But her acceptance was cut short abruptly when the French doors opened and a couple of partiers spilled out into the courtyard, laughing so loudly and freely that there was no doubt their humor was fueled at least in part by alcohol.
“Ooh, are you telling fortunes out here?” a giggly vampiress in too-little black fabric and too much red lipstick demanded of Madison. “Tell mine!”
“No, I—”
“Here, read my palm.”
The woman stuck out her hand toward Madison, then stumbled a little on her stiletto heels. The chubby caped hero with her caught her before she fell, but not before she knocked Madison’s glass out of her hand. Madison gasped as the cold liquid trickled down her blouse and between her breasts.
“Oops.” The other woman covered her mouth with one black-nailed hand, trying not to laugh but failing. “Sorry.”
Madison was already on her feet, as was her now-frowning companion. She was sure he was trying only to help when he reached out with his napkin to dab at her wet chest.
She caught his wrist, keeping him from swabbing any lower. “I’ll just slip into the ladies’ room and tidy up.”
“Oh, uh—” As if he’d suddenly realized what he was doing, he grimaced sheepishly and drew back his hand. “Good idea. I’ll clear away our dishes.”
“Thank you.”
“I’ll find you later?” he asked as she moved toward the doors.
She sent him a look over her shoulder. “You can try.”
He grinned. “I’m always up for a challenge.”
Oh, wow, that grin was as dangerous as the whip hanging from his belt. She continued reluctantly toward the ballroom, resisting an impulse to fan her cheeks with one hand. Behind her, she heard the unabashed vampiress say loudly, “Come dance with me, Indiana. Old stodgy here doesn’t like to dance.”
“Hey!”
Leaving them to sort it out, Madison made her way through the mingling crowd toward the ladies’ room.
She was just finishing her cleanup when the restroom door opened and BiBi entered. Her genie hat was askew, and she paused in front of the mirror to straighten it.
“Some dippy woman on the dance floor just about knocked me off my feet,” she complained. “Waving her arms around like she was sending semaphore flag messages and calling that dancing. Didn’t even bother to apologize when she lurched off the dance area and into the group I was trying to talk to.”
“Let me guess—she’s dressed like a vampire?”
BiBi laughed wryly and looked at Madison’s drying blouse. “Yep. I don’t know her, she must have come as a guest of one of Carl’s associates. You’ve met her, I take it?”
“So to speak.”
“I don’t think it’s blood she’s been drinking tonight.”
“Not unless it’s ninety-proof blood,” Madison agreed ruefully, dabbing one last time at her blouse before tossing the paper towel into the trash.
“So where have you been? I haven’t seen you since we came down from my suite.”
“Just having snacks and mingling,” Madison evaded.
She wasn’t quite ready to share her evening’s harmless diversion with her friend. She didn’t want to risk having BiBi tell her that the debonair adventurer she’d flirted with in the moonlight was really a twice-divorced used car salesman with three kids he didn’t support and a reputation for running cons on gullible, overworked, romance-starved women.
She was amused by her own overwrought imagination. From hero to pig, she thought with a shake of her head. She imagined reality was somewhere in between. But for now, she’d like to keep the hero fantasy alive. Just for a little while longer.
“Have you been having fun?” she asked to take the attention away from her own activities.
BiBi beamed. “Oh, yes. Carl looks so handsome in his astronaut uniform—have you seen him yet?”
“Yes. He looks great. Did you choose his costume, too?”