“Yes it did, and that’s the last you’re getting, so crawl back in your hole, sex fiend Avery,” I scolded my reflection. I tried to calm myself down. “It’s not like we had real sex,” I said as I turned on the shower.
The part that had not been satisfied by Blade’s fingers and tongue was currently praying to the fancy bathroom gods that Blade would appear, preferably with no clothes on.
“Get it together,” I ordered myself as I slathered detangling leave-in conditioner into my hair. “You’re just hungry and hungover.”
Blade was in the kitchen making an omelet when I padded in, wrapped in one of his large, soft robes. It was so long it dragged on the floor.
“Where did you even find that?” he said with a laugh. “I never wear robes. I’m not even sure where I got that.”
“It’s mine now then,” I said, snuggling it around me. “It’s so soft.” I adjusted it so I could hike up onto one of the barstools at the kitchen island then drained the glass of orange juice Blade put in front of me.
“There’s some champagne left if you want that in there too,” he deadpanned.
“Har har, I’m not a complete alcoholic.” I stuck my tongue out at him.
“Could have fooled me last night,” he said, the little smirk on his face letting me knowexactlywhat he was thinking about. He turned off the stove and scooped the omelet out onto a plate.
“He cooks, he’s rich, he’s good in bed,” I quipped as Blade slid a plate of eggs in front of me. “I should marry you. Oh wait!” I laughed at my own joke.
“Speaking of weddings, my brother just texted me,” Blade said, leaning against the counter as I devoured my eggs.
“Which one?”
“Gunnar.” Blade sighed. “He says he wants wedding planning B-roll footage when we’re in Harrogate. Additionally, Penny texted me to schedule engagement photos today. Ida wants to display them at the engagement party. After you eat, we should go. Penny has everything set up in Garrett’s condo upstairs,” Blade said, tone frosty.
“Mad that you didn’t score a condo with a better view?”
“It’s one of the many annoyances of being a younger brother.”
* * *
Blade was even more annoyedwhen we went up two floors.
“The view sure is better up here,” I teased him.
He scowled.
“Ah, the petty dick-measuring contests of billionaires,” Penny said from the open doorway. Inside was a rack of clothes and a makeup artist set up in the living room. Garrett prowled along the wall on the opposite end of the room.
“Don’t you have something other than a suit to wear?” Penny asked Blade, looking at him critically.
“What’s wrong with a suit?” he protested.
“It’s so corporate.” She wrinkled her nose. “You have to look casual and happy. Go into Garrett’s closet. I bought him some nice slacks and polos that you can wear.”
“Don’t touch my stuff!” Garrett snarled.
Penny rolled her eyes. “You refuse to wear any of it! You should share with your little brother. Come on, Blade,” she said, dragging him away. “Avery, pick out a dress.”
I flipped through the rack. The dresses were…not my style, to put it kindly. I tended toward a quirky aesthetic, whereas the dresses were all very much like those that the sorority girls at college would wear—baby-doll styles in varying shades of bright pink.
“This one will be cute,” Penny said, coming up behind me and pulling out a dark-pink dress in a flimsy fabric that was made for someone with a chest much smaller than mine.
“I don’t know,” I said. “I may need a little more structure.”
“Try this one,” Penny suggested, handing me a red dress that had little cutouts on the sides. “It will go nice with these shoes.” She handed me a pair of tall black patent leather platform stilettoes.
In the half bath, I shimmied into the dress and slipped on the heels.
