Page 7 of Gin & Trouble

And to think, I’d envied Danny and his big close-knit family.

3

Dante

I leanedagainst the hotel wall to engage in one of my favorite pastimes. People watching.

The crowd attending the masked ball did not disappoint. Sure, some had shown up in store-bought costumes, but most had gone all out for the event. Not surprising, considering most New Orleanians have at least one Mardi Gras costume in the back of their closets.

I tipped my head to a Victorian era vampire couple in powdered wigs and enough silk to make a parachute. Ironically, the couple following them were dressed as Blade, and well, Bladette? Blade-ina?

What is the technical term for a half-human-half-vamp female vampire slayer?

I couldn’t remember the last time I’d gone to a swanky event that hadn’t been thrown by my parents. I’d certainly never spent almost a thousand dollars a ticket to attend a ball connected to a gaming convention. As a general rule, cons tended to be more about panel discussions, merchandise booths, and photo ops with celebrities. Any parties that popped up usually involved Dungeons and Dragons in someone’s room and the menus consisted of some variation of Doritos and Mountain Dew.

A group of women passed by me, all wearing ridiculously tight costumes that left absolutely nothing to the imagination. As if choreographed, they glanced at me, sucked in their nonexistent bellies, and tossed their hair over their shoulders. While I was flattered by their once-overs and hungry looks, I wasn’t interested.

I nodded to the group and did a double take. Upon closer inspection, the costumes weren’t skin tight. They wereskin. Body paint, to be exact.

Only in New Orleans.

I glanced back down the street and my breath left my lungs. Julia had sucker-punched me from twenty paces in her red and black pleather pants. Sure, they were tight, but not obscenely so. What’s more, she’d paired them with a corset type top, but had thrown a leather biker jacket over it. She was straight-up my kind of sexy.

I watched her from the shadows like a creeper for several heartbeats. Between her black and red pig tails and her painted on lips, I was a freaking goner.

“Danny?” When her dark eyes finally met mine, her smile blew me away. If I had any doubt in my mind I was falling for this woman, that smile erased it.

Nodding, I resisted the urge to square my shoulders and puff out my chest. Instead, I stayed in character and swaggered Joker-like in her direction. “Seems like I’ve been waiting my whole life to meet you.”

She wiggled her brows and flashed me that damned smile again. “Why so serious, Puddin? Whadaya say we put a smile on that face of yours?”

And she does Harley Quinn impersonations? She’s the perfect freaking woman.

Before I could come up with another Joker quote that fit the moment, Julia threw herself into my arms.

“I can’t believe it’s really you.” As if realizing what she’d done, she pulled back and smoothed my purple tuxedo jacket over my chest. Her eyes widened, but I couldn’t tell if her reaction had to do with my pecs or something else going on in that brilliant mind of hers.

I snaked an arm around her waist and met her gaze. “Don’t be nervous. It’s just you and me. The same people who’ve talked or chatted every night for months.”

Julia glanced up through her lashes. “You’re not fooling me, Danny. I can feel your heart racing. You’re just as nervous as I am.”

“Guilty as sin.” Releasing her, I nodded to the door. “Shall we?”

She looped her arm in mine and half-dragged me into the hotel. Not surprisingly, Julia took charge from there.

In less than ten minutes, we’d flashed our tickets, grabbed drinks from the bar, and managed to find a high-top table at the edge of the dance floor. I admired her get-shit-done attitude.

“I love people watching.” She propped her chin in her hand and stared—not at the hundred or so other party goers—at me.

“People or person?” Grinning, I sipped my Jack and coke.

“What can I say? You’re easy on the eyes.” Julia tapped her lips. “But I can’t help but wonder what you look like under that makeup.”

“You’ll have to wait until our second date to find out.”

“I like the sound of that.” Furrowing her brow, she stirred her martini. When she glanced up again, she seemed at a loss for words. That or her nerves were getting the better of her now that we were sitting still.

“How’s work going?” Lame, I know, but if there’s one thing that Julia loved to talk about, it’s computers, programming, cybersecurity, hacking. Anything with a CPU had her lighting up like the Fourth of freaking July.

---