Sin With Me

5

With the exception of one Brody Scott, lead guitarist for Bad Habit, whose hauntingly intense green eyes I haven’t been able to get out of my head in the year and a half since we first met.

Which is exactly why I won’t go anywhere near him. An attraction that powerful is too dangerous for someone with no past or future, and who has a black hole in her chest where a living, beating heart used to be.

The moment Kat and I enter the waiting room, Kenji leaps to his feet with an ear-splitting shriek and collapses on us as if he’s the one in labor and not Chloe.

“Omigodtellmewhat’shappeningisshehavingthebabyrightNOW?”

It comes out in an almost unintelligible, breathless burst. Wearing a vintage red velvet smoking jacket over white leather pants paired with hot-pink combat boots, his nails painted as red as his lips—it’s Valentine’s Day after all—he hangs on to us, clutching our arms, swooning and fluttering his false eyelashes.

Being careful not to smudge his perfectly applied foundation, Kat plants a kiss on his smooth cheek. “It takes a little longer than that, honey.”

He turns his big brown eyes to her. “How much longer?”

She lifts a shoulder. “Could be a few hours, could be a day.”

His gasp alone is so dramatic he could win an Oscar for Best Performance. Combined with his look of utter horror and the way he recoils with his hands on either side of his face, it sets Kat and me off into gales of laughter.

“A day!” he squeaks, outraged. “That’s barbaric! That’s inhumane! That’s cruel and unusual punishment just for riding the baloney pony! Oh!” He flops back into the chair he was sitting in when we entered and lifts a shaky hand to his forehead. “I’m so glad I don’t have a v****a!”

Standing next to Kenji’s chair with his hands on his hips and a grin on his face, Nico drawls, “Well, that’s one mystery solved.”

Kenji goes from fainting ingenue to smoldering seductress in one second flat. He crosses his legs, bats his lashes at Nico, and purrs up at him. “Would you like proof, you sexy thang?”

Amused, Kat crosses to Nico and wraps her arms around his waist. “Stop hitting on my husband, Scarlett O’Hara. This bad boy is mine.”

Nico, spectacular in tight jeans and a black T-shirt that looks painted onto his muscular chest, takes Kat’s face in his hands and kisses her. As usual, it’s embarrassingly passionate. Those two take public displays of affection to a whole other level. Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for s*x in public places. But kissing? Snuggling? Lovey-dovey-ing?

Barf.

Kenji purses his lips and mutters, “He was mine first, bitch.”

I hand Kenji the rest of my vodka. “Here. You need this more than I do.”

He accepts it gratefully, sighing. “Oh, lovey, you’re the only one of this rotten crew who understands me.” He downs the drink in one gulp and then looks around hopefully. “Where’s the bar in this joint?”

“Hospitals don’t have bars in them, Einstein.”

Kenji gazes up at me in consternation. “Then how did you get this?” He rattles the ice cubes in the empty glass in his hand.

“There’s a minibar in Chloe’s maternity suite, courtesy of her father.”

He looks thoughtful. “Do you think they’ll mind if I just pop in for a little refill? If I’m going to have to sit in this hideous mauve waiting room with Dolly Parton playing on the speakers for a day, I’m going to need booze or I’ll go absolutely mad.”

I chuckle. “Actually, I think Chloe’s dad would be thrilled if you went up and asked for a drink.”

Kenji pops to his feet and beams. “I knew I liked that man!” He lowers his voice to a whisper. “Even if he is a Republican.”

He says the word “Republican” as if it’s “murderer.” I say wryly, “Sweetheart, I think you’re the last person in the world who should be judgmental.”

He tsks, waving me off as ridiculous. “Oh, honey, it’s wrong to judge someone on something they’re born with, like their race or s****l orientation. But if you choose to be an i***t, that’s a different story.”

“Right. Because no Democrat in history was ever an idiot.”

He stares at me for a beat, and then says icily, “For the sake of our friendship, I’ll pretend I didn’t hear that.” With a flourish, he turns and sashays away.

Looking around the empty waiting room, I ask Nico, “What happened to the guys?”

Barney, Nico’s bodyguard and driver, and Ethan and Chris, the keyboardist and bassist for Bad Habit, are nowhere to be seen. We’d been having a barbeque at Nico and Kat’s house when Chloe went into labor. We all drove to the hospital together, but somehow managed to leave Brody behind at the house.

Nico says, “In search of food.”

“More food? I think Barney had about two dozen of those ribs you made.”