“Actually, she told me she had a couple of drinks on her own before ever coming to the party. I had to leave to take care of something and she had more when I was gone.”
“What?” Anise paled. “This isn’t like her. She can barely tolerate half a glass of wine.”
“As far as I can tell, she’s been drinking much more than that since she got here. She was sick and wobbling, so I convinced her to lie down.”
“I bet you did.”
“I can assure you nothing happened.”
“Oh, right. Not a single thing happened in the VIP suite. Let me guess. You were all just sitting around, reading passages from the New Testament?”
Dana’s eyes cracked open. “Stop yelling at Alex.”
“I’m not yelling,” yelled Anise.
“He didn’t do anything wrong. He helped me. Now if you can’t say ‘thank you’ like a normal person, you can just leave.”
It meant the world that Dana would jump to his defense, but it didn’t make the ball of nerves in his gut dissipate. He didn’t want her to think badly of him, and the last thing he needed was to be accused of taking advantage of the situation.
Everyone got quiet. Jessica and Bea finally expressed their thanks, but Anise remained close-lipped.
It was clearly time to make his exit even though he hated to leave Dana to her sister. He doubted the inquisition was over yet. “I’ll leave you to it. Good night.”
“Wait.” Dana rose up on her elbow. When she let out a slow stream of breath, he knew lifting her head had taken a lot out of her. “Alex, thank you.”
“For what?” For leaving her alone and giving her a chance to get wasted? Hardly his best moment.
“For holding my hair back.”
Her tired voice flipped a switch in him. With those few words, he was transformed from a protective man into an overprotective beast. He wanted to banish her sister and friends, claw her to him and hold her in his lap. However, he controlled his inner grizzly bear. “You’re welcome. I hope you feel better.”
She nodded and lay back down. He walked out of the bedroom and over to the suite door.
Anise followed. She gripped the door, suddenly more intimidating than his biggest, meanest bouncer.
“Just so you know,” he said, “I didn’t realize she’d had those drinks. I wouldn’t take advantage of her.”
“Good night, Alex.”
Thanks to her tone and bitter smile, when her words reached his ears, they sounded a lot more likeFuck you, Alex.
“Good night.”
Exhausted and uncomfortable, he headed to the elevator.
The party might continue into the early morning but it would have to continue without him.
Chapter Seven
“I don’t know.” Anise held up a purse in the Fendi shop at Caesars Palace the next day. She inspected the bag’s intricate stitching. “It costs a lot and it’s really showy. Do you think it screams, ‘I just got divorced and now I’m on a spending spree?’”
“Hell, yes,” said Bea. “Since when is there anything wrong with that?”
“You should treat yourself,” agreed Jessica.
“I’ve been treating myself since I got here. Two new outfits and three pairs of shoes. Maybe the purse is a bit much.” Anise put the purse back down on the display.
Bea picked it up again and placed it in her hands. “Buy the purse. You’ll regret it if you don’t.”
