A minor emergency at work had Miguel late arriving to Sean’s party. He stepped out of the elevator into whatwas a tastefully luxurious apartment on a normal day, and had now been transformed by twinkling lights, multicolored fountains—rented, he assumed—and circulating waitstaff into a revel of high glamour. Jazzy music filled the space between conversations, and people in tuxes and slinky black gowns gathered in knots around the piano, the refreshment table, the bar, and the floor-to-ceiling windows that looked out over the sparkling city.
“Miguel!” Sean called, waving over the heads of the crowd. “You did make it! Get a drink, I’ll be right over!”
Miguel waved back and happily accepted the glass of wine a passing server offered him. He took a swallow, looked up—and caught sight of the most beautiful human being he’d ever seen in his life.
Blond hair, arctic blue eyes, the fine high-cheeked features of an elven prince. His expression was haughty and displeased, but that did nothing to decrease his appeal; it was all too easy to imagine him coolly evaluating the strength of the knots holding Miguel to the bed. He took a broody sip from his glass, tipping it up and revealing a pale, elegant neck. Miguel felt his mouth fall open.
Cursed, he thought, his stomach going into freefall.This party is definitely cursed. And it was too late to do anything about it. If he turned around and went home right this second, this guy would still be the only thing he thought about the rest of the night.
And then the server who’d given Miguel his wine, a freckled young man who looked barely out of high school, bumped into the arctic beauty.
“Sorry,” the server stammered, wide-eyed.
“You certainly are,” said the arctic beauty, cold as death, and flicked the tray from the server’s hands. It hit the floor with a shocking crash and shatter of glass.
The arctic beauty, already walking away, lifted a vape pen to his lips and began filling the air with eye-stinging peppermint.
Miguel’s heart leaped with delight. Yes. This was perfect. The man’s behavior was exactly as appalling as his appearance was inviting; Miguel had just found the one person at this party who would thoroughly distract him from hooking up with anyone else, while also making it impossible for Miguel to fall in love with him. It was the perfect solution.
Other party attendees had already stepped forward to help the server with the mess of his dropped tray; Miguel ducked around them and followed the jerk, tracking him through the crowd by the cloud of peppermint and the mutters of complaint against it.
By the time he caught up with the jerk, Sean had cornered him against one of the windows and was telling him off.
“—and put that thing away right now,” Sean said, jabbing a finger at the vape pen. “Any kindergartener could tell you that’s an outside toy.”
The beautiful jerk rolled his eyes, taking a deep drag that was equal parts obnoxious and picturesquely sexy, and put away the vape. “Yes, sir,” he drawled, in a voice lower than his appearance might indicate, and mocking almost to the point of flirtation. What little of Miguel’s blood had not headed south started packing for the trip.
“Hey,” Miguel said, which was all he could think of to say.
“Miguel, hey,” Sean said, in a tone of abstracted relief. “Um, this is Justin Whitley, a newjuniorattorney,” he skewered Justin with a dark glance, “at my firm. Justin, this is my best friend, Miguel. Be nice to him.”
“Charmed,” Justin said, and extended his hand.
Instead of shaking it, Miguel gave a flourishing bow and pressed a kiss to Justin’s knuckles.
Justin looked intrigued, his eyebrows climbing. Seanlooked horrified.
“Sean,” somebody called, “there’s something wrong with this fountain, it’s making a mess…”
Sean groaned, made apologetic noises at Miguel, and hurried off.
“So, what’s Sean like to work with?” Miguel asked.
“You know how some species of water-creature survive being frozen all winter by lowering their brain function to almost undetectable levels?” Justin said. “Imagine one of those working in law.”
Miguel choked on a shocked laugh.
“Justin, I thought that was you!” A middle-aged woman paused on her way past them. “Goodness, I didn’t realize you’d been invited!”
“And I didn’t realize frosted tips were back, Madeline,” Justin said sweetly. “Oh—oh, you’re just going gray. How mortifying. My mistake.”
Madeline drew in an outraged breath.
“Er, let’s just get another drink, Madeline,” said the man at her elbow, whom Miguel recognized as a longtime business acquaintance of Sean’s.
“Yes, I’m sure another drink isjustwhat you need, sir,” Justin said, which, considering the drunken hijinks the man had committed at last year’s party, made Miguel bite his lip to keep from cackling. The man turned red, and he and Madeline both slunk away.
“Aren’t you just the social butterfly,” Miguel said.
