Page 19 of Flirting with Trouble

It wasn’t hard to figure out whose birthday party Victory was attending. One social media search about an MMA fighter’s birthday party gave me all the information I needed. I got lucky when I discovered that Leni Steele is Cage’s PR rep. Convincing her to get me on the list of attendees was nothing short of a miracle. I’m sure I’ll owe her forever, but if I have it my way, it’ll be worth it.

The party is hopping when I get to the upscale rooftop lounge. The views of the city are spectacular, and the place is decked out with twinkling lights, blazing fires in massive rectangular firepits, and Happy Birthday on a banner above the bar. Photographers are snapping pictures of celebrities decked out in designer clothes, and a band is playing at the far side of the lounge. As I weave through the crowd looking for Victory, I wonder for the tenth time since she turned me down whether she already had a date lined up for tonight.

I hear the sweet, melodic laughter that tugged at me last night and turn toward it, scanning the crowd. A couple heads for the dance floor, and as I step aside to let them pass, I spot my sexy temptress. She’s wearing a killer silver halter dress that shows off those lean shoulders I cannot wait to kiss and her long, gorgeous legs, which will hopefully be wrapped around me again tonight. She’s talking with a petite, attractive woman with mahogany hair, and they’re leaning in close, like they’re good friends.

Victory hasn’t noticed me, so I take a moment to admire her in that sexy dress and assess the situation. She and her friend aren’t holding drinks. I look around, but I don’t see anyone bringing her one or keeping an eye on her.

If she is here with someone, it’s their loss.

I snag two champagne flutes from a waiter and head for Victory. Her friend sees me before she does and nudges her with her elbow. Victory looks over, and our eyes connect, igniting the space between us, but shock douses the flames in her eyes as I blaze a path to her.

“Hello, friend. It’s nice to see you again.” I lean in and kiss her cheek. “This is a great party, huh?” I hand her a champagne flute.

“It is,” Victory says with a curious expression as I offer the other flute to her friend.

“Thank you,” her friend says, her gaze moving appreciatively over me. “Victory, aren’t you going to introduce us?”

“Yes, of course,” she says a little tightly. “Jillian Braden Bad, this is my friend, Wells Silver.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Jillian.”

“You as well. How do you know Victory? Are you an industry friend or a personal friend?”

Victory scowls at Jillian, who arches a brow with a mischievous grin, clearly taunting her, which I fucking love, so I play along. “I’m whatever kind of friend she wants me to be.” I toss Victory a wink, and her eyes narrow. “How about you, Jillian? How do you know Victory?”

“I’m her cousin.”

“You’re family? Really? I bet you know all her secrets.”

“Apparently not all of them,” Jillian says with another nudge.

“Wells, Jillian is an elite clothing designer,” Victory says, abruptly changing the subject.

“How exciting.” I motion to Jillian’s little black dress with colorful designs running through it and triangular cutouts at her waist. “Is that gorgeous dress you’re wearing one of your designs?”

“It is, thank you,” Jillian says proudly. “It’s one of my hubby’s favorites. You should meet him. He’s around here somewhere.” She looks around.

“Jillian is married to Johnny Bad.”

Floored, I say, “As in, the hottest rock star on the planet? The lead guitarist and singer of Bad Intentions? How cool is that?”

“I’m a lucky girl, for sure,” Jillian says.

“He’s just as lucky to have you, Jilly,” Victory says. “Wells, I wasn’t expecting to see you here. How did you get on the list?”

I bet you weren’t. “I have connections.”

Jillian’s gaze moves curiously between us, and she says, “It’s very hard to get into an exclusive party like this. You must’ve really wanted to be here.”

“I did, and seeing Victory is the highlight of my night.”

Victory’s eyes narrow. “Surely you didn’t come only to see me.”

“Let’s just say there are important people here that I wanted to network with and leave it at that.”

Jillian nudges Victory again. “You’ve got to admire a man who will stop at nothing to get what he wants.”

Victory ignores Jillian’s comment and says, “Networking? How’s that going for you?” She smirks and sips her champagne.