Engaged off Bourbon Street (Jade Calhoun Short Story, Book 3.5) (2 page)

A few moments later, Kane appeared by my side, still in his pink apron.

“What’s up?” I asked.

“You told me to hurry.” He took the tray from me and placed it on a side table.

I scanned him from head to toe. “You really want to greet our guests like that?”

He glanced down at himself. “Uh, no.” Laughing, he pulled off the apron. “We’ll need to get something a little more masculine.”

“Obviously.” Summer House had been left to Kane by his grandmother, and until I came along, he’d never spent any time here. Hence the girly kitchen gear.

“Come on.” I grabbed his hand. “Maybe you can kiss Ian to get back at Pyper.”

“Uh...”

“Kidding! Jeez.”

Kane and Ian weren’t on the friendliest terms. They didn’t hate each other; they just weren’t buds.

In the few minutes we’d been holed up in the kitchen, most of our guests had arrived. Kat, Lucien, Charlie, and Lailah were huddled in the center of the room. Pyper was standing near the front windows with Ian, fidgeting.

I waved her over. “Stop it,” I whispered. “Everything’s fine. Take Ian off to one of the mistletoe bundles and get it over with already.”

“Now?”

I couldn’t believe how unsure and nervous she looked. “Yes, now. It’s not like you’ve never kissed him before.”

She swallowed. “Yeah, but that was before that reporter chick came to town.”

An old flame of Ian’s had shown up a few months ago, and according to Pyper, Ian had been preoccupied ever since. His budding romance with Pyper had come to an abrupt stop.

“Is she here?” I asked. “Did Ian invite her?”

“No, but he would hardly bring another woman to your party.”

I put my hands on her shoulders and stared her in the eye. “This is not the Pyper I know. Take charge. Let him know how you feel. March over there and give him a little bit of that tongue you laid on me about ten minutes ago.”

A bark of laughter escaped her lips. “Now you sound like Charlie.”

We both turned to check out the manager of Kane’s club, Wicked. My speech did sound exactly like something she’d say. She caught my eye, and I nodded a greeting. “Go,” I said to Pyper and crossed the room.

Kat spotted me before I made it and flung her arms around me. “Mistletoe,” she cried and then planted a kiss right on my lips.

The others all lined up to mimic her enthusiasm. After they’d each laid their loudest lip-smackers on me, we all laughed.

“Didn’t any of you bring a date?” I asked, noting the large concentration of estrogen in the room.

“I did.” Kat raised her hand and took a sip of her margarita. She wore an elegant fitted silk dress and had her salon-dyed red hair swept up in a twist. “Sort of.” She pointed to Lucien. “We came together.”

I raised one curious eyebrow. Lucien was tall, blond, and my second in command in the New Orleans coven. Kat could do worse. Way worse. “Nice,” I said. “What are you doing kissing me with him around? Go. Play doctor or something.”

“You were warm-up.” She winked and glided off to join Lucien.

Lucien waved, and I smiled, nodding in Kat’s direction just to let him know I approved. Not that he needed my permission, but she was my best friend, and I was his boss. Sort of. Leader of his coven. Close enough.

“Charlie? You’re stag?” I studied her, taking in her spiky red hair and heart-shaped face. Tonight, she wore black skinny jeans, ankle boots, and a cream off-the-shoulder sweater. Supermodel material, that one.

She waved toward the downstairs powder room. “She’s freshening up.”

Lailah shook her head, amused. “Wait until you see her.”

“Cute?”

Charlie caught my eye and chuckled. “You’ll see.”

“Just promise you’ll let this one down easy,” I begged.

The last two women Charlie dated, she’d sent a breakup text. They’d both stormed the coffee shop looking for her. At the same time. It wasn’t pretty.

“Yes, boss.” She saluted me with two fingers and disappeared into the foyer.

I didn’t bother to ask Lailah about a date. She’d just ended an on-again, off-again relationship with an angel who tried to steal my soul. It was a touchy subject. I slid my arm around her waist. “You’ll stick with me tonight. Come on. Let’s meet new people.”

We moved toward a friend of Kane’s standing near the back door, chatting with Pyper. Ian leaned against the far wall, arms crossed over his chest, eyes narrowed. What happened there? Last I saw Pyper, she was off to make a move on Ian. Did she chicken out?

“Pyper,” I called. “Introduce your friend to Lailah.” I took off toward Ian, intending to find out what had happened, but Lailah fell in step beside me. “What’s up?”

