Make Me Yours (Bellamy Creek #2) - Melanie Harlow Page 0,51
at her.
She laughed and held up both hands. “Fair enough, I surrender. Way to ruin a girl’s fantasy.” Turning to me, she said, “I hear you made an offer on the house by the creek.”
“And it was accepted,” Moretti said with smug triumph, as if it had been a competition between them.
“Congratulations.” She gave me a genuine smile. “It’s a great house. You and your daughter will love it, I’m sure. If you need any help with the interior, just let me know.”
“Thank you,” I said.
“What are you doing here, anyway?” Moretti demanded, like this was his turf and she was trespassing on it.
“I’m a friend of Blair’s.”
“Since when?”
She gave him an odd look. “Since I moved back and we met at book club and hit it off.”
“Book club?” Moretti looked like he wasn’t sure he believed her. Either that or he’d never heard of a book club.
“Yes.” She put a hand up to her mouth and stage whispered, “We both love teenage vampires, but don’t tell anyone.” Then she dropped her arm, her voice returning to normal. “Now if you’ll excuse me, that drive was harrowing and I could really use a drink. Enjoy your evening.” With one final smile—and a glitter of mischief in her eye when she looked at Moretti, she melted into the crowd by the bar.
“That woman,” he said through gritted teeth, his eyes still on her. “I don’t know what it is about her, but she drives me crazy.”
I tossed back some more bourbon. “Okay, but we were talking about me. My problem. So you think just go over and say, ‘Hey, want to go up to my room?’”
Moretti made a face like he’d sniffed something bad. “Is that how you’re going to do it?”
“What was wrong with that?”
“You need more subtlety, more smolder. You can’t just proposition her like that.”
“Well then, show me how to do it,” I said impatiently, eyeing her across the room. She was laughing at some other guy’s joke and touching his arm. He was alarmingly buff and good-looking too. A stab of jealousy pierced my gut.
“Okay, try it like this.” Moretti lowered his chin for a second, and when he raised it again, his eyes were hooded and seductive, and he spoke in a low, sultry voice. “Hey. What do you say we ditch this crowd and go someplace quieter?”
I blinked. “Wow.”
Moretti dropped the act. “Okay, now you try it.”
I took a deep breath and tried to arrange my face the way he had. I leaned toward him and repeated his words.
He frowned. “It’s not quite right. Maybe try it like this.” His face went from critical to come hither, and he swayed toward me again. “Hey. I don’t know about you, but I’ve had about enough of this crowd. You want to get out of here?”
“Oh, now see? That’s more like it.” Bianca had snuck up on us, catching Moretti pretending to seduce me. She sighed and sipped her wine. “I gotta say, real couple or not, you two are sexy as hell. Do you have a YouTube channel? I’d like to subscribe.”
Moretti rolled his eyes and looked at me. “Go. You got this. I’ll handle the viper.”
“Okay.” I loosened my tie a little—why was it suddenly so hot in here?—and made my way through the crowd toward where Cheyenne stood chatting with some people I didn’t recognize. The room spun a little, and the floor seemed to tilt beneath my feet. I’d definitely drunk too much too fast. It gave me a moment’s pause—maybe coming onto her after this much bourbon was a mistake?
But then it was too late. I’d reached her side, and she turned to smile at me. “Hey, Cole. Have you ever met my cousin Liam Dempsey?”
Understanding and relief swept through me. The buff dude was her cousin. And if memory served, he was a Navy SEAL who lived somewhere out east. “I think we met once way back when.” I offered my hand, and Liam shook it.
“Good to see you, Cole,” he said.
“And this is his wife, Natalie.” Cheyenne gestured toward a pretty blonde whom I hadn’t noticed standing on his other side.
“Nice to meet you.” I shook her hand as well. “You’re from out of state, right?”
Liam nodded. “Virginia Beach. We were lucky to make it in late last night. So many flights were canceled today.”
“Hopefully, you’re not stuck here for weeks on end,” said Cheyenne. “They’ve got two kids,” she said to me. “Aarabelle and Shane.”