Lost and Found (Growing Pains #1)(97)

“Oh no you did not try to throw age into this!” Marcus said, getting totally ghetto with it. Ray and Judy were cracking up.

“It’s because Marcus was supposed to get the guy,” Ray said. Then Ray put his glass forward for more wine.

“Is that from the event?” Monica asked, horrified.

Marcus rolled his eyes at Monica then answered, “Tory was supposed to sit next to me.”

“Did you scare him earlier or something?” Krista asked.

“Why?”

“Well, he seemed like he was on the run. Like he was hiding out in nowheresville with me.”

“Probably hiding from the sales superhero that followed him around all night,” Marcus said in a droll tone.

“Was that a dig at me or John?” Sean asked in a flat voice.

“Someone get that man a drink!” Marcus yelled. “He’s misplaced his humor.”

“You have to crack a joke that’s funny if you want people to laugh,” Krista shot back.

Judy slapped Marcus on the leg as she laughed.

“Now is a perfect time to mention a well-placed ‘I told you so, Sean.’” Ray said, taking a gulp. “I told you Krista could do it.”

Sean ignored him, not wanting to hear it. Ray had been right—Krista, left to her own devices, could charm even an unbeliever. Not only that, but she’d saved his ass tonight. Tory had smelled the ambush and went running, trying to dodge. Sean would’ve lost him; scared him away with his reputation alone. It was Krista who saved the day, and then Sean had ostracized her for it. He was the biggest kind of ass**le imaginable.

He was still looking out the window when he felt Monica’s leg press firmly against his. He ignored her, too.

Ray said, “I told him Krista knew the most and should sit next to him. But did he listen to me? Noooooooo.”

“You guys should have seen when I first met him at the bar,” Krista said as she looked at her lit phone screen. “I didn’t know who he was, but I did know I was supposed to be chatty and friendly with people, so while I was thinking of something to say, turned toward him, with my freaking mouth open, looking at the sky—just standing there, mind you …he finally asked if I was alright. He obviously thought I lost my brain or something!”

Everyone started laughing, except for Sean and Monica.

“Wait a minute. What is our little Kristie up to?” Marcus said.

That was about when Marcus flipped on the roof light. Krista looked up from her phone with a red face and guilty expression. She didn’t need to explain. Sean’s intestines shriveled.

Marcus started laughing. “Booty call, huh? Don’t feel bad about it, honey, I already placed mine!”

“I married mine. Tragic!” Judy laughed.

“Me, too,” Ray said with a slight slur. “Now it’s a booty beg.”

Apparently Sean was the only one in the party who kept himself sober for the precession. Well, him and Monica.

Everyone but Sean looked at Ray, stunned.

“Ray …dark horse,” Krista uttered into the din.

That started a whole new wave of laughter, which Ray joined in.

While Krista had been the last picked up, she was the first dropped off. She was also halfway down the small aisle, drunk, and slightly wobbly. Sean watched as she clambered out of her seat, stumbling and half crawling down the small aisle of the limo. Monica huffed at her amid the chorus of laughter, about to say something to Sean about it, but Sean was already up, positioning himself near the door to intercept, wanting to keep her from falling out on her face.

As Krista stumbled in toward him, she startled and met his eyes, unsure. Sean held out his hand, eyes connected with hers. The normal thing would have been for her to take his hand, steady herself, and let him help her out of the limo. Krista never did anything normally. Instead, she garbled that she was okay, which came out something like, “‘Mmm okiee,” then promptly dove toward the open patch of sky. Sean was expecting it.

He grabbed her quickly, stopping her before she completed the trip to her face. She swung away from the open door and landed in his lap, her face inches from his. Her sweet breath brushing his eyelids.

Krista leaned in an inch. Her control was ebbing. She was letting that other girl take over. The one that bit him. Sean felt his ardor rise, felt her heat soak into him. But this wasn’t the place. Not in front of these people.

Before Sean could rectify the situation, she bucked. Her little hands pushed at his chest, trying to get away. Her legs thrashed, caught in her dress. One dipped between his leg, nearing his dick. It would’ve hurt, especially with how hard he was, so he caught her thigh in his, holding her. Pinning her body to his chest. Squeezing her close, liking how she felt. Liking the way she tucked neatly into his arms.

“Careful Pet, wait for me,” Sean said quietly in her ear, half surprised he’d used the Irish term of endearment his grandma had always used with him.

Her body stilled. Then thawed into him. He breathed in her scent as he lifted her, maneuvering her out of the open door and onto the sidewalk. He put her down gently, letting his hands linger on her bare arms. As her face tilted up, meeting his eyes, he recognized a look of dazed wonder.

“Are you okay?” he asked softly.

She nodded mutely, those wide, fearful eyes looking intently up at him, touching him somewhere deep within.