"Because Tilly is telling us about Chief Fangs and lowering her voice so that..." she shook her head in question at Tilly.
"Because what if he has super hearing?" she answered.
"Mm, good call," Kelsea agreed. "But yeah, you still avoiding him? Oh, he's looking over here. Look natural."
To which none of them responded by looking natural. In any sense of the word.
So, when the chief looked at the group of women holding themselves at unnatural angles, with stilted smiles on their faces his dark eyes found Tilly and held for a beat as her heart stuttered and her mouth froze in what could only be described as the kind of fractured smile you gave a parent after thirty minutes of camera-pointing where the eyes don't match the mouth.
He raised one dark eyebrow at her in question.
She was held captive in his stare. The other women watched with rapt attention. Everything faded around them; her insides were bubbling and buzzing.
And then he winked.
The stoic, statue of a man who did in fact look fantastic in a black button-up dress shirt with his short, dark hair messily posed in perfect waves and stubble along his jaw, winked at her.
Did her heart stop? It stopped. Why was she responding this way?
Eloise waved a hand in front of her eyes. He looked away. The spell was broken; the sounds of the world around them came crashing back around her.
"Why are you guys acting weird?" Jenson asked, approaching them with a cautious look on his handsome face.
"Tilly is into the chief," Taylor whispered to Jenson, whose eyes rounded, and he nodded.
"Women do tend to like vampires."
Tilly's glare made Jenson close his mouth, and Taylor inched closer to Eloise. "As much fun as discussing this is with all of you, I think I need to go. I'm exhausted," she finally got out.
All of them exchanged looks, making her sigh. "Seriously. This isn't about six foot...something ridiculous over there. I've had a rough day and I need to hug Jen, get out of this dress, and eat popcorn in my pajamas."
The beautiful stranger hadn't moved from where Tilly and Eloise first spotted her. Her eyes were no longer trained on Tilly, but Tilly watched her carefully, still a strange feeling emanating from her, before she found Jen.
"You are a magnificent star," she said, holding Jen's hands in hers.
Jen's smile was the kind that befit a woman of power and achievement, fought for and won. "Thank you. After your day, you still showed up a thousand percent for me."
"You kidding? Exactly what I needed. And I wouldn't have missed it." She hugged her friend, pulling in her scent of jasmine and champagne. She felt Jen's energy, her excitement, a zip along Tilly's spine. It filled her to the brim, and she reveled in it for a moment before pulling back.
"You leaving already?"
"If you don't mind. I'm exhausted, and I could use a wind-down night."
Jen understood immediately and waved over a waiter as she said, "Go to my house." When Tilly started objecting, she gave her a stern look. "Go to my house. The guest room is made up, and I have your pajamas in the drawers. There's a bath bomb I got for you on the dresser and a new candle."
Tilly looked at her in awe. "When...how..."
"Babe, you had a shit day. And you took care of me. Now, I'm taking care of you. Go take a bubble bath, get in your pjs, stuff your face with these," she took the tray from the waiter, which held Eloise's blackberry walnut tarts and Kelsea's black magic cake.
"I'm not intruding on a celebratory night between you and Isla?" She didn't want to ruin plans. She also might have been fishing.
And when Jen's smile turned a little less authentic, that zipping energy flattened, she knew. Genuine Jen wasn't airy.
"Nope, we've got plans later this week," she said airily. Tilly smiled.
"Thanks for being my best friend," she whispered, the love and caretaking filling her ribcage.
"Always. Now shoo," her hands flicked out, red nails flashing as she smiled. "Love you."
