Invisible (A Night Fire Novel Book 5) by TM Watkins

envelope in his hand.
    The same as last year and the year before and before that again. Spoil Kaylee but never give her what she really wants. It was only an envelope but it was guaranteed that the value was in the thousands. I never wanted for such an excessive present and I had tried to give it back, to ask him not to and to try and stop him but it never worked. Now I had resigned myself to acceptance.
    “ Hello darling.” A raspy voice filled the entry. “Happy birthday.”
    I smiled to the sweet sound of Grandma.
    “ Thank you.”
    She hugged me and planted a wet, whiskery kiss on me. Then she toddled off into the house, slowly but surely making her way through the crowd.
    I looked at Seb who was still smiling at me.
    “ I thought that you were, you know.”
    “ I am.”
    “ So what the hell was that about?”
    He grinned again and I smiled back. Damn he was beautiful.
    “ That's why Kaylee. Your response to a simple smile is enough to arouse attention but to whisper something wicked, you blushed so damned hard we could have toasted marshmallows just by standing next to you. It was a golden moment, right Nate?”
    “ Sure was.”
    “ Great.” I groaned.
    All of the guests were here and the place was full. Everyone had been directed to the larger of the entertainment areas, it overlooked the pool and the side garden. Laughter and conversation filled the space, wait staff meandering through the crowd. I stood on the exterior of it with my glass of champagne, searching the crowd and finding him in an instant. Slinky black dress was leaning against him, one arm draped over his shoulder. She whispered something in his ear, something that made him smile. Bitch.
    “ If looks could kill, huh?”
    I looked up at my newly arrived company, Seb with two fresh drinks.
    “ She'd be dead hours ago.”
    Seb chuckled, it was loud enough that it turned certain heads. I smiled up at him, wordlessly thanking him for finding humor and making it obvious.
    He leaned in to whisper in my ear, I hoped that certain people were still watching.
    “ You know Kaylee, I think we'll be great friends.”
    I smiled broadly, thinking that I could be friends with this guy.
    “ I'd like that.”
    Seb lingered close, his hand slipping around my waist to pull me closer. Girl parts have just exploded. Bye-bye ovaries. See ya later tubes. Pretty sure the hymen could withstand an atomic blast so no doubt it's still there.
    “ He's an idiot.”
    The grip around my back became firmer, pressing me against his body. My body flushed as his breath dragged over my jaw, returning to whisper in my ear.
    “ But rest assured he looks like he's ready to punch me.”
    He let me go enough that I could breathe again, his hand stayed on the small of my back.
    “ How can you do that?”
    “ Easy. I pretend that you're my partner. He loves it just as much as you do.”
    I chuckled, unable to hide my smile. I was envious of this mystery partner.
    The inquisition known as Jaxon Ryan never happened. He kept his distance, rather sending his partners in crime to do his dirty work. First on the scene was Fraser, the man was like a mountain. Even Seb seemed small by comparison.
    I smiled as he stood there, Fraser wasn't a man of many words. Well, not to me at least. Maybe it was because of all the times I had to look after his kids while he fucked his wife on her desk.
    “ Seb, this is Fraser. He's the bass player.”
    “ Oh I know.” he grinned, holding out his hand. “Big fan.”
    Fraser nodded and shook his hand.
    “ So what do you do for a living?”
    Ahh, question one in the time tested Jaxon Inquisition.
    “ Events manager at the Luxor.”
    His pale brown eyes raised with slight astonishment to the answer.
    “ Sounds like a pretty sweet gig.”
    “ Yeah, it's great. I love it.”
    As Austin appeared the anxiety in Fraser left, though he still managed to scratch the back of his head. Eden and I had a rather large discussion about the physical gestures people