“Should I call your cab?” Jay’s dark menacing shadow swallowed Zara’s view.
“Excuse me. We’re dancing.” Her anger rose when she noticed he’d brought along the zombie bride. “And then we’re going to party in a bed of zombie dust in Bob’s hotel suite.”
“I don’t think so,” Jay said firmly. “You’re going home.”
She wrapped her arms around Bob and glared at Jay. “Get over your bossy self. How I choose to spend my evening is none of your concern.”
“Maybe we could go, too.” The zombie bride curled her talons around Jay’s arm. “The party’s almost over.”
“The more, the merrier.” Bob slid an arm around Zara’s waist. “Let’s get the party started.”
Zara had a settlement meeting on Thursday morning. She needed tomorrow to prep, but damned if she was going to leave the party alone after Jay had hooked up with the wrong kind of bride right in front of her. “Just give me a minute to change out of this tablecloth.”
“Why bother?” Bob asked. “You’re just going to take it off anyway.”
Jay growled. At least she thought it was a growl. But then he rubbed his head and she became more concerned about a possible concussion than the way that sound rumbled through her body.
“Do you have a headache? Dizziness? Blurred vision?” She shook off Bob’s arm. “I talked to Parvati and she said I should keep an eye on you in case you have a head injury.” Her gaze fell on the simpering bride. “Of course, if you’ve got someone else to look after you tonight, I’ll be free to continue my super fun evening with Bob.” She held her breath, silently wishing he did have a headache—just a little one. Bob’s zombie dust party was the last place she wanted to be.
“Now that you mention it . . .” His hand went to his head, his brow creasing in a frown.
“Oh my God. I’m calling an Uber right now.” She gave Bob’s arm a squeeze. “Don’t you worry about a thing. I’ll handle this. I’m so sorry I’ll have to miss the after-party. I’ve always wanted to roll naked on a bed of zombie dust in a room filled with strange men, but I’d better get Jay to the hospital. I’m pretty sure the cauldron was unstable, and the fake blood on the floor was a definite slip-and-fall hazard. You don’t want a lawsuit on your hands.”
“Lawsuit?” Bob’s eyes widened. “I don’t want any negative publicity.”
“Don’t worry.” She put an arm around Jay’s waist as if he was about to collapse and she’d actually be able to stop his fall. “I’ll take care of everything.”
? 14 ?
“Around the back to Bay 5.” Zara leaned over the seat to talk to the Uber driver. “It’s the last one on the left.”
“That’s for ambulances,” Jay pointed out.
“It’s also for people who have a friend who is an ER doctor and is giving them special treatment. I come here all the time. It’s not a problem.”
“What do you mean you come here all the time?” Jay rubbed his head. He suspected the headache was more at the thought of Zara going to a slimy D-list actor’s zombie dust party than any injury he’d suffered from the fall. Or maybe it was because he associated hospitals with the worst times in his life: his mother’s illness and the aftermath of the crash that still gave him nightmares. Those first few days in the field hospital, still suffering the effects of a parachute drop too close to the ground, he’d had to watch soldiers bring in the bodies of the men he couldn’t save.
But no one was dying today. He didn’t even know why he had come except that Zara had threatened to put herself in a dangerous situation and he didn’t want to let her out of his sight. And maybe someone could give him a couple of pills to make the damn headache go away.
“My overzealous nature lends itself to the occasional injury,” Zara said. “It’s no big deal. No one has been seriously hurt or killed. At one point I contemplated having my dates sign a waiver before we went out, but then I figured that was just asking for trouble. People aren’t as careful when there’s a waiver in place. They take unnecessary risks. I didn’t want that to happen.”
Zara hadn’t been kidding about being in the hospital before. Jay felt like royalty when they were greeted warmly and then whisked through admissions at super speed. By the time Parvati joined them in the small curtained cubicle, he realized the whirlwind process had numbed the anxiety he usually felt when he visited hospitals or accompanied his mother for medical procedures.