“I’m sticking with you, remember?” She tossed her honey-blond hair over one shoulder.

I stopped. “I didn’t mean literally.”

“Oh.” Her face fell.

I mentally kicked myself. “Sorry. I didn’t... I mean...”
Oh, shit. I should butt out.
She’d find someone when she was ready. “Let’s go. You can help Kane.”

She brightened and followed me into the kitchen. I grabbed a tray of crab puffs and headed back to the party. Lailah stayed behind. On the way out, I passed Pyper and Kane’s friend.

“We need to talk to Lailah,” Pyper said, tugging her companion toward the kitchen door.

“She’s helping Kane.”

Pyper smirked. “No. She’s hiding. We’ll be right back.” They disappeared through the door.

Across the room, Kat had Lucien pressed up against the wall, her face glued to his.

“Wow,” I whispered.

“She follows orders well,” a voice whispered in my ear.

I jumped, nearly dropping my crab puffs. Right next to me was a faint outline of a tall, dark-haired woman. She wore a high-necked, pale-pink ball gown, circa 1890. Taking two steps back, I glanced around, wondering if anyone else could see her.

“Who are you?” I whispered back.

She let out a high giggle and floated off across the ballroom.

Holy crap.
We had a ghost. I spun, looking for Kat, but she was still plastered against a very disheveled Lucien.
Jeez, get a room.
Pyper, Lailah, and Kane were in the kitchen. Charlie was in the foyer, appearing to be having an argument with her date.
Oh my god!
Was that Candy Rhines? The one who starred in the new hit supernatural drama on Showtime? Dang. She
was
gorgeous.

A few of Kane’s friends huddled near the punch, but I barely knew them, and asking them about a random floating woman didn’t seem like a good idea. I strode over to Ian, who was sulking against the wall.

“What’s wrong?” I asked, not sure I wanted to say anything about the ghost to him, either. Ian was a ghost-hunter. If I told him, he’d have his EMF detector out in five seconds flat.

A muscle in his jaw twitched.

“Ian?”

He averted his pale green eyes and ran a hand through his short blond hair. “Pyper... she told me... ah, shit.”

“Told you what?” Uh-oh, what had she said?

He swallowed. “She wants to get married.”

“To you?” I blurted.

“Yes, to me. You don’t have to sound so appalled.” His lips formed a tight thin line.

“Sorry. I’m just... surprised.” Yeah. Very surprised. Married? They’d barely dated. “I hadn’t ever thought of Pyper as the marrying type. I didn’t mean that the way it came out. What did you say?”

He pushed himself off the wall. “What could I say? I told her I was flattered, but that I wasn’t ready for that. Hell, we’ve only been on a handful of real dates.”

That wasn’t what I’d had in mind when I told her to tell him how she felt. Had she lost
her
mind? “Yikes.”

“You can say that again.” He took off, heading for the hallway.

A tinkling laugh rang in my ear, and the ghost appeared next to me.

I shivered, but I wasn’t cold. “Damn it! Stop that.”

She smiled and floated across the room again. Lailah burst from the kitchen, Pyper at her heels.

“But he’s perfect,” Pyper badgered. “Lailah, you have to go out with someone eventually.”

Lailah stopped in her tracks and turned on Pyper. “Not tonight, I don’t. The only thing I have to do is help Kane in the kitchen.” She turned to me. “Right, Jade?”

“No. I mean, not exactly.”

Female voices rose in the foyer as Candy and Charlie’s fight heated up. Kat lifted her face off Lucien just long enough to tell them to keep it down.

Pyper started in on Lailah again. “Philip is gone. Kane is taken. Stop punishing yourself.” She grabbed Lailah’s hand and started tugging her toward Kane’s other two friends, who were staring opened-mouthed at Kat all but undressing Lucien right there in the ballroom.

The ghost materialized, glee written all over her face. She spun around, as if twirling in delight.

“Stop it!” I shouted. “Everyone just stop. This is a party, not a free-for-all.”

Kat froze and then slowly untangled herself from Lucien. She turned to me with wide, shocked eyes and mouthed, “Oh my god.” Color rose high on her cheeks. Lucien cleared his throat and straightened his rumpled shirt.

The shouting in the foyer suddenly became one-sided as Charlie seemed to retreat from Candy.

But Candy advanced, her finger pointed. “You’re a disgrace. I can’t believe you. I’m not a fucking puppet you can string along, thinking I’ll do anything just because you’re a great lay!”

