Page 6 of Troublemaker: The Big Picture Edition

Just as I’m leaning in to tell Danny I’m going to go for a little walk, some other guy approaches the hot judge-y blonde. This guy’s wearing a black and silver shirt, his slicked-back hair looks as hard and shiny as the exterior of a brand-new Corvette, and as an added bonus he has aviators propped up on top of his head. I’m not a total cynic—this guy could be perfectly nice. He could even be the guy she came here with—wait, never mind. He’s touched her three times already, and her body language tells me loud and clear that she isn’t interested. I slowly rise, rolling up my sleeves as I stroll over and watch the interaction play out. She hasn’t smiled at him once, but she looks him straight in the eyes when she responds to whatever he’s saying.

By the time I’m three feet away, the guy’s walking off like a kid who just got sent to the principal’s office.

I give her a moment to herself before stepping in to rest my forearms on the railing next to her. I wait for her to acknowledge me. She seems surprised to see me, but one corner of her mouth quirks up and she turns ever so slightly to face me.

“I was coming over to tell that guy to leave you alone, but you didnotneed my help.”

“I’m definitely capable of repelling men on my own. But thank you for your concern.”

One of the few benefits of being in a place this loud is that you have an excuse for leaning in close to talk to a beautiful woman. We basically have to yell to be heard, and every now and then the bass will kick in or some idiot hoots and hollers, and good luck hearing anything else. But now I need to know more.

“Mind if I ask how that conversation went?”

“He asked me if I’m having a good night. I told him I’d rather be at home reading with my dog. He told me he’s allergic to dogs. I told him I might be allergic to his aftershave. He said we could go back to his place to take a shower and I could wash it off of him. I told him I’d already showered once this month so no thanks. And then I asked him if he’d like a breath mint.” She shrugs, her eyes wide and mischievous. “Blammo. He left. Go figure!”

Blammo. Now I’m thinking about showering with her. I lean in a little closer. “Does your dog know how to read?” I ask.

A really intoxicating smile spreads across her face. “See, now that’s the kind of reaction I always hope to get when I tell people that.” Her eyes are blue and sparkling behind those glasses, even in this crazy lighting, andI like those eyes and I have so many more questions.

It takes me a moment to realize that Barry is calling out to me from his table. “Hey! Alejandro! You want some of this champagne?”

I signal to him that I’m good and ask the lovely lady if she wants any.

Shaking her head, she grins as she asks, “Your name’s Alejandro?”

“Kind of. What’s yours?” I hold my hand out to shake hers.

She stares down at my hand while she shakes it and says something.

“Emily?” I practically shout.

“Emmy,” I think she says.

“Oh,Emmy.”

“Kind of.” She looks down at my hand again, smiling, because I haven’t let go of hers, andI like her smile.

I don’t want to, but I loosen my grip and we lock eyes as she lets her hand slip away.

“What’s a cool girl like you doing in a place like this, Emmy?”

“I’m not cool,” she insists, touching her hand to her chest. “At all. My new roommate—housemate—Franklin… I mean, I just moved in with him, but we’ve been best friends since high school. Anyway, he made me come out tonight and he made me wear this and he made me drink two shots of Jägermeister.” She holds up three fingers and then thinks about it for a second and adds another finger.

Uh-oh.

“And that was after the two boxes of sake at the sushi place. Is that what they’re called? Boxes?”

Yeah, she’s tipsy. Now that she’s only holding on to the railing with one hand, she sways a little and has to catch her balance.

“It’s called amasu,” I inform her.

“Who’s a masseuse?”

I lean in even closer. “The wooden box cup.” I mime drinking from a wooden box cup. “It’s called amasuin Japanese.”

“Ohhhh.Masu.” She appears to be very pleased that I know this. “I like that. Thank you.” She smiles at me appreciatively and laughs a little as she says, “You smell really good.”

“Thank you. You smell really great for someone who only showers once a month. Where’d you go for sushi?”