She gawked at him, momentarily stunned by his smile and then turned to me and nodded her head slowly. “Nice,” she drawled.
I rol ed my eyes.
“Like the sweatshirt,” Al y said, leaning back and taking me in and then she introduced me to her boyfriend, Carl.
He was good-looking; tal , blond, blue-eyed and grinning at Hank. A knowing grin that made me feel slightly bothered but, weirdly, in a good way.
“We need to talk,” Hank said to him.
“I figured that,” Carl said back.
Hank leaned down and wrapped an arm around my waist sideways. I looked up at him and he gave me a light kiss. “Have fun,” he said against my mouth.
Then he and Carl walked out the front door.
“What’s that al about?” I asked, watching the closed door as if I had x-ray vision and could see through it.
“That’s Hank tel ing Carl he’l make him into an instant girl if anything happens to you,” Al y said.
“Good God,” I murmured.
“Don’t worry. Nothing’s gonna happen to you,” Indy said.
The door opened and Daisy arrived.
Or, I should say Daisy arrived.
She was wearing a skintight, faded denim jumpsuit; the crotch to bosom zipper unzipped to maximum cle**age potential, rhinestones adorning the outer sides of her legs, up her hips, waist, sides, and down the inside of the sleeves. She was wearing matching platform, high-heeled, faded denim boots, heavily encrusted with rhinestones. She had a pink chiffon scarf tied around her neck and her platinum blonde hair was teased out to peak volume.
“Yo Bitch!” Annette yel ed, completely oblivious to the fact that Daisy looked like she was about to step on stage in Vegas.
“Yo, Sugar,” Daisy replied.
“I thought I told you to wear gym shoes,” Al y said, peeved that her Haunted House instructions were not carried out to the letter.
“I don’t do gym shoes, comprende?” Daisy told her, giving her a squinty look.
Yowza.
“It’s your funeral,” Al y shot back, total y unaffected by the squinty look.
Holy cow.
Then Daisy’s eyes came to me. “Honey bunches of oats,” she said, “your man is outside having an extreme conversation with her man.” A toss of her head indicated Al y.
“I know,” I told her.
She nodded and looked around. “Al right then, who brought the stun guns?”
Shit.
* * * * *
Carl, Al y and Indy rode in Carl’s Pathfinder. If you could believe this, Annette, Jason, Jet, Daisy and I fol owed in the back of Daisy’s limousine. Daisy’s bodyguard drove.
“I f**king love Denver,” Annette said, staring out the window and sprawling in the luxurious space, completely at home, as if she rode in the back of limousines every day.
“You gotta stay until Thursday, Sugar, come to my do. I’m having a fancy soiree,” Daisy invited.