Page 81 of Sugarlips
“A kombucha and a glass of grüner veltliner.” He paused, then leaned into me. “You see, it’s customary for you to put your date’s order before your own.”
Possessiveness reached its ugly hand inside my body and gripped my heart. And by the gleam in his eyes, he seemed to be fully aware at how much he was affecting me.
“Is it true that dentists have the highest suicide rate?”
His jaw flexed. “I don’t know. But at least we don’t get diabetes and our teeth definitely won’t rot out of our heads like, oh, I don’t know, someone who bakes sweets for a living.”
I smiled because it illustrated just how little he knew about our business and how at Beefcakes, we made healthy, sugar-free baked goods.
“Ah! Here you are!” Chloe said, sliding in beside me. “Man, the line to pee was so long because people kept hogging the mirror to reapply their—” her words cut short and I felt the sharp intake of breath as she noticed her ex. “Dan. What are you doing here?”
“The same thing you are. Networking. Though, in my case, it’s a little less desperate because I actually have an established business.”
“There is nothing about this woman that is desperate,” I said quietly, looking directly at Chloe. And I meant every word.
She blinked slowly, her freshly glossed lips splitting as she gasped a short breath.
“I wasn’t talking about Chloe,” Dan snapped.
I laughed, shaking my head at his failed attempt to get under my skin. There were a lot of ways to do so successfully, but questioning my business prowess? Yeah, not so much. “Sure, man. Whatever you need to say to convince yourself that you’re not the idiot who lost his chance with the world’s most incredible woman.” I squeezed her hand. “She’s a great partner… in every way possible.”
Chloe’s smile faded as a woman wearing a long, flowing, empire-wasted pink dress floated over to stand beside Dan. She looked like she belonged at a Renaissance Faire. She even had a thing of flowers set on top of her wavy hair like a tiara.
Chloe’s face paled, and the woman—whose name I still didn’t know—seemed equally startled to see Chloe and me there talking with her boyfriend. “Chloe,” she said and her cheeks went immediately pink.
Dan slipped an arm around her waist, tugging her into his body. “Raina, I don’t know that you’veofficiallymet my ex, Chloe. And this is herbusinesspartner, Liam.”
“Well, more than just business,” Chloe’s bold statement caught me off guard. But, now, she lifted on her toes and pressed her breasts into my side, kissing my cheek. Warring emotions raged in my chest—affection and desire and… unease. Distaste. Because it seemed like she was only doing this as a performance for Dan and Raina. She was using me.
I gave her a small smile and squeezed her hand, hoping she would relax a little. As soon as we got our drinks, we could get the hell away from these two. It was a big ballroom and we didn’t have to see them again tonight at all if we didn’t want to.
“Dan,” Raina whispered, shooting him a chagrined scowl. “This is… I…” she stuttered. “I’m so sorry,” she said, looking Chloe directly in the eyes.
Chloe’s brows jumped. “For what exactly? For stealing my fiancé or for flaunting your relationship with him at a networking event that I also happened to be at?”
“Uh…” Raina looked helplessly from Dan to me. I almost laughed at her pleading eyes.Yeah, you’re not going to get any help here, lady.
“A grüner veltliner for you, sir,” the bartender said, saving us all. “And kombucha for you, ma’am.” He slid the two drinks across the table toward Dan.
“Kombucha?” Chloe asked. “They’re serving kombucha here?”
“It’s actually my product,” Raina said. “I provided free cases for them to include on the menu.” Then, she elbowed Dan. “You said you were going to drink it with me all night.”
Dan winced and sipped his wine. “Right, right. Well, I just thought I’d take a break… have a palate cleanser.”
“It’s very good for your gut health,” she said. I wasn’t sure if she was excited and animated over her product or for the change of direction in the conversation. “Here, try some.” She waved at the bartender for two more as he handed us our drinks.
“Oh, that’s okay,” I said. “We’ve got our drinks.”
“No, no, just a couple samples! You’ll love it, I promise.”
Chloe and I shared a look and I nearly burst out laughing right there.
Before we could object, two small pours of kombucha were in front of us and we had them to our lips, sipping. It was… oh God. It was terrible. It tasted citrusy and also strangely like yogurt? With a snot-like texture thrown in for good measure.
I managed to swallow and plaster a smile on my face. “Good, right?” she grinned.
“Mmmmm.” I set the glass down, worried that the shrimp cocktail I had earlier might race up my esophagus. “That’s… unique.”
