"I’m Penny!" Penny chirped.Speaking of drunk.I nudged her slightly. She looked at me doe-eyed. "And that’s James Bond."
Allie and Carter laughed.
"Lucky girl!" Allie toasted Penny.
"I guess I shouldn’t have given my real name," Penny whispered after Allie and Carter strolled off to talk to the Burbanks.
69
Penny
Icouldn’t believe I was at an actual, honest-to-goodness ball. There was even a live band. They were playing jazzy renditions of popular songs.
"The food is amazing," I said, taking several more of the crab cakes the servers brought by. "You want to dance?" I asked Garrett, finishing the rest of my champagne.
"Are you done with your snack?"
"I guess so. Here, eat this last one." I waved it in his face.
He ate it with a snap then led me onto the dance floor. I felt so glamourous. Garrett was striking in the black tux and tails.
"I thought you said you didn't know how to dance."
"I can do basic moves," he said, twirling me around the floor.
"This is a little more than basic," I told him.
"It's just a pattern," he said, pressing me toward him. "You just follow the steps. Simple."
Garrett was all lean grace. I had had enough champagne that I was at that happy spot of sexily sloppy and not sick drunk.
We danced for several songs. Then Garrett pulled me away. We walked around the room, admiring the costumes and the scenery, then we went outside. There was a courtyard off the main event space. Outside were several firepits and dessert stations.
"Look! High-end s'mores," I told Garrett excitedly.
"They're organic and handmade," the server explained. "These are freshly baked graham crackers, and the chocolate is imported from Switzerland."
The marshmallows had been dyed pale colors and cut into shapes like bats, pumpkins, and witch’s hats.
Garrett sat in one of the deep wooden chairs and pulled me onto his lap. "I'm trying to keep you from falling into the fire," he said.
"I’m not that drunk," I scoffed, almost impaling my hand with the skewer. "Whoops. It slipped!"
I toasted the marshmallow. It puffed up beautifully. I took a bite, moaning around the warm, gooey treat.
"I think you're supposed to make a sandwich out of that," Garrett remarked, drawing little circles on the back of my neck.
"I eat everything separately," I said. Garrett snorted. "Do you know a lot of people here?" I asked, taking a bite of the marshmallow then the chocolate then the graham cracker.
Behind his mask, his eyes narrowed slightly. "I think that's Grant Holbrook, with his wife Kate," he said, motioning to a man and woman dressed as Victorian Era nobility. "And that’s, ugh, my brother Weston. Come on. If the Holbrooks find out he's here, he's going to be thrown out. We don't want to be caught up in that. It would be incredibly inconvenient."
Garrett took a bottle of champagne and flutes, motioning me ahead of him. Then he paused, handed me the glasses, and took a whole tray of snacks from one of the servers.
"And that's how I know you truly understand me," I said, reaching up to kiss him.
"I just don't want you to pass out when we get home. I still have more things planned," he said, mysterious behind the mask.
We snuck out through a back door and down several halls.
