“You know...the usual.” I took another sip, shaking my head with regret. “Lions, and tiger, and bears.”
“Oh my.”
The glass went back on the table, and I dropped my head into my hands.
“I did this really stupid thing...to a really good friend of mine.”
A pair of warm fingers slipped beneath my chin, lifting it back up again. An almost crippling wave of guilt crashed over me, but when I looked at Nick, all I saw was a gentle smile.
“I’m sure he had it coming.”
I froze for a split second, then a burst of actual laughter escaped my lips. My hands clamped over my mouth, desperate to apologize, but the second I laughed, he started laughing as well. Before long, it was over-taking us completely, filling our eyes with tears as we bounced back and forth—replaying the bizarre events of the day, slowly emptying the whiskey as we did.
As the bottle got lower and lower, our voices got louder and louder. More buttons were loosened. Twenty minutes in, I kicked off my uncomfortable shoes. The manager was summoned to bring in round two and disappeared with a smile—shaking his head at the thousands of dollars us crazy kids were spending to just to cut lose.
“I literally had no idea what to think,” Nick admitted, when conversation finally turned to the now-infamous grope. “For a second, I actually thought she might be blind or something. Poor thing just didn’t know where she was reaching.”
I slumped over the table, shaking with uncontrollable laughter. Nick tried to swat at me, but he was too far
away and it didn’t help that he was still laughing himself. For the last hour and a half, it was like the two of us had been caught in a wave of it. Unable to stop. Unwilling to try.
“You’re just lucky she didn’t try to give you a hug,” I finally caught my breath enough to speak, rubbing absentmindedly at my collarbone as I remembered her crushing embrace. “I think those implants might have broken something...”
He snorted with laughter, pouring himself another glass.
“You know, if we ever actually had sex, she would kill me with those things.” His smile abruptly faded as he stifled a shudder. “I’m not even entirely sure it would be an accident.”
We shared a grave look, before collapsing once more.
It was all just too much.
The headlines. The merger. The trouble with his father. Something had to break, and our little Miss Oklahoma had been that proverbial tipping point.
Of course...she would have never factored into the equation if it hadn’t been for me. A fact that Nick was just starting to realize, through his drunken stupor.
“Hey,” he scooted suddenly closer to me in the booth, kicking off his shoes as we both reclined against the designer cushions, “about Ella...”
Even as intoxicated as I was, my chest tightened nervously at the name.
Shit—so we’re back to this again?
“Who?”
Not my best defense, but it was worth a try.
He flashed me an indulgent grin, but then grew suddenly serious—his eyes dilating thoughtfully as they met mine. “Why did you pick her?”
That’s a damn good question. One that I’d like the answer to myself.
What the fuck had come over me last night? Why—when I opened up Ella Campbell’s file—had I picked up the phone? What had possibly possessed me to be so foolish?
“You said that being with a stranger would be awkward, but professional,” I quoted his exact words from the day before, my voice lowering to a soft murmur. “A mutually beneficial arrangement. One with no real emotion—everything would be staged.”
He tilted his head to the side, trying to understand.
“So you found me a real-life succubus?”
“No.” I laughed quietly, then the alcohol took hold. “Well actually yeah...kind of.”