Had I been guzzling?No wonder she'd given me such a look.
I was a total lush.
But in my own defense, I'd been more than a little nervous. Plus, the champagne was the best I'd ever had. True, I was no expert, given the fact that my previous experience was limited to cheap bottles on New Year's Eve. Still, evenIcould taste the difference.
In a show of defiance, I lifted my glass and drained it dry, savoring the sweetness of the bubbles as they danced across my tongue.Nope. Definitely not cheap.
When I lowered the glass, the redhead gave me another smirk. "You might want to pace yourself, chickie."
Chickie?I gave her a smirk right back. "You too, snookems."
Her gaze narrowed. "In case you haven't noticed,I'mperfectly sober."
Jax gave her a look. "Yeah. Well, give it time." And with that, he guided me around her, leading us deeper into the mansion. As we moved, I swear I could feel her eyes shooting daggers into my back.
Wasshethe reason I was here? Was I some sort of proof that Jax had moved on? I could see the logic, and yet, he didn't seem like the game-playing type.
I liked him. And Ilovedthe feel of his arm, wrapped around my waist. It felt good, like we fit together just right.
Right on cue, my inner floozy whispered that we'd fit just right in other ways, too. I told her to shut up and tried to ignore the warmth that was, even now, creeping across my cheeks.
It was just the champagne. That's all.
Jax had just snagged me another glass when we spotted his brother, standing near a pair of French doors that led to an outdoor patio. The patio was lit with sparkling candles floating across – I felt my eyebrows furrow – a swimming pool?
The pool itself wouldn't've surprised me if I didn't know that we weren't on the ground floor. To reach the mansion's front entrance, we'd climbed an impressive amount of steps, skipping the lower level entirely. This meant that the pool wasn't your basic in-ground variety.
But of course, there was nothing basic about any of this.
From what I could see through the glass doors, the patio was absolutely stunning – all granite and marble with a raised hot tub, Grecian columns, and even a couple of massive palm trees.
How was that even possible? I squinted past the pool into the space beyond. But all I saw was darkness, like we were perched on the end of the world – which, in a way, I guess we were.
Pushing aside the distraction, I looked back to Jax's brother. He was talking with a petite redhead who could only be Darla. I knew this, because she was, in fact, very tiny – probably no more than five feet tall.
Other than that, she wasn't what I'd been expecting. For some reason, I'd been expecting someone younger – maybe in her twenties or thirties, around the same age as the two brothers.
But Darla looked old enough to be their grandmother – or maybe even their great-grandmother.
Earlier, Jaden had called her scary. But she didn't look scary to me. She looked fun and festive in a classic flapper dress that would've been the latest fashion sometime in the 1920s.
The dress was silver and black with lots of fringes. Completing the look were long, lacy gloves and a sassy feather headband.
As I watched, she threw back her head and laughed at something Jaden had just said. As for Jaden himself, he looked far from terrified. Instead, he looked perfectly at ease.
Next to me, Jax said, "I'll be back in a minute. Wait here, alright?"
Without waiting for a response, he let go of my waist and began striding toward them. I took a nervous gulp of my champagne. It went down far too easily, and I had to remind myself to slow down.
When it came to drinking, I was a total lightweightandon the petite side myself. If I wasn't careful, I'd soon be staggering – or worse, hunched over some toilet, watching the champagne come right back up again.
With a little shudder, I lowered the glass and reminded myself that no one liked a toilet-hugger – or to hug a toilet for that matter.
Jax had just reached his brother when I felt a tap on my shoulder. I turned to look and stifled a groan.
It was the redhead.
Of course.
