Page 86 of Hexed Up

Alex chuckles and takes a swig of his drink. “He told me you were funny. And cute.”

“You talk a lot then.”

“Nope, not for a couple of months.” He rolls his eyes. “You know Ho – always very busy.”

“Ho!” I say in outrage. “You call him Ho?”

“Let me guess,” Ho’s friend grins, “he told you he didn’t have a nickname?”

“He’s such a sneaky little liar.”

“I told you – he has that whole angelic face thing going on, but underneath he’s a demon.”

I glance towards my friend who really is a demon and gulp. “You know, most best friends I’ve met are usually trying to convince me that their besties are actually much nicer than they seem. You’re doing the opposite.”

“I’m trying to give him an edge.”

“You don’t think his absurdly good-looks do that for him already?”

“Molly, are you saying you’re dating my best friend for his body?” he teases. I’m debating how to answer that when, he adds, “I saw you met Tasha.” I nod. “I’d watch out for that one. She’s been trying to get her nasty claws into Horatio for about a year.”

“Or her fangs into his neck,” I mutter.

“What?”

“Err, nothing.” I take a sip of my drink. “So did they ever … has he ever …”

“Not to my knowledge.” Alex laughs again. “He can’t stand the woman.”

“Then why is she here?”

“They work together. He has to be nice.”

My fake boyfriend reappears with a glass of bubbly for me and another for his friend.

“I approve,” Alex tells him, “Molly here is very lovely and interesting and spunky. Probably way too interesting for you.” He leans closer. “His previous girlfriends have tended to be a little – how should I put it? – vacant.”

“Natalie was a high-profile criminal lawyer,” Horatio protests, sending a spike of jealousy through my belly.

“And she was about as entertaining as a cabbage!”

I peer up at Horatio, waiting to see if he’ll defend poor Natalie, but he just laughs and takes a large swig of his drink. “Trust me things are never boring with Molly.”

“I’m not sure that’s a compliment,” I mutter.

“It is,” Alex reassures me.

“Do you know she once fell down a manhole?”

I turn around and glare at Damien who’s creeped up on the three of us and is eyeing up Horatio’s best friend with interest.

“That was because the cover was faulty,” I hiss. Then, because I really don’t want either Horatio or Alex quizzing me about that incident, I introduce Alex to my best friend – even though I’ll probably live to regret it given the way Damien is looking like he’d happily eat Alex for breakfast.

“I like your suit,” Horatio tells him.

“Thank you,” Damien says, glaring at me as if to say, ‘I told you so’. “But do you like Molly’s dress? I chose it for her.”

Horatio’s gaze travels down my body, and I swear it’s like magic, like I can actually feel his gaze against my skin, making me shiver all over.