Page 25 of The Body in the Backyard

“Stop tugging on your tie or Gabe will have to fix it for you again,” Lily warned him.

Nick addedLearn to tie a fucking bow tieto his mental to-do list.

All the unwanted roommates besides Mr. Willicott, who was setting up his bedroom in the bar area, had set up a row of chairs on the marble in the foyer facing the staircase like spectators at a tennis match.

“I’m coming,” Riley shouted from the second floor. “Contouring takes a hell of a lot longer than those YouTubers say it does.”

She appeared at the top of the stairs, a vision in red, and Nick forgot how to breathe. His cock forgot the fact that he was almost forty years old and should be mostly in control of his baser urges.

“Sorry, sorry, sorry,” she said as she hurried down the stairs, fastening long dangly earrings in place. She’d done something to her hair to make it curl. Her eyes were a smoky gold, lips a matte pink. And the dress. The goddamn dress.

Nick barely heard the applause from the roommates behind him.

He’d chanced this. He’d gambled withthis.

Riley stopped in front of him, cheeks flushed, eyes bright. “What do you think?”

He thought he was the biggest idiot on the fucking planet.

Nick opened his mouth, but nothing coherent came out. There was a lump in his throat. A pain in his chest. He didn’t have words. And maybe that was the problem. Santiagos could hurl insults and dishes with ease. But he couldn’t justtellRiley how he felt, why he loved her, how beautiful she was, or what an unworthy asshole he was.

She did a twirl, and the fabric caught the light like a thousand tiny diamonds.

“Fan-fucking-tastic,” Mrs. Penny announced. “Dibs on it for my next date.”

“You look like a romance novel cover heroine about to be ravaged,” Lily decided.

“I’d romance the heck out of you,” Fred said.

Burt plopped his ass on the floor in front of Riley and lifted a paw like a gentleman dog.

“You look like a red lacewing butterfly,” Gabe said with a reverence that snapped Nick out of his fog.

Riley grinned. “Thank you, guys.” Her eyes skimmed over Nick and his suit. “You look good. Really good.”

Everyone was waiting for him to say something. Something good.

Nick swiped a hand over his face. “You have more of that lipstick on you?” he asked finally.

Riley triumphantly held up a tiny, gold clutch. “Lipstick, breath mints, pepper spray, phone, charger, credit card, and Band-Aids.”

Nick nodded. “Good.” With that, he grabbed her, bent her backward, and kissed the ever-loving hell out of her.

7

7:30 p.m. Thursday, October 31

“Remember, you two have to stay a minimum of ten feet away from me at all times,” Griffin said, stopping them just shy of the Hilton Harrisburg’s ballroom. Beyond the narrow shoulders of his tuxedo jacket, Riley could see the beautiful and wealthy people of the city gathering in their masks and festive finery.

“Let me get this straight. Not that I would mind watching one of these fancy fuckers exact their revenge on you—hell, it would make this birthday the best one I’ve ever had. But doesn’t thatcompletely defeat the purpose of personal security, you human toadstool?” Nick said on a disbelieving snarl.

Riley patted her boyfriend’s arm. “What the client wants, right?” she reminded him with a fake smile.

“He could have called a fucking Lyft, and we could be eating birthday tacos naked right now,” Nick complained.

“We’ll get birthday tacos on the way home,” Riley promised.

“I can’t have you two encroaching on me.” Griffin’s gaze fastened on Riley’s dress. “You’re too…colorful.”