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I rolled my eyes. “Hm, I may be willing to risk it. How long are we staying at the party?”
“Not long. Why? Do you have a hot date later?”
It annoyed me he’d assume I wouldn’t, so I decided to be bratty. “Maybe I do.”
He lifted a brow. “You’re double-booking me?”
I grinned, wondering if any woman had ever done that to him. “Not yet, but the night’s still young.”
* * *
Once Colby pulledinto the gated community in front of a massive compound resembling a house, we were met by a valet. I stepped out of the car and turned towards him. “Who lives here?”
“Clive Shaeffer. He’s a director.”
“Huh, he did that big alien flick a couple of months ago, right?”
“Yeah. That big alien flick was called Invasion, and he’s done thirteen other movies before that.”
“Oh, busy guy, then.”
He took my hand and laughed. “You could say that.”
I enjoyed the feel of entwined fingers, noticing that he didn’t let go until we got to the front door.
He turned toward me suddenly. “There are a lot of people in the industry at this thing. So you’re my friend’s younger sister from back home.”
His expression was very serious, and I couldn’t help but mess with him. “Oh, goodie. I’m used to playing that role. Don’t you worry. I won’t let anyone know that only three weeks ago you had your face buried in my pus—”
His eyes widened as he put a finger to my lips to shush me while fighting his grin. The thing about Colby was he could always appreciate my humor, but when his thumb stroked my bottom lip, and he swallowed hard, the gesture turned sexual in a hurry. The air around us thickened, charged with a sensual energy that made it hard to remember the world was more than just the two of us standing here. That is, until we both turned toward the annoyingly high voice interrupting the moment like ice water on a fire.
“Oh, my God. Colby Singer, is that you?”
The woman behind the words came from a car that had just pulled up.
Colby tensed up immediately with a curse under his breath.
“Oh, my Lord, it is you.” The bubbly blonde squeaked, going in for the full body hug—or tackle—depending on your perspective. It took a minute, but after she finally peeled herself off of him, her scrutiny fell on me. “Who’s this?”
I quirked a brow when Colby moved toward me, slinging his arm around my shoulders. Oh, no, he didn’t. He wasn’t using me as a shield for bleach blonde Malibu Barbie after his no repeats, act like my friend’s little sister speeches earlier, so I beat him to the introduction. “Hi, I’m McKenzie. Colby is my big brother’s good friend, and he was nice enough to bring me to a real-life Hollywood party. You must be Chelsea?”
Colby covered his laugh with a cough, his eyes twinkling with humor.
Her nose crinkled up, but strangely her forehead didn’t move with it. Botox at twenty-something. Sheesh.
“I’m Holli with an I.”
Even though she looked relieved that I wasn’t with him, she still had a voice that was like nails on a chalkboard, something I wasn’t going to suffer through a minute longer than I had to.
“Oh, that’s right. Guess I should leave you two to catch up then.” I leaned in toward her, whispering loud enough for him to hear. “I don’t want to cramp his style, being the friend’s little sister.”
Her veneer smile returned, but Colby wasn’t shaken off that easily. “Sorry, Holli, I’ll find you later as I need for Kenzie to meet someone first.”
She gave a practiced pout. “You promise?”
“Sure, I’ll do my best.” He led me away and in through the front door before she could respond.
We went by the bar first, where he grabbed two beers, handing me one before he took a long pull on his.
