“Well, that wouldn’t happen.” Would it? Dammit, itcouldhappen, and wouldn’t that just be the final blow to his pride-and-ego sandwich?
“Fuck.” Knox lifted his bottle to the waitress. “Can I get another?”
“Have you considered that maybe she liked the kiss?” Tanner asked, cautiously, like was handling a live grenade. “And she didn’t want to like the kiss, so she gave you a bad score to cover the fact that she was all turned around by it?”
Knox wanted to think that, but— “If she was so turned around by it, then she should’ve been so turned on she couldn’t form a sentence.”
“But she’s Irina.” Tanner said this like it was obvious what he meant.
“And?” Knox understood who it was he’d kissed.
Tanner made a face like he didn’t really want to say what he was about to say, but he was going to say it anyway. “Unless she’s drunk, you can’t really tell if Irina is acting or not, right?”
Well, there was some accuracy to that statement, though Knox thought that he knew her better than the others and had a better read on her ability for deception. All that aside, they had all discovered that once she got slayed, Irina tossed all of her acting skill out the door.
Knox nodded. “So I’m supposed to get her drunk and then kiss her?”
That seemed like a bad idea that would make him not a good guy.
Tanner closed his eyes like he was speaking to a child. “No, that would be wrong.”
“You just suggested it.”
Tanner spoke slower this time, which was silly because Knox understood everything he said, “What I’m saying is, with Irina you never really know where you stand because she’s so good at pretending all the time.”
“You think?” That was the most obvious statement of the night.
“She convinced us all she could deliver a baby and then we all watched MyTube videos while she actually figured out where babies come from. That whole time? I never questioned it,” Tanner said. “Mach. Bax. No one questioned it.”
“I did.” This was true, Knox had questioned it.
Tanner wasn’t biting. “You did?”
“Yeah, but I heard her talking to Courtney about it, so it wasn’t a reflection of her acting ability, more of a reflection of my ability to eavesdrop.” Which was pretty good, to be honest.
“I’m just saying.” Tanner lifted his hands. “Maybe there’s more to this than just a seven-point-five?”
Knox frowned, but Tanner was correct. Because if there was one thing Knox was certain of, that kiss was not nothing.
But he wasn’t sure what to do with it being something, either.
He didn’t want it to be something. But he didn’t want it to be nothing.
The problem was that he couldn’t get the taste of her out of his mouth—and not because of the chocolate, either. Because he’d had a taste of Irina, and one sample wasn’t enough.
“Hey, boys.” A woman who would generally be his type slid into the booth across from him and Tanner. Her friend followed. He recognized her from somewhere…she was definitely Hollywood. “You look kinda lonely over here.”
Tanner clammed up, as was usual.
Knox lifted his chin. “Afraid we’re in the middle of a private conversation.”
“Rain check?” The second lady asked, popping a cherry into her mouth and sucking off the juice.
Usually, he’d appreciate that kind of come-on, but tonight he couldn’t quit thinking about how Irina tasted.
“Knox,” a guy shouted from two tables over. “You’re missing your fiancée.” He snapped a picture on his cell.
Knox didn’t even have time to smile first.
