Her gaze narrowed at me. “You’re a liar. So why don’t you scram? Get back in that piece of shit car of yours and drive off.”
“Markus is actually my boyfriend. And I think he’d want me here at his party by his side. I might not have a lot. But Marcus loves me for who I am. And what girl doesn’t want that?”
Just kidding, just kidding, just kidding. Fucking say it, Becca!
But I didn’t. I just kept my gaze evenly on ol’ snake eyes who looked like she’d swallowed a bug.
“You’re Marcus Taylor’s girlfriend?” Her stenciled eyebrows were in danger of disappearing completely into her hair, and I hurried to defend my work.
“Yes, I am,” I said to the astonishment of the crowd. “Marcus,” I added for good measure, feeling like saying the word somehow bolstered my claim. A dozen pairs of wide eyes fastened onto me—far too exposed in my ridiculous lace. I felt the warmth of a telltale blush coming on fast and decided it would be best if I made a quick exit. “Excuse me.”
“There’s no way Marcus would date that trash,” the woman said. “I know that for a fact.”
“Oh, honey. She’s beautiful. Maybe he found her irresistible. I bet she’s just the flavor of the week.”
“Not a chance. She’s lying and I’m going to prove it. I’m going to make her the laughingstock of the party.”
With no further ado, I hurried off through the crowds to find Amanda. Just make a good impression. Sure. No problem. I’ll just claim to be sleeping with the host. Honestly, I didn’t think it could have been worse even if Amanda had stabbed that peacock with her stiletto.
I found Amanda in the center of a group of men, laughing and talking like she’d woken up at the mansion and had just happened downstairs. As casually as possible, I wound my fingers through the crook of her arm and summoned her attention.
“Could I talk to you for a minute?” I asked with a hoarse whisper and a huge smile.
She sensed trouble and the muscles in her face froze. “Sure,” she said just as cheerfully.
We delicately extracted ourselves from the crowd, and she pulled me away a couple feet away, prepared to fully let me have it, but I beat her to the punch.
“We need to go. Now.”
“Becca,” she said testily, “I forced myself into Spanx. Now, what happened?”
I threw up my hands with feigned innocence. “Nothing that could have been prevented, let me tell you that! It all started with this girl who was impersonating a python, and—”
A sharp tap on my shoulder cut my story short, and I turned around with a sinking feeling of dread. Sure enough, it was my Medusa. Smiling and ready for Round Two.
“What is it again?” she asked with a stabbing grin. “Becky?”
I narrowed my eyes, brave now that Amanda was by my side. “It’s Rebecca, actually.”
“Well, Rebecca, you’re in luck.”
The dread was back, gnawing a hole in my stomach like an ulcer.
“And why is that?” I asked.
The girl flashed me another wicked smile.
“Your boyfriend just arrived.”
Chapter 6
“Your boyfriend?” Amanda said it like an accusation.
Snake-eyes grinned like a mouse had been lowered into her tank. “Her boyfriend.”
A clammy chill started climbing up my toes before losing itself somewhere in my hollow stomach. My mouth and eyes went simultaneously dry as the belated taste of nail polish remover burned inexplicably in the back of my throat. I wondered if I was being retroactively embalmed.
“Yes,” I bristled defensively, “my boyfriend.”