Omens (The Dark in You #6) - Suzanne Wright Page 0,23
it.
“All’s not lost,” Raini cut in. “He doesn’t need to be an addict to lose the bet, he just needs to have a drink, right? Khloé could drive anyone to drink.”
Harper’s brows hiked up. “That’s true.”
“Is he still coming on the mini booze cruise?” asked Raini.
Harper nodded. “Asher’s coming with us, and Keenan’s his bodyguard, so …”
Raini turned to Khloé. “You should use that opportunity to push all his buttons. If you’re at your best, he’ll snap sooner or later.”
“And you should go on a date at some point,” Harper added. “He positively hates it when you do that.”
“I don’t have time to go on a date. I’ll be packing tomorrow so that we can leave Friday morning for the booze cruise,” said Khloé.
“Then we’ll just say that you went on a date.” Harper waved a hand. “He won’t know any different.”
Khloé felt her face scrunch up. “Lying that I went on a date feels kind of juvenile.”
“When have you ever cared about acting juvenile?” asked the sphinx.
“Never.”
“Then why start now?”
“You make a good point.”
“Seriously, he hates hearing about you going on dates. It always seems to take him a step closer to asking you out, but he never does.” Harper pursed her lips. “I can only assume he has commitment issues or something.”
“He’s not the only one.” Devon threw a meaningful look at Khloé.
“I don’t have commitment issues, I just avoid relationships,” said Khloé. “And for good reason.”
Raini looked upward. “Oh, don’t start with that whole ‘my family is cursed’ thing again.”
“It’s true,” Khloé insisted. “My maternal line is cursed to live alone. It’s the only thing that makes sense.”
Raini folded her arms. “That makes sense to you? Really?”
Khloé tapped her foot. “I looked up my family’s history. My great-great-great-great grandmother Irene once pissed off a female incantor by fucking the woman’s mate. It’s only been since then that every female member of my mother’s line has grown old alone. None of them have taken mates; none have even found themselves in a long-term relationship. There must be a curse at work. And so, like my other maternal female relatives, I am doomed to grow old and die alone.”
“Or maybe there is no curse, and you’re just wacked,” said Devon.
Khloé scowled. “I can’t believe you’d even suggest that.”
Harper put a hand on her back. “I think you just have no faith in relationships. Why would you? Neither of your parents know a thing about healthy, functional relationships.”
“My dad and Meredith are doing okay,” Khloé pointed out.
“Yeah, he got there eventually.” The sphinx shrugged. “Maybe you will too, one day.”
“No, I’m too busy paying for Irene’s fuck-up, like the rest of my maternal relatives.”
“Is that what your fictional Aunt Mildred told you?” asked Devon.
“I can’t believe you don’t remember her.” Khloé planted her hands on her hips. “Come on, think back. She had a limp. Carried a cane everywhere. Always wore black. And she had that rash on her hands that—”
“Stop,” the hellcat burst out. “Just stop.”
“Fine.” Khloé pulled a dress of the rack. “Where’s the fitting room?”
CHAPTER FIVE
Friday morning, Keenan shoved open the door of his apartment building and strode outside, heading for the parking lot. He needed to collect Khloé and Raini and drive them to the airport, where his Primes’ private jet was waiting to fly them to the yacht.
He wasn’t looking forward to the trip. And yet he was.
Being in close proximity to Khloé for three whole days wouldn’t be easy—she could push his buttons like no one else, and he was sure she’d give him a stomach ulcer sooner or later. But she also made him feel more alive than anyone had in a very long time. Their verbal spars sometimes felt like foreplay.
He wondered if she’d yet begun to realize that she’d made a mistake in ignoring his insistence that he wasn’t an alcoholic. He could honestly say that he hadn’t once been tempted to reach for his flask. Especially since his reward would be a taste of what he’d been craving for years. A reward he could claim in just three days if he managed to hold out.
Feeding from her just once could be enough to weaken the chemistry that pulsed between them. He’d spent so long imagining how she tasted that he’d built it up in his head. The reality couldn’t possibly match the fantasy, could it? He’d for sure feel disappointed to some degree, and that would—
“Keenan?”
He froze. He knew that voice far too well. It brought back so many memories—some