Page 160 of Sin City Dark
“He’s going,” the woman at his side said, pouting and poking him in the chest with a talon-like hot pink nail. “Without me.”
Devon placed his hand on her lower back, way too close to her ass, Jannie thought. “Next time, I promise.”
Jannie looked at the woman. Her pink lace dress barely covered her; one sneeze and she’d flash the entire hangar her butt cheeks. She brazenly checked out Nick, and Jannie swallowed her irritation as she watched her catch his gaze, narrow her eyes, and suggestively bite her super-long acrylic thumbnail.
Devon extended his hand to Nick. “You must be Kent. Word has it that you’re teaching Jannie all sorts of things.”
He turned to pluck two flutes of champagne from a passing waiter’s tray, handed one to the woman and one to Jannie, then grabbed two more for Ian and himself.
Jannie, too, picked up a flute and handed it to Nick as Adam took the last one.
“Best student I’ve ever had,” Nick coolly replied. “She’s a natural.”
“Not surprised,” Adam said. “She’s a Larssen.”
Ian grinned big. “That she is. Speaking of a Larssen …”
Jannie followed his gaze. Ian’s stunning red-haired wife, Claire, waved from the line at the bar, and Jannie waved back as her brother’s smile instantly transformed into something so intimate that Jannie had to look away.
“She’s stunning. The pics don’t do her justice. You did good.” Jannie smirked. “Although I don’t get why she even spared you a second glance.”
Ian grinned. “She fell for my gentlemanly charms.”
Jannie snorted. “The only charms I ever saw you have were obnoxiously sugar-laden and came in a red box with a leprechaun on it.”
Adam smiled, Devon guffawed, and Nick chuckled.
Ian wriggled his brows. “I’m magically delicious.”
She glared at him. “Gag.”
Ian laughed. “We missed you, Freak.”
Adam nodded and sipped his champagne. “We did.”
Pink Talons craned her neck, looking longingly at the buffet. “Is that a seafood tower?”
Devon grinned. “It is. Let’s go get you some oysters. Excuse us.”
With a smile and a wink, he turned and guided his companion toward the lavish spread of food, slipping his hand even lower, his pinkiedipping into the back of her plunging dress.
“He never introduced her,” Jannie muttered.
“Doesn’t need to,” Ian said, sipping his champagne. “She’ll be switched out when he gets back.”
“Ah, another one of his escorts?”
“Yes,” Adam said tersely.
Oops. Adam had met his former escort wife when he hired her for the night.
Jannie immediately dropped the subject and turned to Ian. “I missed you, too, sort of.” She placed a hand on his arm. “I really am sorry I couldn’t be at your wedding.”
“That’s OK.” He shrugged and looked away. “You were there in spirit.” He sounded nonchalant, but Jannie clearly saw lingering hurt in his eyes. The morning of the wedding, he had called, still hoping she could make it. She’d let it go to voicemail.
Jannie’s chest tightened, and suddenly, she felt selfish, despite vividly remembering spending that entire day curled up in a ball, crying. She had been in no shape to go anywhere so soon, let alone to a wedding with over two hundred people, where she would have to fake smiles. She felt Nick’s warm hand on her lower back and was grateful for his steady, quiet support.
“Who are you flying for these days, Kent?” Adam asked.
