Burn (Breathless #3)(71)

“I will.”

Chapter twenty-three

After hearing all about the previous girls’ nights out from Ash, Josie was determined to make sure he enjoyed it every bit as much as Gabe and Jace had on previous occasions. Which meant that she didn’t let him see the dress. Or the shoes. Or, well, anything at all.

He’d protested the idea of her getting dressed at Mia’s. He’d wanted a teaser of what was to come, but Josie had told him in a firm voice that the effect would be ruined if he saw her beforehand.

Oh, he’d seen the dress. He’d even seen the shoes. After all he’d gone with her to buy them. It had taken him twenty minutes to convince her to buy them because oh my God, they were ridiculously expensive! Clearly she was in the wrong line of work because that one pair of shoes cost three times as much as one of her paintings sold for. But he hadn’t seen the dress or shoes on her nor had he seen her all made-up for the night out. She packed makeup, her dress and shoes, determined that she’d do her hair and everything over at Mia’s.

Ash wasn’t happy about it, but he saw her into his car with instructions for the driver to take her to Mia and Gabe’s high-rise apartment in Midtown. She’d waved cheekily with a promise to see him much later.

When she arrived at Mia’s building, to her surprise she found both Bethany and Mia waiting for her in the lobby. Bethany took one of Josie’s bags while Mia herded them all into the elevator. When they reached the top floor, the elevator opened into a spacious apartment with a beautiful view of the city from the living room windows.

Gabe met them in the living room and Josie stood back, a little wary of him. He just looked so . . . formidable. Not that she thought he’d hurt her. Or Mia. But he was just this quiet, intimidating guy, and she had only been around him once, so she hadn’t reached a level of comfort with him yet.

Gabe pulled Mia to him and planted a scorching kiss on her that made Josie’s toes curl. Bethany just smiled and glanced at Josie, a teasing glint in her eyes.

“I’ll leave you ladies to it,” Gabe said. “The car and driver are waiting out front. Just call down and let the doorman know when you’re ready to leave. Jace will get to the club a little later and make sure you all get home afterward. I’m going to head over to eat dinner with Ash.”

Mia bestowed a devastating smile on her husband, one that earned her a sultry stare that told Josie Gabe was very much looking forward to later.

“You need me for anything,” Gabe said as he tipped Mia’s chin up with his fingers, “You call me. I’ll have my cell. You run into any problems, you call.”

Mia rolled her eyes. “You know I will, Gabe. Besides, Jace will be there, not to mention Brandon and all his bouncer friends. They keep a very close eye on us when we’re at the club.”

Josie was fast getting lost in this conversation.

“Brandon is our friend Caroline’s boyfriend. Or rather fiancé since he popped the question recently. That’s what we’re celebrating tonight,” Bethany whispered. “He works at Vibe as a bouncer and he always takes care of us when we’re out getting drunk.”

Josie nodded.

Gabe kissed Mia one last time and then he nodded to Bethany and Josie.

“Have a good time, ladies, but be careful, okay? Stay together at the club. Don’t leave your drinks unattended and if one of you goes to the bathroom, take at least one other person with you.”

“Gabe!” Mia exclaimed in irritation. “For God’s sake, we aren’t teenagers. We can take care of ourselves already!”

Gabe chuckled, had the grace to look abashed and then headed toward the elevator.

The women barely had time to head into the huge bathroom before Mia’s cell phone rang. She heaved a sigh when she looked at who was calling. “For the love of God. He’s not even gone yet and he’s already calling me.”

Bethany giggled and both she and Josie waited as Mia answered the phone. She said “okay” and then “I love you too,” her voice going soft when she said the last.

Mia put her phone down on the counter and glanced up at Josie and Bethany. “Gabe ran into Brittany downstairs so he’s sending her up in the elevator now. I’ll go grab her. Bethany, get started on Josie’s hair. She’ll need to put on her dress before we do makeup or she’ll get foundation all over her dress.”

“We got this,” Bethany said, making a shooing motion with her hands. “Go get Brittany so we can get this evening started.”

An hour later, the four women rode the elevator down to the lobby and got off, Mia leading the way. Outside, as Gabe had promised, a driver waited to usher them into the waiting limousine.

When they were all settled, Mia pulled a chilled bottle of champagne from the ice bucket and poured four glasses.

“Caro’s not with us. She’ll meet us at the club. However, that doesn’t prevent us from having a toast in her honor.”

Bethany nodded solemnly as she raised her glass.

Brittany clinked glasses enthusiastically, her green eyes, Ash’s green eyes, sparkled with excitement.

“Thank you so much for inviting me to come,” Brittany said. “I’ve been doing nothing but working and going back to my apartment. I’m starting to feel my age!”

Mia sent her a look of horror. “We can’t have that. Spend an evening with us. That’ll fix you right up.”