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Mia was behind them, but almost there.
Hope hurried over to him. “Alexi. Sorry to interrupt your conversation, glad you made it.” Hope gave him a hug that dislodged the woman’s clinging arm, and kept an arm around him. “Sorry, family business. You’ll need to excuse us.” Hope shook her head at the lady.
Alexi frowned. Mia paused her progress, hiding in the crowd, to listen.
Hope looked around. Her face blushed. She bit her lip and didn’t meet his eyes when she spoke. “You’re a lot like Niko. And as you get older, you’ll get more handsome, like he is. So sometimes, people seem like they’re being nice, but they’re not.” She patted his arm and looked at him with wide eyes. “Understand?” Her expression said, please say you understand, I don’t want to explain it to you.
Alexi shook his head, looking clueless.
Awesome. Mia covered her mouth. Hope had just said he wasn’t as handsome as Niko, but maybe he’d get there? She bet he’d never heard anything like that before. Her lips quirked.
Hope blushed harder, and folded her arms across her chest. She looked upward and whispered the rest toward him in a rushed voice. “That woman doesn’t want to talk to you about art. She’s making a pass at you. The British would say she fancies you.”
Alexi’s expression said, Duh.
Hope patted his arm again. “Don’t worry about it, it was nothing you did. I’ll tell Niko he needs to watch out more for you. Or we can get Mia to help. That’s it,” Hope sighed, and her posture relaxed. “Mia’s really good at this kind of thing. You know, when it’s awkward.”
Yeah. She was. She liked to keep the peace, and being on the cheer squad had honed those skills. Her teammates knew drama. Hope looked over to where she’d been standing a few minutes ago. Mia tried to make it look as though she’d just walked up and popped into their circle. Her cinnamon-colored cocktail dress swished around her knees. “Hey guys, what a crowd.” Mia patted Alexi’s lapel. “Look at you, in your European suit.” She took his drink, swallowed some, and then choked a little. Holy alcohol. How’d he get that? “Nasty cherry.” Mia stuck her fingers into his glass, yanked it out, and tossed it onto a passing waiter’s tray.
“Mia, that woman over there.” Hope darted her eyes to the right then lowered her voice. “By the plant, she’s, um, she…” Her voice dropped off.
Had that woman said even more than she’d heard? Mia narrowed her eyes at the woman in question. “The one dressed like a disco ball? Did she say something about your painting?” Mia placed a hand on her hip. “No one who dresses like that can say anything about your vision. She must not have had her glasses on when she—”
“No, that’s not it.” Hope glanced at Alexi and blushed. She bit her lip again and pushed her hair behind her ears. “She—”
“She wants me.” Alexi took his glass back from Mia and took a sip.
“Oh.” Hope blushed, and her gaze searched the room.
“Ah,” Mia said. “I got this.”
“Okay.” Hope smiled at her, made an uncertain motion with her hand, and scooted away.
“I got your back,” Mia said. “I had to put off that old goat over there myself.” Mia pointed to a man with a cane who still seemed interested. Old pervert. “At least yours was attractive.” Her eyes focused on his drink, and she hooked her arm though his. “How’d you get the drink?”
Alexi shrugged with wide, innocent eyes. “The waiter.” He looked in the direction where Hope stood with Niko and then down into her eyes.
Having that much of his attention made her pulse stop and kick back on double-time.
“Hope warned me that as I’m almost as handsome as Niko, I could get hit on again.”
He surprised a small laugh out of her. “That’s actually a huge compliment, because, trust me, no one compares to the perfect Niko.”
“Am I still the most beautiful in your eyes?” Alexi asked against her ear. His lips brushed her skin.
Panic. Mia took a step away and dropped his arm. “Only if you find me a drink.”
Alexi immediately offered her his glass.
Mia laughed. “Yep, you’re beautiful.” She took a drink.
Hope and Niko joined them. Hope wore the remnants of a blush. Niko narrowed his eyes at Alexi and gave him a warning look. “Are you two doing okay? Are you watching out for Mia?”
Alexi nodded.
“Absolutely,” Mia said. “I was just about to take Alexi to see some sculptures. I saw one turtle-roach hybrid.” She linked her soft arm through his again
. “You gotta see it.”
