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“You’re on," Vico said, in the very same moment.
“I’d really appreciate the company.”
“The pleasure is all ours,” Vico responded.
From no date to two sexy companions, inside a heartbeat. Maybe her luck was changing. “Okay gu
ys, let’s do this.”
Chapter Two
Vico scanned the crowd and knocked back the glass of champagne Deacon had put in his hand. “You know all these people?”
Astrid shook her head. She sipped from her flute of champagne in an almost compulsive manner, as if she was nervous. “Some of them. A third, maybe. The ones I know are old friends that I haven’t been in touch with for a while.” She nodded across the room at a man who Vico had already tabbed as the biggest schmoozer in the place. “That one, he’s my ex boyfriend, that’s why this is so awkward for me. This is his engagement party.”
Deacon nearly choked on his spicy-chicken-on-a-stick. “Seriously?”
Astrid nodded, and then took a bigger swig of her champagne. She was seriously uneasy. Vico perched alongside her where she rested up against a window sill, and slid his arm around her. He let her feel his reassurance in a gentle embrace, his hand tightening around her waist, before he glanced back at the schmoozer. Oddly enough he could picture them together but it would have been far too perfect, and he didn’t approve of that. Life never approved of it, so why should he? A sophisticated woman like Astrid needed a bit of rough to set her off and let her glow. Two bits of rough, maybe? Vico’s thoughts ran in a direction that his fantasies often secretly did. What did Deacon think, he wondered?
Deacon was frowning as he looked across at the ex. “Wait a minute, you’re telling us that bloke there,” he gesticulated with his half-eaten canapé, “left you, for the woman you were talking to at the door?”
He was still frowning heavily as he asked the question. He was right to frown. The friend was pretty, but Astrid was a goddess. Their goddess. Vico was already thinking of her that way. He wondered if he could convince Deacon to give it a go. He’d shared a woman with another man before, but his instinct was that Deacon had not.
“No,” Astrid said, “he didn’t leave me for Lucia.”
Vico noticed that she tensed when she talked about it. She still wasn’t over it. He knew a good remedy for that.
“Although I did introduce them. He left me for another woman, a different one. In fact there’ve been a few others before he settled down with my best friend.”
“Ouch,” Deacon said, and turned to kiss her gently on the cheek.
Vico knew it was an instinctive gesture. Deacon was a big softie underneath his gruff exterior, but he wasn’t going to be left out when it came to Astrid, and he delivered his next comment with conviction. “That man is crazy. He’s the biggest loser here.”
When she turned her face up to his, Deacon looked at her with a kind of hypnotised stare and then kissed her full on the mouth. She jumped, startled, and then quickly melted, her lips parting as she returned his kiss. Watching them made Vico hard, and his mind raced. He glanced away, and saw that her ex had noticed what was going on. Vico lifted his glass in the lucky man’s direction. The ex glowered and stomped off.
Deacon and Astrid were oblivious. Deacon was kissing her neck. She gave a breathless laugh. “You two are very good for my ego.”
“Ego? Is that what they call it these days?” Vico said, leaning in, his hand tightening on her waist as he whispered in her ear.
“Don’t mind Vico,” Deacon said. “He always attempts to get the woman I want.”
Vico watched her reaction to that comment.
Her soft lips parted and her eyes flashed, then she tilted back her head and chuckled, and the sound of it was deeply sexy. He wondered for a moment if it was just about getting back at the ex boyfriend, but she wasn’t even looking beyond the pair of them anymore.
“Hey now, you two are winding me up,” she said.
Vico recognised his window of opportunity. He wanted to open her up. She deserved to be adored and loved. “Not at all. We both want you, simple as that.”
“Stop it,” she whispered, blushing.
He shrugged. “They say success is the best form of revenge, why not show him you can have two men if you want?”
“I wouldn’t want you to fake anything just to help me out.” She glanced from one of them to the other. She really didn’t believe it.
“Fake it?” Deacon shook his head. “No way. I’ve known Vico for three years, and I know he wants you. As for me,” he lifted her chin by one finger, turning her to face him fully, “no faking required.” Closing the gap between them, he kissed her full on the mouth again.
Vico watched, fascinated. Deacon wasn’t usually so blatant, not ever. Party guests were looking their way, but apparently Deacon didn’t care. Astrid had lost touch with her surroundings as well. Her hands were latched over Deacon’s shoulders as he kissed her. Vico was pleased Deacon had made the move. His British friend was picking up tips from him, perhaps. Either that or he wanted her so much he didn’t know what he was doing.
