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Just then, in an attempt to impress me, he thrust his chest forward. Once again, the napkin appeared in front of my face, only this time he let his hand go lower and tried to stick the rag up the neckline of my bodice. I dodged him, only to meet Lei's questioning gaze. With a finger I motioned for him to come.
He was across the room in seconds. His hand was around my waist before he even glanced at the waiter, as if he had a sixth sense about the situation.
I, on the other hand, smiled sweetly while telling the ultimate lie. "Allow me to introduce you to my friend.Kjære, the man desperately trying to sell me his number."
I fished the napkin out of his hand with my fingers and handed it to Lei. He took it from me, looked at it disinterestedly, crumpled it with one hand and flicked it against the waiter's chest. "Not interested. But nice to see you trying."
The waiter's mouth was agape as he stared at Lei in confusion. He looked at him and obviously considered for a moment whether he should take him. If he really did have the balls to take on a guy like Lei... In the end, he decided on the other option and retreated with an apologetic look.
Lei's hand slipped from my waist before he turned to look at me with a raised eyebrow. "Kjære?"
"From something I'm reading. Baby sounds so cheesy."
He made a sound of approval. "You could've punched him. For being pushy."
"And ruin the party? Not a good idea." Besides, I liked the version in which Lei rushed to my aid without hesitation much better.
"Do you think he'll have another go?"
"I doubt it. But we are in shark infested waters. It probably won't be too long before the next one shows up."
"Perhaps you should have chosen a less attractive embodiment of death?" Despite the changing light, I saw his eyes slide down before quickly returning to my face. "Not that I'm complaining."
"If you had told me beforehand that you were going to impersonate a Greek god, I might have adjusted." Smirking, I took the glass from his hand. My twenty-first birthday was in the past, by now I was legally allowed to drink, and even if it didn't give me any particular kick, I liked the warm feeling that spread from my throat to my whole body after taking a sip of whiskey.
"A couples costume? I'm not sure that would have kept you away from the attention."
Before I could answer, my father joined us, an arm loosely around Lei's shoulders. "So what did I miss?" he asked.
"Lei was kind enough to protect me from a young man's advances," I replied reflexively, if only because I had no idea what he'd seen or heard. I didn't necessarily want to keep this quiet, but didn't want to risk getting caught either.
Flirting with Lei between the lines was certainly not what my father wanted me to do.
"Who was it?"
Good. That meant he concentrated on something other than Lei's hand on my waist. A part, of course, in the play we were staging.
"It was one of the waiters. He tried to give me his number and couldn't take no for an answer. It wasn't that bad."
"I'll take care of it," my father announced promptly. He let go of Lei and disappeared into the kitchen, where the staff hung out when they weren't serving.
I glanced back at him momentarily, but I just couldn't bring myself to feel any remorse for the waiter. If he'd just left me alone instead of trying to convince me that he was an absolute necessity in my life, he wouldn't be worrying about his job right now.
"One waiter less..." Lei muttered.
I shrugged. "Are you going to dance with me, or am I doomed to be alone for the rest of the evening?"
He raised an eyebrow. "You'd be free to choose, I suppose."
"But the free choice would see it as an opportunity to get more. You might as well take the job from the beginning, if I have to call you to my rescue later anyway." I smiled charmingly and handed him his glass. "Or am I missing something?"
Instead of prolonging the discussion unnecessarily, because I would win it anyway, he gave in and agreed, holding out his hand to me. With a grin, I took it and let Lei lead me to the dance floor, handing the dog to my friend on the way.
* * *
After leavingthe dance floor behind, but making the acquaintance of a few more glasses of whiskey and meeting a few friends, I found myself in the basement. I was participating, more involuntarily than out of conviction, in one of those games you used to play at a sleepover party when you were fifteen, when boys were around for the first time and you had no idea how to get close to anyone.
Seven minutes in heaven.Only in this case, heaven was the hallway where someone had turned off all the lights.
