Page 50 of Slow Kind of Love

“They’re real,” Elise said softly, like she was sharing a secret with her friends.

“Excuse me?” Darlene glanced nervously at her girls furiously puffing away.

“My breasts. They’re real.” She turned to Anna. “And so are my lips and my forehead. And in case you’re wondering I’ve had no lipo, or no suction of any kind for that either, but if I wanted to, I’d do it in a heartbeat. There’s nothing wrong with any woman doing whatever it takes to make herself feel good.” She narrowed her eyes a bit. “Seriously, Anna, you might want to think about getting some work done around your eyes, especially between them. You frown a lot.”

Anna cleared her throat. “I’m sorry, Elise. I didn’t mean—”

“Yes, you did, but here’s the thing, Anna. I don’t care what you think.” She glanced at all of them. “I don’t give a flying fuck what any of you think. Because right now, I’m going to march my butt back into that gala, and once I’m inside, you guys will be nothing but a bad taste in my mouth.” She took a step up the stairs. “But I bet you’ll all be wondering and thinking and imagining what I’m doing later.”

A man cleared his throat, and she turned as Link appeared, tie undone, hands shoved into the front pockets of his dress pants. His hair was askew as if he’d been running his hands through it, which she found sexy as hell. Was it the alcohol she’d ingested that made her forget everything but the man who stood in front of her?

Or was she just that weak?

She took another step up, but paused before looking back on the woman. “For the record? It’s him I’ll be doing later.”

She glanced up at Link. “I want to go home.”

Maybe she could hold on to this a little while longer. Maybe it didn’t have to end tonight. Maybe she was crazy or pathetic and confused.

Link winked and bent down, sweeping his mouth along the side of her neck. “Whatever you say, love.”

He grabbed her hand and called a cab.

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