Page 24 of On the Rocks

Dominic snorted into his water glass. “Oh no. I’m good. Trust me. Been there, done that. Pick on someone else.”

“I don’t pick,” Dee argued. “I gently nudge.”

Trent regarded his grandmother. “Gently?”

“At my age, I can do whatever I want. And what I want is to see all my boys happily settled,” she said.

“Then start in on those two.” Dominic pointed at me and Trent. “At least I gave marriage a try. They’re not pulling their weight at all. At this rate, Hailey’s going to start college before they do anything productive with their love lives.”

“He’s right,” Dee said, sipping a glass of wine. “Any prospects I should know about?”

Trent scoffed. “We have this conversation every week. You’d know if there was someone.”

I shook my head. “I’m too busy with work. We’ve started development on Elixir Free. I definitely don’t have time for a relationship right now.”

“Work, work, work,” Dee complained. “It can’t be all about work.”

“Says the furniture mogul,” I said.

“Who also made time to have a family,” Dee pointed out. “And look after you boys.”

“Touché,” Vincent said. Oh, sure, now that he was all loved up with Piper, he was on Dee’s side.

“Hmm…I wouldn’t be too quick to believe this one when he says he’s got nothing going on, Dee.” Dominic nodded in my direction. “I’m pretty sure I saw some sparks flying between Aiden and a certain someone.”

“Who?” Piper and Chloe demanded at once.

I frowned at him. “What are you talking about?”

“Oh, come on,” he teased. “You and Cora?”

“What about her?”

“In the cafeteria? Talking about that Hemingway-something-or-other.”

“You mean when we were arguing?” I asked, emphasizing the last word. All Cora and I had done since reconnecting was fight. But Dominic wasn’t paying attention to me, instead mouthing the wordsparksto Dee while making an explosive motion with his hands.

Dee clapped excitedly. “Now this is a development. Finally!”

“Nothing is happening,” I insisted. “And nothing is going to happen.” I wasn’t even sure Cora and I should be allowed to eat lunch in the same room.

“Deny, deny, deny,” Paul said to the table. “That’s how you know it’s real.”

Vincent and Trent burst out laughing.

I shook my head. “It’s really nothing.” Right? “I mean, sure Cora and I have a past, but?—”

“Yeah, and what exactlyisthat past?” Vincent pressed. “All I know is you dated her in high school. What’s the rest of the story?”

“Thereisno rest of the story,” I insisted. “We were kids—it didn’t work out. Nothing surprising about that.” And no need to go into the rest of it. I wasn’t exactly proud of how things had played out, but it was over and done with. No need to dredge all of thatup again now. Besides, what high school relationship actually lasts?

“You’re sure there’s no rekindling of old feelings?” Trent teased.

“Trust me. It’s ancient history.”

Nana Dee glanced at me from the corner of her eye. “Uh-huh,” she said, skeptical.

“You spend a hell of a lot of time checking out that ancient history,” Dominic pointed out. “And she spends nearly as much time checking outyou.”

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