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“He was raised . . .” Katie looked at Stella for help.
“He was raised very privileged.”
Josie Lynn got the feeling that wasn’t exactly the word either of the women wanted to use, but she didn’t get the chance to ask more, because the door opened and the privileged Drake strode into the room. She was pretty sure none of them were thinking about his past now. All eyes and thoughts were locked on his outfit. Wow, and what a look it was.
He’d managed to find pants that fit him and that weren’t pink or white or sparkly. However, they were turquoise. Skintight, shiny, vinyl turquoise pants. And with that he wore a plain black T-shirt, except it was also skintight and had a low V-neck, exposing his lightly hairy chest. On his feet, he wore black flip-flops that were a little too small, so that his heels hung off the back, and there were silver metal studs along the straps.
Josie Lynn smiled despite herself. So he hadn’t totally avoided the studding.
“Drake,” Stella said, “you look so . . .”
“Fashion forward?” Katie suggested.
“That wasn’t exactly the description I would have gone for, but it will do,” Stella said, then laughed.
Katie smiled. Josie Lynn had already figured out the pretty blonde was too sweet to outright laugh at him. Josie Lynn didn’t have such qualms, but she did try to hide her amusement behind a hand.
“Laugh it up, ladies,” Drake said. “I can go back to wandering around with Mr. Big hanging out.”
He started to reach for the top button of the pants and all of them shouted, “No!”
He dropped his hands to hips. “Then don’t be mocking the look.”
Then to Josie Lynn’s utter surprise, he cat-walked over to join them, singing “I’m Sexy and I Know It.” She laughed again, as did the others. Clearly he didn’t really mind that they found his clothing amusing. He did, too. He may be arrogant, but he also didn’t take himself too seriously. She also learned that he couldn’t sing either.
He stopped his out-of-tune singing and asked how Zelda was. Then he crouched down to check Zelda, his fingers deftly finding her pulse. Again there was a confidence about him that Josie Lynn found very appealing.
“I think she’s fine,” he said to Katie, then smiled to reassure his friend. That smile was very, very appealing, too.
Stop it! She didn’t want to find more things to like about this man, because she was far too attracted to him already. Yet here she was, finding him funny and sweet and totally sexy, while he thought she was a liar and a thief. Okay, a liar and a thief he’d do the dirty with, but not one he respected. Or believed.
Again, leave it to her to get all moony about a man who didn’t respect her in the least. Hmm, that was another pattern in her life, though, wasn’t it?
“I really think she’d just passed out,” he said after a minute. The vinyl of the turquoise pants creaked as he stood.
Katie straddled Zelda, her back to the prone woman’s face. She bent forward and grabbed both of Zelda’s ankles and yanked them upward. At the same time, Stella tugged the leggings up the unconscious woman’s legs toward her hips.
“Well, we’ll take her to the hospital anyway,” Stella said, then grunted slightly as she tried to get the pants the rest of the way under Zelda’s butt. “Better safe than sorry.”
Then she paused her pulling and added, “So why don’t you let us handle this, and maybe you two can start trying to figure out what happened to all of us.”
Stella raised an eyebrow at Drake when he didn’t react right away.
“Right,” Drake said, seeming to get the unspoken hint. He looked at Josie Lynn. “We do have some leads we need to follow.”
Josie Lynn waited for Drake to elaborate, to finally tell these women that he’d already figured out that she was involved in last night’s disaster. But instead he walked over to Josie Lynn.
“Are you ready to go see what we can find out?”
She nodded, wondering why he hadn’t shared what he’d seen last night.
He looked her up and down, his expression unreadable, and her stomach sank. Now he was going to announce her suspected involvement.
“You definitely pull off that shirt a lot better than I did.”
Josie Lynn stared at him, almost sagging with relief. “Th—thanks.”
“It looks cute,” Katie said. “That belt really works.”
“Yes, you can definitely pull off ‘pirate chic,’” Drake said with a slight smile. “But then you are already a pro at pillaging and plundering.”
Josie Lynn’s relieved expression disappeared. She shot an awkward glance toward the two women, who both looked curious about his comment. Josie Lynn waited with them for his explanation. The explanation that would definitely make her look guilty.
“Because she’s already stolen my heart,” he said pressing his hand to his chest in an overly dramatic way.
Josie Lynn felt her cheeks burning. He hadn’t told them about the fact that she’d taken money to let strangers in to the wedding reception. But he had made the comment to let her know he still thought she was guilty. And then the second comment was obviously to mock her.
And she’d just been thinking how likeable this guy seemed to be. Again, that was just another sign of her colossally bad judgment.
“Aww,” Katie said, clearly missing any of Drake’s sarcastic undertone. Stella didn’t seem to notice either, although from the roll of her eyes, she clearly thought his vow was corny.
But Josie Lynn knew it wasn’t meant to be corny, it was designed to make sure she knew she had to clear herself tonight. Or she would be in trouble with him and all of the wedding guests.
And she was going to clear herself.
“Let’s get going,” she said, her tone cool. She needed to keep her emotions in check, and the best way to do that was to stay as removed from Drake’s charms as possible. He didn’t believe her. He wasn’t going on this search with her to see if she was telling the truth. He was going with her to make sure she didn’t get away and that she paid. That was it.
She had to prove herself, and protect herself. Period.
* * *
DRAKE FOLLOWED JOSIE Lynn, who didn’t wait to see if he was going to join her. He was a little baffled by her sudden shift in mood. Probably he shouldn’t have flirted with her so blatantly in front of Stella and Katie. That had made her uncomfortable, which wasn’t his intention, but he should have known that would be her reaction. He had seen a lighter, more open side of her and thought he could get away with a little flirting. Obviously not.
