Page 34 of Lady Luck

My little charm.

There was no tasteful way to explain to someone that your wealthy grandmother—your guardian—was… what?

Not providing for you? She had. Not kind? Or generous? She was to many.

No, the only person who had any understanding of the intricate, enigmatic knot that was Grandmother was Cody. And maybe AJ, though neither of them could ever fully understand the complexities of her and our relationship.

And I wasn’t sure that I did either. Or ever would in this lifetime.

I started as a large hand pressed into my back. “Let’s go see if we can find the birthday boy.” Vinh’s melodic voice caressed my ear, whisking away my intrusive thoughts. I smiled vaguely in Kristen’s direction and let Vinh guide me to the chrome bar.

The level of confidence necessary to walk past a hostess and into a restaurant was something I needed to put on my list of life goals.

Vinh sat his jacket on one of the black-cushioned stools and leaned against the shiny countertop, angling his tall frame toward me.

“You good?”

“Yeah, I’m good.”

“Why’d she call you Faust?”

I mimicked his position and leaned against the countertop, the stool settled between us. “The dance team she mentioned? We were on it together. And they thought it’d be cool to use each other’s last names like they do in sports. Like a team-building kind of thing.”

“But you didn’t call her by her last name?”

“No. Has anyone ever told you that you kind of look like a young Elvis?”

His eyes widened slightly. “No. They have not.” He tilted his head to the side. “You do know I’m half Vietnamese?”

I hadn’t known that. “Maybe no one has said it to your face, but they’ve probably thought it. You could make bank as an impersonator. All you’d need is a Cuban collar shirt and a tight pair of pleated trousers. Oh, and a pompadour to complete the look.” I gestured to his mop of hair. “A little product, and you could pull that off easily.” I dropped my hand, waffling on adding my next thought, but there was no stopping this train now. “And that’s not to mention your voice. Just from what I’ve heard today, I’d bet you have a lovely singing voice.”

He looked truly bewildered now, mouth slack, hair sticking up where he’d run his hand through it when I mentioned the pompadour.

“You…,” he trailed off, then swallowed. “You really think that?”

I shrugged. “I said what I said.”

“And… tight pants?” He furrowed his brow and shifted his weight, as if imagining his pants gripping him in new and exciting ways.

Or maybe that was me.

“It’s what The King would do,” I agreed, shrugging again before adding, “A sleaze, but an icon all the same. Unrelated, Halloween is just around the corner.”

He huffed an almost laugh. “No. No one has ever thought that, except you. We’ll blame the mental lapse on a night that has gone on too long.”

His mouth tightened as the words lingered in the air between us, and our gazes caught as I realized just how close our upper bodies had gotten during our conversation, our mouths just breaths apart.

“Heavens!” A familiar voice sounded behind the counter, making us both jump and whip our heads around.

Liem stood behind the counter, wearing a uniform-issued Dawn’s Diner hat, a milkshake gripped in each hand. “I have never heard my brother talk that much.” He sat the tall glass containers on the counter in front of Vinh’s jacket before leaning forward and stage-whispering, “How’d you do it?”

13

VINH

Ididn’t think Liem had experienced embarrassment a day in his life.

I was experiencing enough for all twenty-one of his years at this exact moment.

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