The longer I stared, the farther away it seemed to get.
I frowned.
Champagne didn’t get me drunk this fast. Had I lost my edge or something?
I looked to Laila, who painted red on her pouted lips with sharp focus. Did she feel it, too? She looked fine, in more ways than one.
She caught my eye in the reflection of the mirror and paused. “What?”
“Nothing.”
A giggle came out of her. “Why were you staring at me?”
I started laughing too, but for the life of me, I didn’t know why. “What else am I supposed to look at?”
“Are you drunk?”
“I don’t think so. Are you?”
She frowned, but laughter spilled out of her once more. “No… but I feel… weird.”
“Good weird?”
Laila nodded. “Great weird.”
CHAPTER 16
LAILA
While I put the finishing touches on my hair, Storm locked himself in the bathroom to shave and change into his suit. I listened to the water running and hummed a melody under my breath before slipping into my own dress and enjoying the way the silky fabric felt under my fingers. It wasn’t only the silk that felt good. My skin felt good, and so did my hair grazing my bare back. My body felt good, and full, and soft, and mine.
I wasn’t quite sure why I felt this way. Usually before a party of this scale I’d be itching with anxiety and rehearsing my crowd-pleasing smile in the mirror. Tonight? I didn’t care about any of that.
I cared about snacks.
Even though I wasn’t hungry, I sifted through the boxes of treats on the bed while I waited for Storm and helped myself to some candied peanuts. They were heavenly. Sweet little crunchy shells melted on my tongue before the nut gave way between my teeth. I abandoned the half-eaten bag of peanuts for a small box of truffles, and it was then, while I had two crammed into my cheeks, that Storm came out of the bathroom.
Shirtless.
Freshly shaven.
Smelling like fresh rain.
He stopped in his tracks, a hand towel draped over his shoulder, his thumb hooked in the belt loop of his suit trousers.
I stopped chewing.
He cocked his head to the side. “Did you eat all the truffles without me?”
I had to mumble past all the chocolate in my cheeks. “Maybe.”
He chuckled and leaned sideways, letting the doorframe catch his shoulder, upon which he leaned like a GQ cover model. “Don’t freak out, but I think there might have been something in those brownies.”
I managed to swallow all the melted chocolate in my mouth and licked my lips. “What do you mean? You’re not allergic to something in them, are you?”
He shook his head. “No, I meant something as in weed.”
“Weed?” I blinked. “Oh shit.”
That explained the munchies and the way my dress felt upon my skin—and the steadiness of my heartbeat and the calm state of my mind. “I haven’t been stoned in almost six years. Is this what it always feels like?”
Storm smirked and folded his thick muscular arms over his bare chest. I tried not to stare, but now that I knew I was high as shit, there was no way to know if I was doing a convincing job of not being distracted by his muscles and bare skin.
“Edibles are different than inhaling smoke,” Storm said.
“I’ve never eaten edibles before. Why didn’t they label the box better?” I rummaged through the boxes until I found the powder-pink box that held the brownies. Holding it up, I peered at the name. Realization hit me like a ton of bricks and I face-palmed dramatically. “They’re called Getting Baked. How did we miss such an obvious pun?”
Storm pushed off the doorframe. “I don’t think either of us expected any of our gifts to be laced.”
I snorted. “Laced? It’s just pot, not heroin.”
He grinned. “This party is going to be interesting.”
“Are my eyes red?”
“No.”
“Squinty?”
“No.” He shook his head before frowning. “Are mine?”
“No.”
“Then we’re good. Right?”
“Right.”
He snickered.
I giggled.
“Okay. Okay.” Storm held up both hands and took a deep, steadying breath. He closed his eyes and I seized my chance to check him out.
He had a bump on his right collarbone, presumably from a break sometime in his past. A tiny speck of shaving cream clung to his neck just below his jaw by his left ear. His shoulders were speckled in freckles and little drops of water from when he shaved. His chest was smooth and full, and the muscles shifted beneath taut skin when he reached both hands up and raked them through his hair before opening his eyes.
“We can do this, can’t we?” he asked. “We’ll keep each other in check during the party. Let’s go before we get cold feet.”
Storm turned to the door and made to leave.
I called his name.
He looked back over his shoulder at me.
I smiled. “Maybe you should put your shirt on before we go?”
His eyes widened with surprise and he looked down at himself. “Fucking hell, maybe there is more than weed in those brownies.”
I wanted to tell him that I wouldn’t mind at all if he went down to the party shirtless, but I held my tongue, opting instead to sit on the end of the bed so I could watch every rippling muscle as he shrugged into his dress shirt. For some reason, his focus as he put on his tie was even sexier.
He caught me staring.
“You’re taking your sweet time.” I hoped this was the right thing to say to throw him off the scent. The last thing I needed tonight was a stoned Storm thinking I was into him. Because I wasn’t. Was I?
He tightened his tie, fixed the cuffs of his sleeves, and grabbed his black suit jacket from where it hung on the bathroom door. He shrugged into it and smoothed the lapel. “Good looks like this don’t happen at the snap of your fingers, Laila. You of all people should know that.”
Blushing, I left the room on Storm’s arm, and we headed down to the ballroom for a party of epic proportions.
Cupid’s Arrows had always known how to throw a good party, but Thornton Enterprises?
They took it to a whole other level.
The grand ballroom of the hotel felt like an entirely different world when Storm and I stepped into it.
Admittedly, that could have been the weed hard at work in our systems.
But truthfully, it was the most magnificent party I’d ever set foot in. Everything was done up in rich warm gold tones accented with romantic shades of reds and pinks. Roses bloomed from gold vases on literally every surface. Beautiful upside-down florals hung above round tables where guests sipped champagne. Candles flickered in sparkly holders of various heights. Performers like acrobats and flame jugglers performed on raised platforms. A band played at the far end of the ballroom on a stage against a backdrop of deep red velvet curtains.
Storm and I were pulled apart almost immediately.
A group of men in dark suits caught his attention. One grabbed his shoulder and steered him away. Storm shot me an apologetic look over his shoulder before being swallowed whole by the group.