Chapter 6

    "You look hot."

I nodded, smoothing down the gown in the mirror. True to Luka's word, I looked good in the black floor length dress. It was an off the shoulder dress with a slit in one of the legs - courtesy of Zoey, I'm sure, and my leg was exposed to the air conditioned air.

Giana and Zoey had volunteered for the positions of make up and hair artists leaving me to check myself out. My dull blue eyes were sparkling and popped since they were surrounded by a sexy smoky eye look. My blonde hair was pinned up elegantly with wisps framing my face. Owen wouldn't be pleased at the absence of my hair to mess with, but I hadn't been the one in charge.

"Why black?" Gia asked curiously, spraying my hair with hairspray behind me so it stayed put.

I shrugged, Luka's words of wisdom from yesterday ringing in my head. "I look sexy in black."

"That you do," Zoey commented, whistling to herself in appreciation. "Damn girl, if I was into girls I'd-"

I put a hand up to silence her, laughing slightly. "I don't wanna know."

When the girls announced they were done, we made our way to the stairs. My silver heels, matched with the silver clip holding my hair in place were clacking against the hardwood loudly, but I ignored the sound. I descended the stairs, coming face to face with Owen who was talking to Chris.

At the sound of heels, Owen looked up at me, smiling widely. "Wow, Chlo bo, you look beautiful."

"Thank you," I murmured, willing the blush crawling up my neck to go away. "You look pretty handsome yourself."

And he did, of course. Owen was decked in a navy blue suit complete with a black tie and black loafers. His blonde hair was gelled back and his blue eyes were assessing every inch of me. He looked like a model.

Chris smiled, giving me two thumbs up. "You look great LoLo."

Owen frowned as he looked at my head, running his fingers across the hair at the back of my head. "Why is your hair up?"

I shrugged. "Ask Giana. She was in charge of my hair."

"But I like your hair down."

"Sorry," I mumbled with a sigh.

"S'okay, shall we go?" Owen asked, holding his arm out for me and offering me an affectionate beam.

I nodded, before realizing I wanted to grab my clutch that I'd left in the kitchen - my clutch which held candy, so it was important - and I held a finger up to signal I'd be a minute. He nodded, returning to his conversation with Chris and I slowly walked to the kitchen. The last thing I wanted to do was fall flat on my face - that would just be unattractive.

My eyes searched for my clutch, but instead they found Luka, leaning against the island. He looked comfy and casual in black sweatpants and a tank top and I figured his plans for tonight were null and void. I felt a twinge of guilt that everyone was gonna be out of the house tonight - since Chris and Gia had a date - until I reminded myself he'd been the one to suggest I go.

He scanned me up and down slowly, licking his bottom lip before meeting my eyes. His lips parted, as if to say something, but he closed it soon after. He looked like a fish out of water, struggling with what to say, and I broke our stare by heading to get my clutch.

"Have-" Luka cut himself off, clearing his raspy throat. "Have fun tonight."

"What are your plans for the night?" I questioned curiously, double checking my clutch to make sure it still held the candy. It did.

He shrugged, avoiding my gaze and looking down at the hardwood floor. "I dunno. Maybe watch TV or sleep."

I nodded, not completely believing him but I'd settle for the answer since I had no proof he was lying. "We'll have a good night."

"You too, Cheese Puff. I'll see you later."

I walked back to the living room, taking Owen's arm and following him to the limo that was waiting for us. I raised an eyebrow, looking over towards him. "You got a limo?"

He nodded, waiting for his driver to open the door before motioning for me to slide in. He did, and I did after him. "Of course. It's a formal event, everyone there will be arriving in limo's."

"Just seems a bit... Much?" I tested, letting my eyes wander to the front door where Luka stood, staring at the limo as it took off. He couldn't see me looking, the windows were completely tinted, but I couldn't help but feel bad he was being left alone tonight. His friend had just died, he'd just been told yesterday. Why did he want to be by his self?

"It's not too much, I swear. Everyone will be in one."

"If everyone jumped off a cliff, would you?" I quipped, unable to help myself. I realized what I said right after I said it and covered my mouth, my eyes widening in horror. My eyes found Owen's blue ones who were clouded with amusement. "Oh my god, I'm so sorry Owen I didn't mean that. I mean, I did but not like that. I wasn't-"

He waved a dismissive hand at me, chuckling to himself. "Chlo bo, it's alright. You wouldn't be you if you didn't speak what was on your mind. That's one of the things I love about you."

Love?

"As a friend, of course," he added as an afterthought after seeing the confusion on my face.

Oh.

We pulled up outside the banquet hall and the driver opened the door once more. Owen got out first, extending his hand out to help me and I took it gratefully. As soon as we were out, a flurry of flashes started, temporarily disabling me. I covered my eyes at the bright lights, glancing back towards the limo where the driver was still standing.

"Well are you gonna come in?"

The driver looked at Owen, before looking back at me. "Pardon?" He had a slight British twang to his accent and I smiled.

"I know you're Owen's driver, I saw you dropping him off yesterday. You must be his personal driver, right?"

He nodded, looking towards a confused Owen before glancing back at me. "Yes ma'am."

"Call me Chloe," I told him.

