharing book recommendations and talking over one another and arguing about tropes.
I had to get my phone out to take a bunch of notes on new titles I had to look up.
Vail even suggested a few selections, which surprised me that she’d feel open enough to speak in a group like this. The rest of the time I was doing my best not to just…stare at her. I couldn’t believe she existed, and she was here with me.
The party wound down a little bit and a few people, including Larison and Jo, started to leave.
“Think it’s time to check the litter box?” I asked Vail, raising my eyebrows so she knew I was using the safe word.
Vail nodded. “I think so.”
We helped clean up a little and made sure we hadn’t left anything before thanking Stace and Hunter.
“If you wanted to come over for dinner some night, just let us know. I always make enough for twelve people since I’m used to cooking for the firehouse or my family. We’d love to have you.” There was a bright openness about Stace that just made you feel at ease.
“Really. Anytime,” Hunter said, tucking herself under Stace’s ample bicep.
“Thanks, we’ll let you know.” Shit. I’d just answered for both Vail and myself. Like we were a pair. I was going to blame being surrounded by so many couples tonight on that little blunder.
Vail didn’t contradict me, and I thought about trying to fix it, but that would only make things worse, so I just hustled us out and didn’t speak until we were back in my apartment.
Both kittens were asleep on top of each other in the middle of my rug.
Chapter Twenty
Vail
I couldn’t saythat I’d had the time of my life, but it hadn’t been awful. Everyone had been incredibly nice and welcoming. I just… I hated socializing with new people, no matter how kind they were.
Most of the time I’d been watching Lea. She was a bright light in the room, naturally. She’d gotten so excited to talk to Eloise about Pilates, and she had a potential job out of it. Of course, Lea would manage to network with one of the most famous romance authors in the world at a party. I should have followed her lead and introduced myself as a narrator. Getting to work on one of her books would literally blow up my career, but I wanted Lea to have her moment. And who knew if Eloise had any power over her audiobook casting? It wasn’t worth it.
