‘Impressive,’ Eva said quietly.
And a second bead of sweat was trickling down the nape of Maddy’s neck.
Twenty-Six
Eva was doing a great job of seeming calm and unbothered. She knew she was good at that. It was a skill that was useful on the job and transferable to all kinds of social situations.
But she wasn’t feeling unbothered. She felt like an idiot.
Muff.Sweet Jesus.
She lifted her glass again, more for something to do with her hands than anything else, and took a slow sip. It didn’t help. The burn of the scotch wasn’t doing what it should. It wasn’t removing her from this room. It wasn’t removing her from her own embarrassment.
But Maddy’s reaction to Eva’s flirtatious comment hadn’t been nothing. Eva knew a heterosexual response when she saw it. She’dseensomething in Maddy’s eyes. The way she’d looked so absolutely flustered. Eva hadn’t imagined it. She didn’t imagine things like that.
And then Maddy had said…
Eva exhaled slowly through her nose. It was fine. People said stupid things when they panicked. That was understandable.
Still. ‘Not into muff?’ It was like a door slamming shut.
But that wasgood. The door wassupposedto be shut. Double-locked with a few extra padlocks thrown on for extra security. Everything that had happened in the last few minutes was exactly what should have happened.
Well, maybe not all of it. That lipstick theft had been a bit charged, right?
Wrong. All wrong. No more. Let it go. Get through this weekend and get this woman married, and then go about your business like you always have.
‘Right!’ Hannah clapped her hands together, blissfully unaware of the minor emotional wreckage she was presiding over. ‘This is excellent. We’re hitting our stride now.’
Eva set her glass down and leaned back in her chair, forcing herself to relax into it. This was always going to be nothing. A blip.
She didn’t know why she felt…
No. Not going there.
‘Next victim,’ Mary announced.
‘Kelly!’ Hannah said, pointing with delight.
Kelly blinked and smiled, sitting up straight like a puppet whose strings had been yanked. ‘Oh. Right.’ She reached for a card and turned it over. ‘Oh, for god’s sake.’
‘What is it?’ Aria asked.
Kelly sighed. “Hide and seek. You are the seeker. Everyone has two minutes to hide. If you can’t find everyone, you drink a shot.”
Mary whooped. ‘Yes!’
Hannah was already half out of her chair. ‘Oh, we’re absolutely doing that.’
‘We’re in a spa,’ Maddy said weakly.
‘Exactly,’ Hannah said. ‘So many hiding places. Treatment rooms, relaxation areas, steam rooms—’
‘This is how we get banned,’ Aria muttered, though she was already standing.
Chairs scraped back. The waiter was nowhere to be seen. The other guests—those few, serene, cucumber-water-drinking women—pretended not to notice the plebs getting up to hijinks. To acknowledge it was to let in the suspicion that bougieness was only being performed.
Eva stood more slowly, finishing her drink in one last, decisive swallow. Fine, she could do this. It might be good, actually. Maybe she’d never be found, and she could stay in her hidey hole until this entire weekend was over.
