She laughed. “He’s lying. Anyway, I came over here to tell you how amazing you look! That dress. Those colors on you are… chef’s kiss.” And she held her bunched fingers to her lips and made a kissing sound, spreading her fingers.
I reached out and smoothed one of the feathers at her shoulder. “Well so do you! Man, sometimes I wish I lived in a time when women got to dress like this all the time. Until I remember the details like no women’s suffrage, no birth control and the horrors of segregation.”
She grinned. “We should start a movement to bring twenties fashion back without all the awful things that came along with the era.” She studied my face. “Violet did an amazing job with your hair and makeup. I’m going to needs some shots for—”
I held up my hand. “No social media for me, if you don’t mind. My Discord server has been full of people complaining that I haven’t been streaming enough lately. I’d rather not advertise that I have a life outside of my job and my online streaming. They might riot.”
She shook her finger at me. “You’re allowed to have a life outside of what your followers think you should be doing. You can’t work twenty-four-seven. Look at me…” She punctuated with a shy smile.
I put my hand gently on her upper arm. “We kick-ass women have to stick together. You’re doing great, Julia. Keep it up.”
Her free hand went to rest on top of mine. “I’ve only barely gotten to know you and already you’re an amazing sister-in-law. Thank you.”
Yeah, that was the first moment I felt a pang of guilt. Because I knew that this was temporary, sure, and had never fooled myself into thinking otherwise. And Lucas was also conscious of it, as he’d stated it yesterday.
But Julia didn’t know. Was it fair for me to be forming these relationships I’d had no intention of continuing once I had a green card in my hands?
Almost predictably, Claire then appeared right at Julia’s shoulder, glancing from Julia to me and back again. “Aw, what’s this? Sister-in-law bonding time?” She turned to Julia. “Remember all that party crashing we did back when I first got engaged to Lucas? I can hardly recall the details but what I do remember is that it was a ton of fun.”
I pasted on the fakest most ridiculous grin that I possibly could. “Yeah, blacking out and waking up in puddles of vomit all over your designer clothes has got to be the best.”
Julia stifled a full-on bust of laughter and Claire stared wide-eyed at me like I was a visitor from the Planet Blergh.
Thankfully, my extremely handsome and debonair husband appeared with our cocktails. I winked at Julia and said, “Excuse us.”
“What was that all about?” Lucas asked when we were alone.
I took a sip of my cocktail and looked up at him. “Oh just shooing away the pest.”
Lucas’s gaze traveled in the direction from which we’d come. “You may have figured it out by now, but she’s a very persistent pest.”
I raised my brows up at him as I sipped again. “Not to worry. You got rid of my pest for me, maybe I can do the same for you.”
He laughed. “Good luck with that. She’s got her claws firmly sunk into this family.”
That comment troubled me and I was still mulling it over when we were summoned to the table. Clearly Claire wasn’t on board with Julia’s self-transformation and was acting as if she was under some kind of personal threat from it. Of course if Julia stopped partying, then what role would Claire fill in her life? Maybe that’s all their friendship was based on.
Dinner was lovely, and I was thankful that we’d been seated next to each other this time. I flirted shamelessly with Lucas, resting my hand on his thigh in between courses. He left olives on his plate and when I asked to have them, he picked up his fork.
“No… feed me with your fingers,” I murmured so that only he could hear.
If he was shocked or surprised, he didn’t give any indication of it, plucking up an olive between thumb and forefinger. He held it up for me and I leaned forward, taking it and half his fingers into my mouth. His lids drooped, eyes smoldering into mine as I slowly pulled back. Then, without breaking his gaze, I chewed and swallowed.