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Still, it didn’t feel right to just leave her like this. Apparently, I stared at her too long because she gave me an apprehensive look.
“You can tell him I won’t take long. His prized pony just needs a minute to herself.” Her laugh was dark and pained. “That’s what you get when you stuff that many pills into someone.”
“What?”
Her face clouded. “I know who sent you in here. Don’t pretend like you give a crap. I said I would show up, so I did. He can stop holding Tay’s future over my head like some sword.”
“Look, I’m not whoever you think I am.” I took the invitation out of my clutch and scribbled my number on it. “If you ever need help, give me a call.”
Evie suspiciously glanced up at me. “Why would you help me?”
“Because I know what it’s like to feel helpless with my back against the wall.”
She stiffened. “My back isn’t against the wall. I’m a Ryan. We don’t get flustered or backed into corners.” She sounded as if she was repeating a mantra.
I put the piece of paper on the vanity. “Still, should you change your mind, you know how to reach me.”
I didn’t glance back to see if she took my card before I left the bathroom. Clearly, Evie was in a tight spot. And I could only assume ‘him’ meant her father. A father who was using the war on drugs as his spear point. What better way to collect votes than to show people how you and your family, were suffering from the very thing you were promising to fight? I realized that Kristoff probably had more in common with his father than he realized.Question was, could I live with that? A man who would shun his sister just because he hated her father?
I was still pondering this when I went outside and bumped into someone. It was a tall and lanky guy in a tux that seemed a size too big. When I stepped back, he whistled and eyed me from the top of my head down to my killer heels.
When I took a closer look at him, I noticed that he was just a teenager, trying to look all grown up.
“You look smoking hot, like a pink Turkish delight,” he said, his pearly white teeth glistening in the chandelier’s light.
I barely held in a laugh. Seriously, the kid was way out of his league, and obviously trying to act like a player.
“Thanks,” I said dryly. “Smoking hot delight was the look I was going for.” His grin widened, so I added,” Because my husband loves me that way.”
I laughed when his smile faltered.
He placed a hand on the wall next to me, effectively cutting off my escape.
He pointed his thumb behind him and said, “There’s only old people here. Please tell me you’re not married to one of those ancient guys who wears a maxi-pad to bed.”
I couldn’t help myself, I laughed out loud. The kid looked slick, like a junior James Bond, though he clearly had to work on his moves.
“Do you really think I’d marry a mummy?” I tossed my hair over my shoulder, playing along. He was the first fun note of the evening.
“I think you look like this manga character I can’t remember the name of.”
“Thank you for the compliment. I do love me some Japanese graphic novels.”
His eyes widened in shock. “You read manga?”
I snorted. “Read it? I devour it.” Though I loved my fairytales and British classics, lately I was obsessed with graphic novels.
“I knew that you would be amazing.” There was reverence in his voice.
I shook my head in amusement. I’d never thought I could feel like a cougar at twenty-two, but that was exactly what I was feeling like.
“Amazing isn’t a sufficient word for her,” a familiar voice sounded behind me. Kristoff’s hand slid around my waist.
The kid frowned, obviously not liking Kristoff joining us, and not feeling the slightest bit anxious for being caught flirting with another man’s wife.
“And you are?” he asked, his tone haughty.
“The mummy.”
