was happening, she was already sliding it off.
“Thank you.”
Music played in the background, and I was surprised to realize I knew everyone here. Evan and Fiona, Asher and Grace. Levi stood talking with Grace and Fiona while Logan stood with a beer, looking mildly uncomfortable.
Gavin stood next to the kitchen island, chatting with the chef. As soon as I walked in, his eyes swung to me and his face broke into a smile.
My heart fluttered and my breath caught in my throat. Why did he have to be so gorgeous? It was quite unfair to people trying not to make fools of themselves at a party.
That was me. I was people.
He walked over with a beer in his hand. Thankfully, he was dressed similarly to me, in a t-shirt and jeans. It made me feel more comfortable. “Hey, Sky.”
“Hey. Is that a chef in the kitchen?”
“Yeah. Cara does that. She likes to throw parties, and they’re always catered with an open bar. Even on a random Thursday.”
“Wow.”
“Yeah, they’re fun. Even Logan comes, although he always says he isn’t going to. This one’s kind of small, though. I wonder if she invited anyone else.”
“What’s going on with Logan and Cara anyway?”
Glancing at his brother, he shrugged. “I don’t know how it started, but they either hate each other or…”
I nodded, catching his meaning. “Yeah, seems that way.”
That reminded me, I hadn’t asked Ginny about her breakfast date with Logan the other day. I wondered if she’d seen him again this week.
“By the way, are you busy tomorrow?” he asked.
“I don’t think so.”
He grinned. “Awesome.”
“Are you going to tell me why?”
“Not yet. But trust me, it’ll be fun.”
“I have no doubt.”
Cara breezed around the room, smiling and chatting. Logan moved whenever she got close to him, as if enforcing a minimum distance requirement. She went to the bar and a moment later, came over with a glass of champagne.
“Here you go.”
I took the glass. “Thank you.”
“My pleasure. Help yourself to the food. It’s just heavy hors d’oeuvres tonight.”
Absently, I sipped the champagne, but my mind wandered. Something about the big windows and the view of the river set my imagination in motion.
Her home, just like her marriage, is picture perfect, her love of the finer things evident in every detail. But her pristine house is hiding terrible secrets, and her life is far from what it seems.
I turned the idea over in my mind. The killers in my books were always men, and the husband could be the primary suspect. But what if the twist was that the wife was the murderer? Would he be covering for her? Or would she have him fooled, too?
“But what’s her motive?” I asked out loud.
“Whose motive?” Gavin asked casually, as if I hadn’t just blurted out a random question completely out of context.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to say that out loud. I just had an idea for another book, maybe with an unreliable narrator. I’ve never written something like that before.”
“Sounds awesome,” he said.
“A book idea popped into your head just now?” Cara asked.
“Not a fully formed idea, but I think I know what I’m going to write next.”
When was the last time that had happened? Usually it took weeks of pondering once I’d finished one novel before I knew what the next book would be.
“Oh my god, you just made me even more excited for tonight,” Cara said, then turned to Grace. “Grace, how many kids do you want?”
Grace broke off from Asher and walked over to stand next to her. “I’m still working on the first one, so maybe ask me again in a couple of years.”
“No, I don’t mean with Asher. With me. We have Fiona, but is it too soon for another?” She glanced at me. “She’s such a precious little teacup. I like her.”
“Oh,” Grace said with a smile. “As many as you want.”
“Well let’s not get ahead of ourselves. You know I hardly like anyone besides you. And our Fiona, but she’s such a sparkly ray of tattooed sunshine, how could I not?” She slipped her arm through mine and tugged me close. “But I really like this one. Can we keep her?”
“Definitely.”
Cara let out a long sigh. “This makes tonight even more meaningful. Speaking of…”
“Speaking of what?” Grace asked, but Cara had already swept away.
I wasn’t quite sure what had just happened, or where Cara was going, but Gavin’s arm brushed against mine and suddenly that was all I could think about. He didn’t move away and for