"Chloe," he mumbled, recognition dawning on his face before he glanced at Owen.

I nodded, extending my hand out for a handshake. He took it tentatively, still completely confused and I motioned towards the banquet hall. "Come on, come in with us."

"Oh, ma'am I-"

"Do you plan to stay out here and wait for us until we're done?"

He nodded. "Yes ma'am."

"Chloe," I corrected with a smile. "No need to waste gas sitting in the car by your lonesome for a couple hours. Come in and eat with us."

"Oh, I-"

"He can come, right Owe bo?"

Owen had a small smile on his face as he gazed at me and he nodded, looking towards the driver. "Come on Harry, come in and get a bite with us. There's plenty to go around, I'm sure."

At that approval, Harry the driver smiled. He nodded, closing the door and going around to lock the limo. After making sure - and double and triple checking - that it was locked, he came back to my side. He looked at me, smiling softly. "Thank you, Miss Chloe."

"Just Chloe. And no need to thank me, Harry. You deserve food too, especially dealing with this dimwit day in and day out."

"Hey!" Owen protested, wrapping an arm around my shoulders as we walked. "Don't be rude."

"You're different from the others Mr. Peterson has brought around," Harry admitted quietly, as if he was going to get in trouble for speaking his mind. He had better not, or I'd kick Owen's butt from here to Timbuktu.

"I've known this bozo since we were little," I told him, jutting a thumb in the direction of Owen.

"I know," he smiled. "Mr. Peterson speaks quite highly of you."

"Does he now?"

"Thank you, Harry, that's enough," Owen grumbled, and the flashing of lights started once more as we neared the door.

"Owen! Can we get a picture of you and your date please?"

Owen smiled, nodding and pulling me into him for the picture. I noticed Harry move to the side, out of sight of the cameras and I frowned. I grabbed his arm, yanking him towards us and wrapping an arm around his waist. He tensed at first, before relaxing and looking towards Owen, as if asking if this was okay. Owen smiled in response to him, looking down at me before looking back at the cameras.

The paparazzi snapped a couple pictures of the three of us, asking questions I couldn't quite make out until one shouted, "Isn't that your driver, Owen?"

"Sure is!" Owen exclaimed, wrapping an arm around Harry's shoulder.

"He's eating with you?" The voice of the woman sounded shocked, as if that had never happened before. Harry was a person too, why wasn't he able to come?

"Course he is," Harry boasted, grinning over at Harry. "My date invited him, who was I to say no? He does so much for me, he deserves a good meal!"

The three of us walked into the banquet hall and Harry excused himself to the refreshment table. Owen grabbed my hand, pulling my attention towards him before I could assess the room. "You're a good person, you know?"

"How? All I did was ask him to come eat with us."

"No one does that," Owen admitted, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. "I'm guilty, I usually don't either."

"Well you should," I informed him sternly. "He's a person too, and he does a lot for you. Invite him more places, you just might make his day."

He nodded, a bright smile coming upon his face. "I'll keep that in mind."

Someone came up, tapping Owen on his shoulder and breaking his attention from me. I took that moment to gaze around the banquet hall and take in the tables draped in elegant white cloth. There was stage at the front of the room which had a spotlight pointing towards it. Chandeliers draped from the ceiling, their lights twinkling dimly but just enough to create a glow. There were pictures of captured movie scenes covering the walls and I grinned at the ones Owen was in. Looking around at the different people here, I noticed a lot of people from the posters sitting around, eating or pretending to eat table foods.

"Care for some cheese, miss?"

I turned on my heel, about to accept the offer when my jaw dropped. There stood none other than Luka Sanchez in a black suit and tie, his curls were combed back and tidy, giving off the impression they'd never been unruly in the first place. He looked incredibly handsome and I couldn't help but check out the way the suit hugged his chest. "Luka?"

"Surprise!" He grinned his boyishly cute smile and I couldn't help but laugh at his childishness. He had been in sweatpants not even a half hour earlier, so how had he changed and gotten here so quickly? And why was he here? Luke was in the army - he wasn't a waiter. As if he was reading my thoughts, he explained. "Owen needed a date, and someone needed to chaperone. So I offered to play waiter for the night."

I couldn't help the giggles that escaped and I covered my mouth to try to complain them. "How debonair of you, Mr. Sanchez."

He chuckled, a teasing smile crossing his face. "You sure you weren't hired to be an english teacher, Ms. Russell?"

With a nod and a giggle, I gestured towards Owen. "I guess I should go be a good date and mingle."

"You do that."

I turned to make my way towards Owen, but before I could, I felt an arm snake around my waist. Someone's chest pressed up against my back, and a hand slowly made it's way up from my wrist to my shoulder. Tingles were left in it's place. Warm breath fanned my neck, and Luka's husky voice mumbled softly, "Good choice with the black, Ms. Russell. You look absolutely ravishing." 

No sooner than his words registered in my head, the pressure on my back was released, the arm gone, and when I turned, so was Luka. I breathed in a shaky breath, continuing on my path towards Owen. He smiled when he saw me, and pulled me to his side, introducing me to the people in front of us. And still, throughout the night, during dinner with Harry and dancing with Owen, all I could think about was Luka's green orbs staring me down the entire time.