Page 64 of Revelation (The Josh & Kat Trilogy #2)
Hannah nods. “Wow. Thank you. I accept my role with humble gratitude. What’s everyone else’s roles? ”
“Well, he’s the asshole,” Josh says breezily, motioning to Jonas. “And also the comic relief, though hardly ever intentionally.”
Sarah laughs.
“Sarah’s our George Clooney—our fearless leader—and also Jonas’ handler.
Without Sarah, Jonas becomes very, very cranky—so I’d like to take this moment to expressly thank Sarah Cruz for coming into my brother’s life.
By doing so, you’ve made mine immeasurably better.
” Josh beams a huge smile at his brother, and, much to my surprise, Jonas laughs heartily.
“Thank you,” Sarah says, blushing. Jonas kisses her cheek and I swoon.
“Henn’s our fucking genius, of course,” Josh continues. “I’m sure that’s not news to you, Hannah—plus, the guy’s heart has a ten-terabyte storage capacity.” He flashes Henn an adoring look.
“Yes, I’m well aware of that,” Hannah says.
The look on Henn’s face is priceless. Oh my effing God. He’s adorable.
“And you and Kat?” Hannah asks. “What are your roles in the crew?”
“Well, unfortunately, I’m nothing but a playboy—just coasting on everyone’s coattails, pretty much—not particularly useful or smart—just the eye candy of the group.”
We all laugh.
“Don’t listen to him. He’s wise and powerful beyond measure,” I say.
“Oh, well that’s true,” Josh agrees. “Hannah, you might as well learn it now: I’m wise and powerful beyond anything your feeble mind could possibly comprehend. Let me just say, in advance of whatever pearls of wisdom I’ll bestow upon you one day in the near future: you’re very welcome.”
Hannah laughs. “Okay. Thank you, Josh, in advance. Wow, I’m honored to be in your presence.”
“As you should be. Thank you. And Kat here—well, the list is too long to say it all right now, but I’ll give you the Cliff’s Notes version.
She’s our secret weapon. The Party Girl with a Hyphen who also happens to be The Party Girl with the Heart of Gold.
Plus, she’s a suicide bomber, a terrorist, and, sometimes, if you really rile her up, a very stubborn cat. ”
I giggle.
Josh chuckles and squeezes my hand. “And, she’s got the best laugh you ever heard, as I’m sure you already know. The girl laughs like a dude.”
“I’m well aware.”
I giggle again.
“Hey, I have an item for the toast,” Jonas says.
“Hang on, bro,” Josh says. “I’m not done with Kat.” He looks into my eyes. “She’s loyal. And honest. A force of nature when she wants something. She loves her family. And her hair smells incredible.”
I can’t breathe.
Josh holds my gaze for a long beat. “There’s more, but we’d be here all night,” he says softly. He kisses me tenderly on the lips and my heart bursts out my chest cavity and zings around the bar.
“I wanna salute Sarah for making it through her first year of law school...” Jonas is saying.
But I’m only half-listening. I’m caught in an alternate universe with Josh.
Yes, Sarah was absolutely right. He’s screaming his feelings for me from every mountaintop the best way he knows how. And that’s enough for me.
“Well, jeez, don’t jinx me. I gotta get through my exams before I’m toast-worthy,” Sarah says.
I manage to peel my eyes off Josh’s face and look at Jonas and Sarah, clasping Josh’s hand.
“But you finished your classes yesterday,” Jonas says. “No reason not to celebrate that.” He grabs her hand and kisses the top of it and she melts.
“Can I add an item to the toast-list, too?” Sarah asks. “I wanna toast Henn and Kat for officially becoming mill-i-on-aires this week . Congrats, guys.”
“Didn’t you get your finder’s fee money this week, too?” Henn asks.
“Yeah.” Sarah beams a smile at Jonas. “But I can’t even think what to do with it—I want for absolutely nothing these days.”
Henn and I shoot a look at each other like that’s the stupidest thing either of us has ever heard. I’m glad Sarah’s googley-eyed in love and all, but who couldn’t use an extra million bucks, for crying out loud ?
“Yeah, congrats to all three of you,” Josh says.
He grabs my hand and kisses it the way Jonas just kissed Sarah’s hand, making me swoon, and raises his drink to me.
“Which reminds me of a biggie. To Kat. She officially took a leap of faith today and quit her job to start her own PR firm. Congrats, babe. Sky’s the limit. ”
Everyone expresses congratulations and excitement.
“I’m so excited for you,” Hannah says. “Even though I’ll miss you terribly.” She sticks out her lower lip.
Of course, I’m not blindsiding Hannah with this news—I told her about my plans earlier today at lunch, and she was full of congratulations and excitement then, too, but she also cried. “Working with you has been the best part of my job,” she said.
