I wish they’d put some vodka in my coffee.
Emil comes back in with a navy-blue three-piece suit that doesn’t seem all that different from the others except for the colour.
Sebastian whistles, taking it from him. “This is nice,” he tells me. “Check out this silk brocade on the vest. It matches the lapels and the tie; we love a good match.”
Do we? “Are those diamonds?” I ask sceptically. The tie clip holding the tie in place is the same navy blue as the rest of the suit, with three small vertical white jewels. They better be fake.
“Lovely touch, aren’t they?” Emil says. “It really brings out the rest of the suit. It’ll make your eyes pop.”
Why is he so obsessed with popping? I’m putting him on a watch list.
“The white against the blue is striking,” he continues. “Tailored right, you’ll look like a million dollars.”
That better be without spending a million dollars. I don’t have that kind of savings, and I’d rather keep it for the honeymoon.
“It’s perfect. What do you think?” Sebastian asks as if my opinion has mattered at all the entire time we’ve been here.
“Does it matter?”
“I won’t let you make bad decisions. That doesn’t mean you don’t have the final say.”
One of those is not like the other, but okay. The suit is fancy, though I don’t understand the fuss they’re making about it. “Ilike it.” That better be good enough to get me out of here. “What’s the price tag?” Why has no one evenmentionedprices since we got here?
“Oh, it’s already paid for,” Emil says, beaming. “Alright, so the dressing room is back here. I’ll need you to strip down to your underwear, and then I can measure you.”
“You’re not paying for this,” I tell Sebastian flatly. There’s no fucking way.
“It’s a wedding present from all of us,” Sebastian says, not even bothering to look at me as he moves all the suits back to one rack. “It was that or a blow-up sex doll. We’ll even get one that moves and has hair. Your choice.”
“I hate you.”
“Love and hate are such a fine line.”
“They’re not.”
“Emil’s a busy man; you better get undressed.”
Jaw tight, I stalk out of the room, muttering obscenities under my breath. This better not take long; we’ve already been here way longer than I wanted to be. Quinn better be half dead to justify leaving me here with Sebastian fucking Devlin.
It takes just under an hour, which is an hour too long, but finally we’re done, and I can get the hell out of here. I’m dropping Sebastian off at the nearest bus stop and going home without him.
Sebastian slaps me on the shoulder. “I could use a beer. You want to get a beer?”
I could use a whole lot more than that. “I don’t want beer; I want top shelf. And you’re buying.”
Sebastian grins wickedly. “I like the way you think.”
I hate this entire day.
Chapter twenty-one
Lake
PourAnotherShotseemsboth an incredibly appropriate name for a cop bar and yet also a little weird. Are a lot of cops here doing shots after their shifts? That’s one way to take the edge off a hard day. What kind of shots do they do here? I bet they’re great. If I wasn't the designated driver, here to pick up my drunk fiancé, then I’d think about trying one. Maybe we could come back here sometime.
Grady and Sebastian are easy to spot, partly because they definitely stand out in a crowd, but also because my Grady radar is on point. He’ll always be the first person that I find in a room.
They’re at a tall round table, feet hooked in their stools. There are… a lot of glasses between them. There’s a flush on Grady’scheeks, visible even from here, that’s totally endearing. Love it when my big man lets loose properly. He holds himself so tight, coiled like a predator watching for enemies on the horizon.
