Page 41 of Damon

Having to blend in and act like any other guest meant having to dance. Athena was all too happy to watch me squirm. She dragged me onto the dance floor under the trees, giggling like the little she-devil she was.

“Loosen up, Damon. It’s not that hard. Just move to the music.” Sliding her arms around my neck, she began to sway back and forth.

I did my best to mimic her movements. I’d never really danced a day in my life. Holding her in my arms felt nice though. Her gentle perfume wafted around me. Her soft body pressed against me. I was severely tempted to find a place to sneak away to so I could lift her skirt and make her whimper.

I was starting to get the hang of this dancing thing when Noah tapped my shoulder. Voice low, he said, “There’s a man inside blocking the stairway, keeping guests from going up to the second floor. We might need to create some kind of distraction to lure him away.”

Athena was the first to come up with a solution. “Maybe I can pretend to be too drunk. We ask if I can lay down somewhere for a few minutes while we wait for our ride home.”

“That might work.” Noah nodded. “It’s worth a try. You’ll have to get the safe out without me.”

I didn’t see any other option. A sick woman was more likely to get us upstairs than anything else I could think of on the spot. We couldn’t very well cause a commotion. We needed a subtle approach.

“All right, let’s do it.” Twisting one of Athena’s face framing locks around a finger, I asked, “Are you ready?”

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

ATHENA

I’d never considered myself much of an actress. Tonight would be a test of my abilities. I sucked in a deep breath, preparing myself.

“All right.” I nodded. “I’m ready.”

I drank down the rest of the champagne in my glass so I would have alcohol freshly on my breath. Passing the empty glass to Noah, I fell against Damon, grabbing onto him like a drunken, wobbly mess.

He slid an arm around my waist, dragging me along into the house through the open patio doors. I did my best to trip over my own feet, stumbling around without balance. Damon worked harder to keep me upright as we approached the man blocking the staircase.

The man regarded us with narrowed eyes. He wore a fancy tuxedo, his bald head gleaming beneath the chandelier light. Either he worked for the family or he’d been hired for this event. I was afraid he would see right through my charade.

“Excuse me. My girl isn’t doing so well.” Damon began, doing some acting of his own. “I think she had too much to drink. Is there a place where she could lay down while we wait for our ride to pick us up?”

The man barely hesitated before saying, “No, I’m afraid not. Upstairs is off-limits to guests. You’ll have to wait outside.”

Digging deep, I lurched forward, covering my mouth with a hand. “I think I’m going to throw up.”

He automatically took an uncomfortable step back, wary of being sprayed with vomit. Damon tried again. “Come on now. She’s going to be sick. I don’t think you want us tying up the main guest bathroom down here. Just tell me where I can take her before she throws up her supper all over this lovely marble floor. We have someone coming to pick us up. We won’t be long.”

I managed to successfully make a dry heaving motion before gagging. That seemed to do it. The man quickly stepped aside, motioning to the stairs.

“Second door on the left. Don’t go anywhere else. Make it fast.”

Since he was watching, I purposely tripped over the first stare, falling to my hands and knees as Damon struggled to hold me upright. He gathered me up in his arms, carrying me up the long winding staircase.

“Thank you,” he called back over his shoulder. “I appreciate this.”

I kept up the act, whining about my sick tummy and how I was going to throw up any second. When we reached the bathroom upstairs, Damon set me down on my feet, closing the door behind us.

“Nice job,” he said. “For a minute there I was afraid you might actually toss your cookies all over me.”

“The night is still young.” I winked before turning to take in the elaborate bathroom. “Whoa. Check this place out.”

The entire room was almost the size of my whole apartment. Black and white checkered flooring spread throughout leading to a bathtub big enough for four. I would have loved to take a soak in a tub like that.

Damon waited a few minutes before flushing the toilet and running the water in the sink. Doing his best to make it sound like he was cleaning up his sick girlfriend.

“We’ll wait a few more minutes, then I’ll check to see if he’s around. If we’re clear, we’ll try to find the master bedroom.” Pulling out his burner phone, Damon fired off a quick text to Noah, letting him know we had made it upstairs.

My adrenaline had begun to pump faster. Now that we were up here about to sneak around searching for the safe, I was flooded with anticipation.