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‘You should get some water,’ Nancy said, voice clipped. And then she was gone.

Ari stood there, pulse still too high, breath still uneven. She could still feel the ghost of Nancy’s touch at her waist, the pressure of her palm against hers.

‘Shit,’ she muttered, stunned.

Twenty-One

Nancy leaned against the cool marble of the wall, trying to catch her breath while the music thumped around her, upbeat once more. All she could think about was the dance with Ari. What the hell had happened?

It was no big deal, she told herself. But the way Ari had melted against her, how warm and real she felt, was sending shivers down Nancy’s spine.

Stop it! It was just a dance. Just Ari. The party girl who sits in the back seat!

Nancy pushed away from the wall, forcing herself to navigate the crowd of partygoers like a pinball, trying to drown her thoughts in the pulsating beat of the music. She grabbed a drink from a passing tray and took a long sip. The sharpness of the liquor burned her throat.

Nancy’s gaze drifted over, and there stood Ari, alone at the edge of the crowd, her drink forgotten in her hand. Her shoulders were slightly slumped, her expression distant, as if she were lost in thought. The vibrant energy of the party seemed to pass her by.

There was something about the sadness in her posture, the way she stood so still, that struck Nancy in a way she hadn’t expected. In that moment, she looked vulnerable, far more vulnerable than the confident, carefree persona she usually projected.

For a brief moment, Nancy’s heart softened, a sudden rush of empathy flooding her chest. It was a side of Ari she’d rarely seen, and seeing it now was devastating. She wanted to hold her. She wanted to…

It wasjustphysical contact. Which she hadn’t had in a while. That was probably what it was. Her body was just reacting like Pavlov’s dogs to the touch of an attractive woman. Which Ari was. You couldn’t argue any other. Not Nancy’s type, of course. She tended to go for much more serious types, like Tara, the intense journalist; Rachel, the driven lawyer; and Simone, the no-nonsense architect. Fun-loving, wealthy party girls had never been on the roster.

Yet, the more she tried to convince herself it was nothing, the less she bought it.

As she watched Ari, Nancy’s heart raced.

Oh, for god’s sake. It’s not frustration, it’s just the alcohol, she then decided.

That was even worse. Because, she realised, unlike Ari, she hadn’t drunk a ton. She’d made sure to have a glass in her hand at all times, as per wedding protocol. But she’d nursed them. She was never tipsy at work, even if there wasn’t a car involved. Even if she was on some mad mission to accompany Ari to her ex’s wedding/stolen jewellery retrieval mission, she was on the job.

She was going back to her other theory. Rogue hormones and sex deprivation.

With a dramatic sigh, Nancy leaned back against the wall again, desperately needing to regroup. Ari was her boss. She had no business noticing the way Ari’s dress clung to her or the way her perfume lingered in the air between them. No business feeling the heat still prickling at the back of her neck.

Twenty-Two

The night had dragged on longer than Ari anticipated. But now, at last, they were free. Big lights on, music off. People were leaving the hall, heading up the stairs to the designated rooms.

Ari and Nancy found themselves in the hallway, staring at each other in a thinning crowd. Ari felt very fortunate she hadn’t actually opened her mouth and said something dumb because it made it easier to pretend nothing had happened.

Ari glanced around again. ‘So, where the hell do you think our room is?’

Before Nancy could respond, the sound of footsteps echoed down the hall. Laurence, the butler, appeared from seemingly nowhere. ‘Your designated room is just upstairs. If you would allow me to guide you? Your bags are waiting for you.’

Ari smiled at him. ‘Laurence, you aregood,’ she said. ‘If you ever want to leave this place, promise me you’ll call me. I could do with a good, um… Buttling.’

Laurence smiled, turned, and led the way. Ari and Nancy exchanged a thick glance before following him, the winding hallways seeming to grow more intricate as they walked further into the manor.

As they climbed the staircase, Ari glanced at Nancy. ‘That party was too long. I drank too much.’

‘Everyone did,’ Nancy said.

Ari took that to mean that they were just rolling right past the weirdness. Thank fuck.

They continued up another flight of stairs, and finally, Laurence stopped in front of a door.

‘Here we are,’ he said and opened the door for them.