Page 96 of Slumming It

From the driver's seat, I looked where she indicated and saw a blondish guy laughing it up with – holy hell – one of the girls from last night, the one who called herself Nikki.

The way it looked, they were coming out of a coffee shop, but carrying no cups, as if they'd done their drinking together inside.

Under her breath, Emily said, "Asshole."

I was glad to see her anger directed at somebody else, but I couldn't resist teasing her. "Who? Me or him?"

"Him, definitely." Her gaze slid in my direction. "And I'm not sure what to say aboutyou."

"Don't worry," I said with a laugh. "I already knowI'man asshole."

This made her pause. "Seriously?"

"Sure, why not?"

"And that doesn't bother you?"

I saw no reason to lie. "Not usually."

"And what about now?"

"That depends."

"On what?" she asked.

I flashed her a quick grin. "If you're still gonna be ticked at me tomorrow."

Her mouth twitched like she wanted to smile. "I don't even know if you're serious."

Funny, that made two of us. Normally, I didn't give two shits if someone was angry at me or not. Why was it different withher?

Was it because she was sweeter than the kinds of women I'd been seeing lately? Or was it because I was losing my fucking mind?

Either way, I would be smart to get a grip.

Ahead of us, the light turned green, and the two vehicles in front of us began to ease forward. When I did the same with the Ferrari, Emily turned in her seat to stare at Nikki and her sister's boyfriend, who were so lost in their conversation, they didn't seem to notice the Ferrari or any other car driving by.

Emily muttered at them through the side window. "Yeah, go ahead, laugh it up, Jason. I’m sure Vivian will be just peachy as she sits there all alone, worried to death…jerkwad."

She sounded so cute, I wanted to smile. And hey, at least she was chewinghimout instead of me.

She turned back to me and said, "And I'm sure you noticed who he was with."

I nodded. "Nikki, right?"

"Oh, yeah. That's Morgan's best friend, you know. And I can't imagine what she's doing up so early on a Sunday morning, unless she and Jason, well…you know."

So the coyness was back.

I decided this was a good sign, and I might've been thankful to this Jason guy except for the fact that he was on Emily's shit-list. "So, you think they got together last night?"

"Well, it sure looks that way. But knowing Jason, he'll have a perfectly good reason for doing what he's doing, andI'lllook like some kind of harpy for getting so mad about it."

I eyed Jason in the rear view mirror. He was still talking to Nikki, and it looked like they were having one hell of a good time. "You want me to get out and kick his ass?"

Emily laughed. "Very funny."

"Who says I'm joking?"