Hard Fought (A Stepbrother Warriors Novel)(23)

"Where's the husband?"

"Oh, he's so old, he goes to bed at like eleven every night," she says, rolling her eyes. "But he doesn't care if I go out after that, so whatever!" she adds brightly and hands me a cranberry vodka that she just made from the bottles on the table. "What about you? Any men in your life?"

"No, definitely not!" I reply. "Definitely, definitely not."

"Got it!" Nikki says with a laugh. "You have to come shopping with me tomorrow."

"I don't know if I can..."

"Please! I have nothing to wear!"

"You have more clothes than anyone I know! And this is from the Gucci fall collection if I'm not mistaken," I say, fingering the hem of her beaded silk mini-dress.

"Yeah, and now everyone's seen me in it! So, shopping tomorrow?"

"It's just, I'm trying to save up some money," I explain.

Nikki laughs so suddenly that she spits Cosmo across the table. "For god's sake, why? You're, like, one of the richest people I know, and I know actual royalty!"

"No, my father is rich, I'm not! And I don't want him to bankroll everything. I'll just wind up having to ask him for permission for every little thing. I need to save money if I want to go back to school on my own terms."

"Go back to school? You don't need to do that! You want me to introduce you to one of Jonathan's friends?"

"No, no, forget it," I sigh, downing the rest of my drink. "I get too stressed out thinking about it all," I say as I pour myself another. My calm has been broken, and one more drink will settle me down again. "You know this DJ?" I ask her, nodding to the guy on the raised platform.

Nikki always has her finger on the pulse of the music scene, so I can sit back as she launches into an explanation of this DJ's influences, and the better ones she's seen in the big clubs in Europe. Her older husband, Jonathan, is the heir to a pharmaceuticals fortune that's based out of Tampa, but she escapes to more exotic locales whenever she can, with or without him. Though I think she prefers to go without.

Before I know it, I've finished my second drink and Nikki is pressing another one into my hands as she begins telling me about Jonathan's eligible friends. I giggle as she lists their best attributes, one being that his divorce has now completely gone through. She grabs my hand and drapes it across her shoulder. At her insistence, I chug whatever rum-based concoction she just made me so that I don't bring it onto the dance floor and spill it everywhere.

She guides me out of the VIP area and through the crowd. I marvel at the multi-colored lights that swing every now and then across the otherwise dark space. Moist, glistening bodies press in around me and I throw my head back and laugh with Nikki. Our limbs move with the music and I have no worries in the world. The lights above me change and look almost like they're spinning, or maybe it's all in my head.

A handsome man with a dark beard sidles up to me and takes my hand. His hips press against mine and his arms wrap around the small of my back. He's a good dancer, and quickly takes the lead. My body follows his as he swirls me around and then dips me back. Nikki joins in, pressing against his back as I turn around and spin with the music. I giggle as a short, balding man makes eye contact with me and wiggles his eyebrows. He looks almost absurdly out of place, and I look around for an escape route as he begins to dance toward me.

Suddenly, Carter steps around a woman in front of me and grabs my arm. "We need to go. There are too many people here. It's not safe."

"Carter, stop being such a killjoy!" I reply, and wrap my arms around his neck. "Just have some fun!" I press my hips against his and try to get him to move them back and forth. "Consider it physical therapy!"

"Thought you were pissed at me," he growls.

"You caught me in a good mood," I sigh, tilting my head back and letting my hair swing from side to side.

"You mean a drunk mood. You said you weren't going to drink anymore."

"I just wanted to relax a little!" I yank my hands away from him. "Just let it go OK? I feel like I have to walk on eggshells in that house and I just want to forget it for a while!" I throw my hands up in the air and move away from him, swaying with the music.

"Alexa!"

I look back at him. Shit, he looks stressed. His jaw is clenching and his neck muscles are bunching out. He needs to learn to take things less seriously. The cute guy with the beard grabs me around the waist and pulls me toward him and Nikki. She's so fun and pretty. We need to hang out more.

"You're the best!" I yell at her.

"No, you're the best!" she yells back.

"We're leaving," Carter says, taking my arm and pulling me away.