“I know that,” Topaz replied without hesitation, her gaze clearly flattering.
Alex refused to give in to the enjoyable urges she aroused in him. He shook his head and took her by the hand. “Let’s get out of here,” he decided.
TEN
“Well, well!”
“Simon?” Topaz called, seeing her ex-fiancé approaching her with outstretched arms. “I didn’t know you’d be here,” she was saying as he hugged her close.
Simon shrugged, keeping his arms around her tiny waist. “De just called and invited me.”
“Out of the clear blue?”
“Not exactly.”
“Right,” Topaz retorted, knowing DeAndra Rice definitely had an agenda. Silently, she commended the woman’s intuition. Obviously she knew her cousin better than he realized.
Alex regarded Simon Whitley with an ice-blue glare, despising the familiar way the man touched Topaz.
“Lex!” De called, having spotted her cousin at the top of the stairway leading down into the living room.
“Damn,” Alex grumbled, just as the bartender passed him an icy mug of Heineken. DeAndra’s shrill voice had sounded across the living room. He and Topaz turned to find the woman rushing toward them.
“I second that,” Topaz muttered, taking a swig from her bottle of Red Stripe.
“Lex, I have someone I’d like you to meet. Oh! That’s right, I almost forgot you two already know each other,” DeAndra rambled as she smiled at the woman standing next to her. “Alexander Rice, you remember Josie Sharp?” she drawled, sending Topaz a look that was clearly dismissing.
“How you doin’, Josie?” Alex was saying as he shook hands with the City Council executive.
Josie was beaming. “I’m wonderful,” she remarked, her dark eyes twinkling as they traced his devastating features.
DeAndra was still regarding Topaz with her coldest stare. “You know, dear, I’m sure there’s a free man around here for you to latch on to,” she spat.
Topaz regarded DeAndra’s bland attire, then took another long swig from her beer bottle and stood. “Tell me something, De, are you upset that I attract more men in one night than you can in an entire year or is it just plain old sexual frustration that makes you act like such a jackass?”
People standing nearby heard the exchange and somewhere, a burst of laughter was heard. Topaz slammed her beer bottle to the bar and walked away.
“She had it comin’.”
Topaz shook her head and smiled at the couple she was speaking with. “Plato, why’d you even come to this thing? You don’t even like De.”
Plato Rogers shrugged, running one hand through the fat, reddish brown dreads covering his head.
“Girl, he just had to tag along behind me,” Felicia Cooper, Plato’s longtime girlfriend, remarked.
Topaz fixed the lovely, full-figured schoolteacher with a knowing look. “You don’t like her either,” she blurted, setting her hands on her hips.
Felicia shrugged as well. “Free food.”
The threesome burst into hearty, uninhibited laughter. They were still chuckling when Simon approached.
“Hey, y’all,” he greeted, nodding toward Plato and Felicia. “Topaz, can I talk to you a minute?” he whispered.
Topaz followed Simon to the French doors near the dance floor. “What’s up?” she asked.
“Pretty strong words between you and De,” he noted.
“I didn’t know you heard that.”
Simon pushed his hands into his khaki trouser pockets. “Word travels fast at a party like this.”
Topaz rolled her eyes. “I am so ready to get out of here. But,” she sighed, “I promised Alex I’d stick by him.”
“What is it with you and that guy?”
“He’s just a friend,” she replied with a flippant shrug.
Simon seemed to accept the explanation. “So how are Patra and Eric doing?” he asked, referring to her parents.
“Crazy as always. Impatient for me to come and visit soon.”
Simon’s dark eyes brightened with approval. “I hope you won’t leave ’em hanging. They are your parents.”
Topaz shook her head at his authoritative tone. “I promise not to keep them waiting much longer.”
“Good. Listen, I’ll catch up with you later,” Simon was saying, suddenly appearing rushed.
