Page 75 of Due Diligence

Alex smirked and leaned back in his seat, settling into the plush cushions. “Erin, baby, just drop out of school. Look at Marcus and me—absolutelycrushingit.”

“She’s a hot second away from getting her PhD,” I reminded him, forcing myself not to be too condescending—but still condescending enough that I could at least get some entertainment out of this otherwise insufferable conversation. “She’s not going to drop out just because you got high at your birthday party and offhandedly recommended it to her.”

He narrowed his bloodshot eyes and said, “Dude, you can be such a buzzkill. Are you sure you don’t want a little? I feel like you could really use some.” He nodded at the little baggie of cocaine on the table. “All yours.”

“Maybe later,” I lied. It was easier than giving him any of the number of reasons why I didn’t want to do a line with him right now. For one, there were over a hundred people at this spectacle of a birthday party, all of whom had their phones out to document every moment of it. If any of them caught me inhaling just one speck of coke, I would be out a shit ton of money. For another, I hated cocaine. It made me too twitchy. I was already an anxious motherfucker, and I didn’t need to feel any more alert than I already did. And lastly, I was still waiting for Cass to arrive; it was really the only reason why I was still hanging around this clusterfuck of excess and assholes after already completing my requisite hour.

I leaned back in my seat and glanced at my watch, wondering where she was. The night surrounded me, lively and cool, and from here on the rooftop of the Peninsula Hotel I had a rare, clear view of the stars. I imagined us sitting side by side, getting tipsy and leaning close as I pointed out constellations to her. But then again, knowing her, she probably had a vast knowledge of constellations that would put mine to shame. That was fine. Cass could read me the instruction manual for a toaster and the timbre of her voice would still captivate me.

The sound of Alex inhaling sharply, attempting to clear his nostrils, snapped me out of my reverie. I glowered at him,wondering if he were lucid enough to remember any of this tomorrow. If not, maybe I would take this opportunity to tell him that in a few weeks when we finally sold the company to Davenport-Ridgeway, I had every intention of withdrawing as much money as I could from the bank and fucking Cass on a pile of it.

“Hey, do you want to get another drink with me?” Erin asked me. She was watching me cautiously as I glared at Alex.

She was an angel—a brilliant, empathetic angel. I nodded and trailed after her towards the bar on the other side of the rooftop.

“He’s such a character,” she said. “I thought I would be used to it by now, but he still surprises me.”

“Same. Ten years together and I still don’t really know what goes through his head sometimes.”

Erin waited while I ordered us each another drink. We clinked glasses once I had them in hand, toasting silently to our enduring friendship of convenience. There was an empty cocktail table close to the railing, and we set up shop there.

She let out an exhale after the first sip of her drink and grinned, contentment washing over her face. “I always get excited when you reach out to me.”

“Yeah?” I asked. I stepped closer to her so she could hear me over Alex’s overpriced DJ. “Is it the free drinks all night, the opportunity to watch Alex make a fool of himself, or is it my brilliant conversational skills?”

“Oh, it’s the drinks,” she deadpanned. “Duh. But the other two are perks, I admit.”

Conversation was always easy with Erin. It was the main reason why I continued to invite her to these parties. Neither of us felt the need to put on airs. “So what’s new with you? How’s school?”

“Boring. Expensive. The same. How’s business?”

“Boring. Expensive. The same.”

Erin grinned. “How’s life? And don’t say,boring, expensive, and the same.”

“Then I’ll keep my mouth shut.” I took a drink and scanned the rooftop, still looking for Cass. She was nowhere to be seen among the throngs of people dressed to the nines, all to celebrate a now twenty-nine-year-old with too much money and not enough impulse control.

Watching me, Erin tilted her head to the side. “Sounds like there’s someone in your life. That’s new.” Her tone was teasing, almost sisterly.

I shot her a warning look. “That’s a long story.”

Pointedly, she did a scan of the rooftop. Debauchery surrounded us, and we stood there like the parent chaperones at a high school dance. “Well, unless you’re going to ask me to dance or to do coke, we really have nothing else to do.”

“She’s supposed to be here,” I explained. “We’re kind of working together, doing this thing I can’t talk about.” I took another drink and nodded at Erin. “Question.”

“Shoot.”

“What do you do when you like sleeping with a woman, she obviously likes sleeping with you, but she keeps trying to stay away from you?”

Surprised, Erin let her jaw drop. I knew what she was thinking—that it was rare for me to show any serious interest in someone. “Oh, sweetie,” she cooed. “Women can’t really stay away from me.”

We were laughing when my eyes finally landed on her. Immediately, my laughter faded away. She had just walked through the glass doors that led out to the Salon de Ning. Time may as well have stopped. She was radiant—sex and beauty and familiarity and everything I needed wrapped up into one woman. My pulse quickened at the mere sight of her. It was true—she owned me. She always had.

She slid her long hair off her shoulder and her gaze traveled over the party before her. Almost like she could sense me watching her, her eyes met mine.

When we looked at each other, it was like a surge of heat traveled over me. I wondered if she felt it too. My hand tensed around my glass, straining to stay steady.

“Is that her?” Erin asked as Cass started walking in our direction.

---