Page 56 of On the Rocks

“I mean, it’s been nice catching up with some of the guys, I guess. But most people already know what I’m up to,” I said.

“Thanks to thatGQarticle?” Cora teased. “Have they started calling you Cocktail King yet?”

“Can you be serious?”

She batted her eyelashes at me. “I amsoserious, Your Majesty.”

“Well, Zelda…” I said, watching her cheeks pink as I used her old nickname.

“Knock it off.”

“What’s that they say? Turnabout’s fair play.”

“Mm-hmm,” she muttered, picking up a plate at the end of the buffet table. She handed it to me and grabbed another one for herself.

“Anyway, the conversations have been a little stilted, if I’m being completely honest.” Except with her, of course. “Talking about myself here sort of feels like flaunting my success. And that’s not the vibe I’m going for.”

“I suppose it’s hard to hide the fact you’re a billionaire,” Cora said. “What with all the cars you own.”

“I think I own a reasonable number of cars, considering. You want to talk about unreasonable, ask me how much Vincent’s Bugatti cost him.” That was in the ballpark of several million dollars.

“I’d rather not know.”

I chuckled at the look on her face. “How are your catch-ups going?”

“Well, I haven’t intimidated anyone, that’s for sure. Sort of the opposite.”

“What do you mean?”

Cora sighed. “People keep asking what I’ve been up to. What I’m doing for work.”

“Right.”

“And I obviously can’t tell them about the Masked Mixer, since that’s supposed to be anonymous.”

“Ah,” I said, starting to understand.

A frustrated line appeared between her brows. “When I tell people I’m bartending in Manhattan, they all smile and say, ‘That’s nice.’ But I know they really mean, ‘Hmm, you’ve accomplished nothing since high school.’”

“There’s nothing wrong with bartending.”

“I know!”

“But also, you could have told them you’re working at Elixir.”

Cora shrugged. “I thought about it, but then they’d ask what I do there, and I’d have to try not to actually give myself away.” She shot me a wicked grin over her shoulder. “They’d be like, ‘Oh, you work for Aiden! What’s it like being one of the lowly employees to His Majesty the Billionaire?’”

I groaned. “I’m not talking to you anymore.”

Cora broke into a fit of giggles, catching my hand as I pretended to leave the line. “I’m kidding. Okay, I’ll stop now.”

A wave of heated sparks spread up my arm. It was like getting an electric shock, and my heart skipped. When I met her eyes, I could see she was blushing, as potently aware of me as I was of her. We hadn’t had a chance to repeat our kiss…but god, I wanted to. I just wanted to make absolutely certain she was ready this time so the kiss wouldn’t end as abruptly as the last one had.

She stiffened suddenly, her eyes widening at something happening over my shoulder.

“What is it?” I asked.

She shook her head. “Nothing. No. Sorry.” She laughed, the sound strange and choked. “It’s nothing.”

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