Jack was eying Imogen with a cold, steely gaze that would've made me shiver if it were directed at me.
As for Imogen, she was covered in bits of dirt and flower petals. She was missing both of her shoes, and her underpants were askew. Still, she thrust back her shoulders and announced, "If he took a photo, he'll beverysorry, that's what."
My gaze shifted to Randy. He was gazing down at his phone with bright eyes and a happy smile. Whatever emotion he was feeling, itwasn'tsorrow.
Imogen barked out, "Hey! Limo driver!"
He looked up. "What?"
"You'd better delete that."
He blinked a few times before shoving his cell phone into his pocket. "Delete what?"
Part of me wanted the snicker. The other part was too busy wondering why my hair felt funny. When I reached back to smooth it, my hand came away covered with clumps of dirt and stray flower petals.
Well, this was just lovely.
As Imogen and Randy argued back and forth about the photo, I reluctantly looked to Jack.
He was eying me with thinly veiled amusement.
I said, "What's so funny?"
He shrugged. "Am I laughing?"
"No. But you want to. I can tell."
He flicked his head toward something a few feet behind me. "You wanna grab that?"
I turned to look, and spotted the key, lying in a patch of grass just beyond the flower bed. I lunged toward it and snatched it up quicker than you could say,"Thanks for the help, buddy."
I was still wallowing in dirt, but at least I had the thing I needed. When I looked back to Jack, he held out his hand, palm up as if waiting for me to give him the key.
But all I gave him was a cold look. "If you think I'm giving it toyou, you're crazy."No.I was going to give it Randy, so he could simply move the limo and be done with this whole twisted scene – well, when he was done dealing with Imogen, that is.
Even now she was saying, "Iknowyou took one."
He replied, "One what?"
"A photo, just like I said."
"A photo of what?"
"My ass! That's what."
When I looked back to Jack, his eyes filled with amusement as he nudged his hand closer. "Actually," he said, "I was gonna help you up."
Heat flooded my face. "Oh."
Technically, I didn't need any help, but it seemed incredibly rude to refuse, especially after snapping at him like that.
Reluctantly, I put my hand in his, and let him pull to my feet. His hand felt nice, and I gave a warm shiver as he asked in a surprisingly tender voice, "You okay?"
At this, Imogen turned to him and snapped, "I hope you're talking tome." She glared daggers in my direction. "After all, I was the one attacked, not her."
I gave a snort of derision. "Oh please. I didn't 'attack' you. I just lost my balance, that's all."
"Save it for the judge," she said.
