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An hour? Lia thought half the night had passed.
“I threw up, Mum,” she said,atruth if not thewholetruth.
“Threw up?” Her mother came in and put her hands on Lia’s face, her skin was cool against Lia’s flushed cheeks. “Too much to drink?”
“Empty stomach plus wine,” she said. “Sorry.”
“It’s all right. You can go to bed. Party’s almost over, anyway. Most people left as soon as the lights came back on.”
“What about David? Is he still here?” she asked. “I should say hello to him.”
An hour ago, she would have hidden behind the wallpaper to avoid David Bell. Now she wasn’t just ready to face him, she was eager.
“He had to run,” her mother said. “You really look flushed, sweetheart. Why don’t you go to bed?”
“No, no, no, no, no,” she said. “I’ll come down.”
“Are you sure?” Her mother laughed a little. Lia might have been acting a little odd, not that she cared.
“I want to,” Lia said. August had been right—she did feel suddenly...heavenly. She blinked and smiled. “I’m fine. Very fine. Just had to get that out of my system.”
“All right. We’ll serve the coffee, though. That should get everyone else packing,” her mother said.
They left her suite together and walked down the stairs.
“You didn’t see where August went, did you?”
“August?”
“Um... Mr. Bowman?”
“He told us goodbye. Said he had to work tomorrow. Thanked us for a nice evening. Why do you ask?” Her mother wore a devilish little smirk on her lips. She probably thought Lia and August had sneaked out of the party and had sex.
Well, they had.
Sort of.
“No reason.” There was a reason, and the reason was that she wanted to jump on top of him and stay on top of him until dawn. Dawn of next year. Ohh...that must have been the other side effect August had warned her about in the note.
“Are you sure?” her mother asked. “He was paying you quite a bit of attention tonight. Couldn’t take his eyes off you.”
“We were just talking, that’s all. About the kylix Daddy gave me.”
“Did he have any insight on it?”
“A little. He said it’s from the Cult of Eros, not Aphrodite.”
“Eros was the son of Aphrodite, right?” her mother asked. Lia nodded. “Can you imagine having the goddess of love and passion for a mother? That would have to be awkward, wouldn’t it?”
“I wouldn’t know,” she said. She would know.
Lia laughed. For no reason. None. At all. A laugh just burbled up out of her stomach like a cork from a champagne bottle. Pop and it was out.
“Lia?”
“Nothing,” she said. Then she giggled.
“Good to hear you laugh. Even if it is alcohol-induced.”
