Total pages in book: 126
Estimated words: 118309 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 592(@200wpm)___ 473(@250wpm)___ 394(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 118309 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 592(@200wpm)___ 473(@250wpm)___ 394(@300wpm)
“Hey.” Aleena’s heated cheeks and glossy eyes expose she liked the attention she got on stage. “Where did Kazimir go?”
“Ah…”
I once again seek the bartender’s help.
He leaves me hanging.
“He had to…” I want to blame the alcohol sloshing in my veins for the sudden backflip on my lie, but I can’t. I hate liars, so I try not to be one unless absolutely necessary. Telling a teenage girl she isn’t going to die the night of her prom is absolutely necessary. “I think I scared him off.”
Aleena pouts before plopping into the seat her fiancé vacated in a hurry. “Oh.”
“I’m sorry. I jokingly told him he shouldn’t be here because it is your last hurrah of single life.” I cuss under my breath when it sounds worse explaining it than it did when I blurted it out. “I didn’t mean it in the way he took it. I just—”
“It’s fine, Nikita. I know what you meant.” She orders a drink before explaining there’s a lot of infidelity in Kazimir’s family and it’s made his trust low.
“But he knows you’d never do anything like that to him, right?”
“Yeah… I think so.” She doesn’t sound as confident as she was aiming for. “I just hope I’m enough.”
“Of course you are. Did you not hear the crowd’s roar? It almost deafened me.”
She downs the double nip of vodka the bartender places down in front of her like it is water before dragging her hand across her red-painted lips. “They were pretty wild.” She breathes heavily out of her nose. “But I would have preferred for the praise to come from Kazimir.”
“He looked smitten to me when you worked the stage.”
She looks up at me with love in her eyes. “Yeah?”
I nod. “A hundred percent.”
Her confusion is exposed when she asks, “Then why did he run?”
I try to make light of the situation. “Once again, did you hear the crowd’s roar? The lazy river is about to become overloaded with floaters.” That was hard for me to say, but I can’t explain why while intoxicated. It isn’t something I like to discuss when sober, either, but beggars can’t be choosers.
With a giggle that shows she appreciates my commentary, Aleena clinks her shot glass against mine, throws back the double nip, and then signals for another.
Although I am grateful to have secured another drinking partner, Aleena is needed elsewhere. The bikini competition is over, and the beautiful women who graced the stage over the past two and a half hours are being requested to return to the stage.
“You better get back up there. There could be twenty K with your name on it.”
Aleena peers in the direction I gestured before shaking her head. “You heard the crowd. Zoya has this in the bag.” Her low tone announces her confidence has slid off a cliff again.
“You’re just as beautiful, Aleena.” When she sighs like she doesn’t believe me, I say, “There’s just something about Zoya that draws people to her. She’s a flame, and they’re—”
“The stupid moths who should know better?”
She’s already kicking herself for being petty about a woman who would give her the clothes on her back if asked, so I won’t add more jabs while she’s feeling down. I’ll simply remind her not every issue in life belongs on our shoulders.
“It isn’t our fault men’s brains are between their legs.”
That gets a smile out of her. “They are?”
“Uh-huh. I’ve studied all parts of the male anatomy, and every time I think I’m on the verge of a medical miracle… bam! Their brains are back between their legs.”
Aleena laughs so hard that she snorts. “I wish we had met sooner.”
I throw my arm around her shoulders and tug her in close. “Me too.”
We down another three rounds before the winner of the main competition is announced.
It is Zoya, as anticipated.
“Zoya?” the MC repeats, louder this time.
I scan the crowd with hundreds of participants and spectators when Zoya fails to claim her oversized check.
Zoya’s aura shines as brightly as Maksim’s, so it doesn’t take me long to deduce that she is nowhere to be seen.
The MC’s dark brows join before he squashes his lips to the microphone. “This is a first. I’ve never had a winner not claim their prize. Ah…” He seeks advice from the judges, who appear as dumbfounded as him. Well, except Maksim. He looks more smug than annoyed. “Should we go with the runner-up?”
“No!” I shout before I can stop myself. That money could greatly benefit Zoya. She could even give up her job at Le Rogue. I can’t let it be taken from her without putting up a fight. “She had to use the bathroom.” I point behind me like Zoya darted past me only seconds ago. “She is literally two minutes away.” When the MC looks eager to wrap things up by giving her prize to someone else, I suggest, “Can I accept the check on her behalf?”