“Well, like I said at lunch,” I say to Hannah, “the master plan is to bring you on as soon as humanly possible, Hannah Banana Montana Milliken,” I say. “As soon as I know what I’m doing, you’ll be my right-hand woman.”
Hannah raises her drink. “Cheers to that. Just call me and I’ll come running, girl. Whatever you touch turns to gold, Kitty Kat—I have no doubt your new company will be golden, too.”
“Thank you, honey.”
The waitress returns with our new round of drinks, plus the shots and bottles of champagne, and we pour bubbly all around.
“What are you gonna call your new company?” Henn asks.
“PGPR?” I say without confidence—but even as I say it, it sounds pretty lame. “Short for Party Girl PR,” I add, hoping that clarification makes the name more palatable.
Sarah scrunches her nose.
“You don’t like it?” I ask.
“Kinda stodgy, don’t you think? A little boring—and you’re anything but boring.”
I twist my mouth, considering. She’s got a point.
“It’s not an accounting firm, right?” Sarah asks. “It’s publicity. It’s gotta have some pizzazz.”
“Yeah, at first I thought maybe Party Girl PR—but that sounds too much like an event planner.”
“Yeah, you’re right—it kinda does. Hey, but you’re the Party Girl with the Heart of Gold , right?
Hannah just said everything you touch turns to gold .
Why not Golden PR? You could have a sexy golden-blonde avatar of yourself as your logo.
That’d be adorable. Or, hey, better yet, maybe even Golden Kat PR and make your logo a sexy golden cat with long eyelashes. ”
I look at Josh and he nods enthusiastically. “Either one. Probably have more luck securing Golden Kat for trademark purposes.”
“Great idea, Sarah,” I say. “I’ll look into that.”
Sarah smiles. “You bet, baby. I got a million ideas.” She taps her temple. “I’m at your service, baby.”
“Thank you.”
We grin at each other.
“Okay, everyone, get ’em up,” Josh says—and we all raise our glasses of champagne.
“To Hannah and Henn, and to Sarah for finishing her first year of law school, and to three newly minted mill-i-on-aires , and, last but not least, to Kat and her new baby.” Josh looks at me, his blue eyes sparkling.
“YOLO, Kat—I’m glad you’ve decided to go for it. May you climb and conquer.”
“Hear, hear!” we all shout, bringing our champagne to our lips.
“Wait!” Sarah blurts and we all stop. “ Duh . We gotta toast Climb & Conquer!” She raises her shot of tequila. “This one we gotta do with Patron, in Joshy-Woshy’s honor.”
Everyone raises a shot glass.
“To Climb & Conquer,” Sarah says. “I can’t wait to watch the Faraday twins ‘climb and conquer’ every peak of their dreamscape.”
Jonas and Josh share a look of unmistakable excitement.
“Hear, hear,” everyone says, clinking glasses.
“Please hire me soon, Kat,” Hannah adds and everyone laughs.
“I’m so proud of you,” I whisper to Josh, squeezing his hand.
“Thanks,” he says, his blue eyes sparkling. “I’ve never been so excited about anything in my life.”
As everyone throws back his or her shots, I put my glass down, untouched. Just the smell of the tequila is making me kinda queasy. Maybe it’s something I ate?
Josh kisses my cheek. “To new beginnings,” he says softly into my ear. He grabs my tequila and downs it for me, seemingly unfazed by my disinterest in it. “And to giant leaps of faith.” He kisses my lips and rubs my cheek with his thumb. “I missed you this week, PG. I was going out of my mind.”
Boom .
That’s it.
Put a fork in me.
My body can’t physically contain these feelings any longer. This sexy beast of a man’s got me hook, line, and sinker. I’m gonna tell him how I feel when we’re alone later tonight. I can’t take it anymore. I love him and I’ve got to tell him so, come what may.
Sarah leaps up suddenly, pulling gently on Jonas’ muscled arm. “You ready, hunky monkey boyfriend?” she asks. “The alcohol has started to kick in—it’s time for you to pay your debt.”
Jonas grimaces—but Sarah’s persistent. She pulls on his arm again, flashing a seductive smile. “Come on, love,” she purrs. “You lost fair and square and you know it.” She leans into Jonas’ ear again and whispers something, and Jonas begrudgingly stands and lets her lead him toward the stage.
Josh flashes me a look of pure astonishment. “You were right.”
“Of course, I was. I’m always right when it comes to two things,” I say.
Josh chuckles. “Men and PR, I know, Party Girl.” He gazes at his brother for a beat. “Look at him,” he says, motioning toward Jonas and Sarah taking the stage. “God, he must really love that girl.”