“Why, yes, I think I do. How many girls are up there?”
“Six,” Larkin said.
Ella gave her a few bottles of white grape juice and pretend plastic champagne glasses. When Larkin climbed the steps, she vowed to make this as special as possible for Aleena. She could wallow in her own misery later.
The girls went through all three bottles and the three large pizzas Ella ordered. The whole time, they talked about the type of wedding Aleena wanted and what the girls could do to help.
When the daddies came to get their littles, Larkin hugged every one of them. Brylee studied her for a moment and mouthed, “We’ll talk later.”
Larkin just nodded. She waited until they walked out of the room before she started cleaning up the mess.
She was dragging the bag down the hallway when Darian found her.
“What in the world are you doing?”
“I’m taking the garbage down,” she told him.
She must have looked bad because he looked her over and scowled.
“What’s wrong?” he asked.
“Um … just a tummy ache. I think I ate too much pizza.” It was the only thing she could come up with, and it was true in a sense. Her stomach did feel weird, but she knew it had to do with her being upset.
“Let me take the bag, and you go shower. I’ll be in soon.”
“But I can take it.”
“It’s too heavy.”
“You know, I’m not totally worthless. I can do things without help.” Hell, why did she have to open her mouth?
Darian walked to her and cupped her chin. “Where did this come from?”
Oh, hell. “I just want to be able to help.”
“That’s why we have servants, honey.”
“I know. That doesn’t mean I can help with things like taking the garbage down.”
“It’s heavy.”
“I’m strong.”
He studied her for a moment. “Go, do what I say. I’ll be in soon.”
She nodded, turned, and walked toward the master bedroom. She could feel his eyes follow her, and it made her nervous. He would want to ask questions, and she didn’t have any answers.
She could always pretend to be asleep, which would give her time to come up with something.
Larkin quickly showered, brushed her teeth, and put her lotion on before she raced to the bed, threw back the covers, and got in. The only light in the room was the one from the bathroom. She turned her back and pulled the blanket up to her shoulders.
It was a long time before Darian walked in, and a few minutes later, the shower turned off. A short time later, she felt the bed dip behind her. She waited to see if he would pull her into his arms, and when he didn’t, it broke another part of her heart.
Something was definitely going on. She just had to figure out what it was.