Pyper, standing next to me, let out a surprised laugh but covered it with a cough. “Sorry.” Her gaze travelled to Ian, and she abruptly turned around and hurried into the kitchen. Ian stared after her, then set his shoulders and followed, the muscle in his jaw pulsing with determination.

“Babe,” Charlie pleaded. “You misunderstood. I don’t want to break up.”

“That,” Candy pushed Charlie, making her back up under the mistletoe, “is exactly what you stood here and said. I quote, ‘Before this gets out of hand, I need to let you down easy.’ Unquote.”

“I meant...” Charlie turned to me, her eyebrows pinched.

I held up my hands. “Don’t look at me. I was only joking when I said to let her down easy because of what happened before. I didn’t know you were even thinking of breaking up.”

“Damn it.” Charlie banged a frustrated fist against her thigh. “I meant if we ever did break up. Not today.” She held out her hand to Candy. “Babe?”

Candy stared at her as if she’d grown three heads, but then her expression softened as she took Charlie’s hand.

“Kiss her,” I whispered.

To my surprise, even though I was positive Charlie couldn’t have heard me, she pulled Candy close and dipped her back into a breathtaking kiss. The kitchen door swung open. Lailah stomped out, Pyper and Kane running to catch up.

“Wait,” Pyper called.

Lailah froze and stared at Pyper. A look of horror flashed over her face before her brow crinkled in confusion. “Please tell me I’m hallucinating. That whatever just happened was a dream.”

Kane stepped up beside me. He wrapped his arm around my shoulders. “You’re never going to believe what I just witnessed.”

I leaned into him, exhausted by all the emotional turmoil, not to mention the blatant sexual energy running through the room. “In the kitchen? Did Pyper kiss
you
this time?” I teased.

His face broke into a wide grin. “No. Lailah.”

“Lailah? What?”

He nodded at where Lailah and Pyper stood. “Like that.”

Sure enough, right in front of us, Pyper had her arms around Lailah, and they were going at it like two randy teenagers.

“Stop hogging.” Kat appeared from behind us and edged Kane out of the way. She planted another kiss on my lips before I could move.

“Kat!” I pushed her away.

Lucien stepped in. “Hey, I thought that was my job tonight,” he joked.

“You had your turn.” Kat moved toward Pyper and Lailah. She placed one hand on each of their backs and leaned in.

“What the hell!” I shouted. “What is wrong with all of you? This is an engagement party. Not a bath house.”

Charlie had Candy pinned against the stairs, her tongue down the woman’s throat. Lailah, Pyper, and Kat were all kissing each other in some alternate lesbian reality. Pyper was bi-sexual, but my other two friends weren’t. None of them paid any attention to my outburst. Lucien, Ian, Kane, and his friends all stared with their mouths gaping.

“That’s it. No more mistletoe.” I raised my arms and focused on the illuminated bunches suspended around the room. “Ignite!”

Four tiny fireballs erupted from my fingers and flew high in the air. Each hovered under the bundles for a moment, then all at once, they erupted in mini infernos, turning the mistletoe to dust. My girlfriends didn’t even seem to notice, not even when the small amount of ash started to rain down on them.

Lucien whistled. “That was a fine piece of magic, Jade.”

I huffed. “Didn’t seem to help.”

The tinkling laughter sounded from behind me again. “This is too much,” the ghost whispered in my ear. “Best party ever. Even better than when Kane’s grandmother threw her tea at the society ladies for gossiping about the young widow who took a lover. Oh my, the looks on their uptight faces when they realized their favorite silks were beyond repair.”

“Do you see her?” I asked Kane.

“Huh?” He couldn’t seem to take his eyes off my friends going at it three feet from him.

I turned to the resident ghost-hunter. “Ian?”

He, at least, had the decency to acknowledge me.  He walked over to stand beside me. “Yeah?” He kept glancing at Pyper, an unnatural scowl gracing his normally genial face.

The ghost spun around, giddy in her delight of the chaos.

“Do you see that ghost?” I asked Ian.

His expression cleared, and he suddenly snapped to attention, eyes alert. He glanced around. “Where?”

I sighed. “If you could see her, you’d have noticed her by now.” She’d moved to twirling around the threesome and laughing like a loon.

“Stop it,” I yelled at her. “You’re making me crazy.”

The two make-out sessions ended abruptly. Pyper, Kat, and Lailah all stepped backward, putting about ten feet between each other. Kat covered her mouth with her hand. Lailah stood frozen, not meeting anyone’s eyes. Pyper glanced around in confusion, met Ian’s eyes, and took a few more steps back.