Liv: Nicola St. Martin will be there?
One heartbeat.
Two.
Three.
Kayla: Are you taking a new medication? Or did Thanos turn the real Liv to ash?
“Crap.”
“Problem?” Zeke asked.
“It’s Kayla, asking me what I’m wearing tonight.”
He stilled beside her. “You going out?”
“My mother’s dinner party. It’s not in my calendar and completely slipped my mind.”
“That bad?”
“You have no idea.” She ripped off another message to Kayla, throwing out the first dress that came to mind, before stuffing her phone back in her pocket. “She said Nicola and Hugh St. Martin will be there, too. Might be an opportunity for me to wheedle some intel out of her about the mysterious object, though I don’t see that happening since I don’t possess the proper equipment.”
Hugh would be a safer bet, but Liv would have to indulge in some liquid courage before going that route. Now she understood why she hadn’t been able to reach her mom. Regina had been in party planning mode.
“Sounds like you could use a partner?”
Liv lifted a brow. “You want to attend a dinner party?”
“Hell, no.”
His answer made her both relax and stiffen. “Were you thinking Phin, then?”
He mulled over her question. “You think Kayla would take my brother as her plus one?”
“If she doesn’t already have one, I don’t see why not.” Confused, she asked, “If not you or Phin, who did you have in mind for my partner?”
“Me.”
“But you said—”
“That I didn’t want to go, not that I wouldn’t.”
“Phin could work on Nicola, while you and I could press her husband for information. Maybe one of us would get lucky.”
Liv’s heart pounded. “It’s a good plan. Phin said he could charm anyone, and Nicola loves a handsome face.”
“But?”
“If you go with me, my family will assume there’s something going on between us. Their scrutiny could be . . . intense.”
“Because you haven’t brought a guy home since Brodie’s father?”
She nodded. “It would be an event.”
“I can handle it if you can.”
“It won’t be a matter of ‘handling’ the situation. It’ll be a series of defensive moves that will leave you dizzy and slightly paralyzed.”