Page 45 of Whatever Lola Wants (Odyssey #2)

She twisted away so his fingers only skimmed her skin, her lips peeled back in what only the most generous of souls would term a smile. “ Fuck you, Simon . No .”

Then she turned her back on him and walked into the house.

Simon watched her stomp away, all but vibrating with anger and insult. If looks could kill, if words could kill, he’d be bleeding right now from a dozen wounds.

She was magnificent, and he was one hundred kinds of a fool for not realizing before now that he was totally and completely in love with her.

He started to laugh, softly at first, then he was roaring, holding his sides and leaning against the wall as the sheer joy of the revelation rolled through him.

Grant appeared in the doorway, Michael at his side. They both watched him with curious amusement. “ You going to tell me what’s so funny?” Grant asked.

Simon grinned, marveling at how good he felt suddenly. “ Just laughing at my own foolishness.”

Grant exchanged looks with Michael . “ It’s about time.

Here .” He pulled a key out of his pocket and handed it to Simon .

“ This is for the attic bedroom, opposite end of the hall from the stairs. The distance should muffle the screams sufficiently, and there’s some equipment in the trunk at the foot of the bed you might find useful. ”

Simon pocketed the key with a grin. “ Thanks .”

Grant nodded, then jerked his head to where Anna , Ginger , and Lola stood together. Lola had her back to the door, but the other two were darting scowling glances in their direction. “ You got a plan?”

Simon nodded. “ Divide and conquer.”

“I’ll take the redhead,” Grant said and nudged Michael with his elbow. “ Think you can distract the blonde?”

“Oh, with pleasure,” Michael murmured, and something in the way he said it made Simon frown.

“Go easy,” he warned. “ She’s pretty green.”

Michael merely lifted an eyebrow. “ She put you on your ass, didn’t she?”

Simon cursed under his breath as Michael sauntered away to the sound of Grant’s laughter. “ I’m never going to live that down.”

“Nope,” Grant said cheerfully and clapped him on the shoulder. “ But if you get her back, you can take it out on her.”

Oh, he was getting her back. He just needed to get her alone, then spill his guts, and hope she cared enough about him to give him a second chance.

Piece of cake.

He slipped into the room behind Grant , waiting until his friend approached the bride and led her to the other side of the room to talk to the guests clustered there. Grant positioned himself so he blocked Anna’s view of the rest of the room, and sent him a wink.

One down.

Michael had lifted two champagne flutes from one of the roaming servers, and at Simon’s slight nod, slid up to the two women.

As he approached from the rear, Michael extended a glass to Ginger . She automatically reached out to take it, and as she did, he slid a hand to her elbow and smoothly turned her away from Lola .

“Oh, but—” Ginger said, turning her head with a look of panic on her face when she realized she was being gently herded away.

Michael murmured something in her ear, and whatever it was, it changed the look of panic to one of consideration.

When her gaze flicked past Lola to land on Simon , he gave her a quick nod.

Irritation , anger, curiosity all flitted across her expression before finally settling into resignation, and she allowed Michael to pull her out of the room.

Two down.

He walked up behind Lola and put his hand on the back of her neck, fingers tightening at her instinctive jolt. Knowing she was perfectly capable of screaming the house down, he murmured in her ear, “ It’s just me.”

The look she shot him was anything but welcoming. “ I know it’s just you. Hastings .”

His lips wanted to twitch, because he knew there was a Big Dick in that pause. “ I want to talk.”

She tried to slide out from under his hand, her cheeks flushing dark red when he didn’t let her. “ Well , I don’t. I told you, this isn’t the time.”

“I talked to Grant . He’s okay with it.”

If possible, her expression got even more hostile. “ I don’t give a dead rat’s ass if Grant’s okay with it,” she whispered, anger vibrating in every soft word. “ Talk to him, then. And take your fucking hand off me.”

He shook his head, fighting to keep his expression sober when all he wanted to do was laugh. “ We can do this the easy way or the hard way, Lola . Your choice.”

The sheer shock on her face was a joy to witness. “ Listen , you dim motherfucker, who the fuck do you think?—”

He nodded. “ Okay . Hard way it is.”

He shifted his grip to wrap his arm around her shoulders and stretched to clamp his hand over her mouth.

She barely managed a squeak of protest before he leaned down and swept the other arm behind her knees and lifted her off her feet.

Her body went stiff with shock for a heartbeat, giving him just enough time to start up the stairs before she started to struggle.

He grunted when she rammed an elbow into his gut, cursed when she tried to bite him, and grinned the whole way up the stairs.

Goddamn, he loved her.