Page 11 of On the Rocks

“Excellent,” Allie said. She signed the witness line, then placed the NDA back into her bag. “So,” she rubbed her hands together, “Elixir is looking to launch a nonalcoholic line of drinks.”

“Nonalcoholic?” I said, confused. “Your whole brand is liquor.” If that’s what they were after, why were they looking at me?

“Yes, but Elixir is looking to expand their brand to cover more of the market, starting with a line of mocktails.”

“You’re aware the Masked Mixer mixes alcoholic drinks, right?”

Allie laughed. “Of course. But you know what tastes good, what flavors work together, and how to come up with combinations no one else has thought of. We’re after someone who’s prepared to curate a unique flavor profile. Someone who isn’t afraid to experiment and work with bold ingredients. Ingredients that will set Elixir apart from the others currently on the shelf.”

Bold ingredients sounded right up my alley.Stop that, I told myself.

“You’d have a lot of creative control,” Allie said. “Again, we’d be looking to you as the expert.”

“Hmm,” I said, reluctantly interested in the idea of creative control until I spotted a horribly familiar face coming toward us. “God, what’s he doing here?”

Allie glanced over her shoulder, smiling and waving. “Perfect timing. I did mention to Aiden that I was taking this meeting, but not that you’re the Masked Mixer. I thought it could be a good chance for the two of you to smooth things over.”

Damnit! I had no interest in smoothing things over.

“He’s super excited about launching this drink line. I really think you two will hit it off if you try again.”

“We’re gonna hitsomething,” I muttered under my breath. Probably my last nerve.

Aiden came waltzing over, all suave in his suit, his curls perfectly tousled. He shouldn’t be allowed to walk around looking that perfect. He staggered to a stop as our eyes connected.

I wasn’t wearing my mask, but I was pretty sure he’d recognize me as the Masked Mixer anyway. I half expected an eyeroll after the way we’d left things at the bar, but his eyes widened comically instead.

“Zelda?” he said with a note of disbelief, and I immediately wanted to crawl out of my skin at the nickname I hadn’t heard since high school. “Is that…Wait, is that really you? Hold on.You’rethe Masked Mixer!”

Oh, sure. Now he freaking recognized me? God, this was almost worse than him not recognizing me at all.

I needed to get out of here. “I think this meeting’s over,” I said to Allie.

Aiden’s jaw hung open, his brows drawn together like I’d just slammed my foot down on his toe. He sifted his fingers through his hair, displacing the curls. “I mean, Cora. God, it’s been so long.”

Yep, years since you broke my heart, asshole.What a nightmare this was turning out to be. “Nice of you to finally recognize me.”

“In my defense,” Aiden began. “It’s been over a decade since I’ve seen you. You look…You’re older.”

Older? Jesus Christ. Why was I being subjected to this man over and over again? Had teenage me not suffered enough? And sure, I’d changed since I was sixteen, but I hadn’t changedthatmuch. He didn’t have to be a jerk about it. “Glad all those footballtackles in high school didn’t rattle you so much that you forgot how the aging process works.”

His reply must have gotten caught behind his tongue because he closed his mouth and glared at me.

“We were just talking about Elixir’s new nonalcoholic line!” Allie interrupted loudly.

Aiden hummed sarcastically. “I’m just dying to hear what the Masked Mixer thinks about that.”

I bristled. “IthinkI have better things to be doing with my time than sitting here.”

“Hang on,” Allie said, holding her hands out, asking for a pause. “We were getting somewhere. Let’s all sit down and talk about it. I’ll order lunch on Elixir.”

“Cora doesn’t accept brand gifts,” Aiden cut in with a snide smile. “I’m assuming that extends to brand-paid-for lunches.”

“Correction,” I said. “I don’t accept gifts from brands I have no intention of working with. And as I madeabundantlyclear last night, that includes Elixir.”

Aiden sneered. “This is a waste of time.”

“Agreed.”

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