Page 131 of Of Flames and Fallacies

“I know how much of a sucker you are for men with a lot of muscles.” Celeste winks. “You don’t have to fool me.”

“You are just as obnoxious as your brother, you know?” Melaina scowls.

“Ahh! Someone’s calling me!” Archie points off toward the bar cart, where no one stands. “I—I gotta go. I’ll catch you all later!”

The crowd shifts as he disappears from our view, and an elbow collides with my side. The wine sloshes out of my glass, part of itspilling onto the front of my dress. Celeste gasps and several sets of eyes turn to me. My skin burns in mortification, the red wine splashed against my skin like a splatter of blood.

Celeste jerks her hand, her own glass of wine spilling out onto the front of her dress. Where mine only causes the fabric to darken a shade, the red wine stains her beautifully bright yellow dress.

“Ahh, clumsy me,” she says with a laugh, brushing the fabric haphazardly with a hand.

A smile creeps to my lips—no one is around her to jostle her.

The man who bumped into me apologizes profusely, roping in servers to help clean the mess. I wipe the wine from my chest with a cloth supplied by a server.

A light bell chimes from somewhere, and everyone stops their conversations and takes a seat at the table. I follow suit a half-second behind, unfamiliar with such wealthy customs. Celeste takes a seat next to Cole and motions for me to sit in front of them. I scan the room for Archie, hopeful for him to come and take one of the empty seats next to me. Disappointment pulls my lips into a frown when I don’t spot him, but I take my seat anyhow.

“Wow, Kat…you look absolutely…” Cole stammers now that I have nowhere to hide. His eyes roam my face, my hair, my dress.

“Ravishing, isn’t she?” Celeste coos. “I think blue is her color.”

I smile at Celeste, not wanting to look Cole in the eyes. “I owe it to Celeste. She hand picked it.”

Our clamor dies as the sound of the music abruptly stops. Everyone around me turns their attention to the pianist. A man dressed in midnight blue whispers to the musician, pats the pianist’s shoulder, and turns toward us.

Darian.

I glance down to my own dress, and my toes curl. My midnight blue dress, trimmed with gold, nearly matches Darian’s attire. I steal a side glance at Celeste who smiles at me.

“I didn’t realize he was coming tonight?” I whisper through the silence, hoping for some sort of explanation from Celeste.

“Neither did I,” Cole confirms.

Darian stalks toward us, the soft curve of his lips pulling up into a smirk when he sees me.

What is he doing here?

thirty-six

GOOD MANNERS AND SUBTLETIES

An awkward silence settles around us as Darian sits in the seat next to me. After a few seconds, everyone makes a concerted effort to continue conversations until our meals are presented. Darian’s shoulder brushes mine, and I try to edge away from the contact.

“So, Darian…” Celeste begins, picking at the food on her plate with a fork. “Have you been wine-ing and dining any women lately?”

Darian leans back and rests his arm on the back of my chair, allowing his knees to fall open. One of them knocks into my own, and I pull my knee away as I take a sip of my wine.

Darian smirks, eyes trained on Celeste. “I’m more of a sucking and fucking kind of guy.”

I sputter, choking on the wine in my mouth. My face heats red, from both the embarrassment and the strain in my throat from coughing.

Cole glares at Darian. “I’m sorry, you do realize you just said that out loud?”

“Darian!” Celeste scolds.

Cole steals a concerned look at me as I attempt to pull a solid breath into my lungs. Darian has the audacity to look amused at the stir he caused.

Darian leans over to me, softly patting my back with a wicked grin as he whispers, “I’m sorry, are you choking?”

---