She gaped—how did he turn that one around? ‘No. I’m only thinking of Lauren.’ She vehemently denied that tendril of excitement curling through her innards at the thought of spending time with him. He had an outsize ego that needed stripping. ‘You think you’re irresistible, don’t you?’
‘Experience has led me to believe that’s often the case.’
His eyes were glinting. He might be laughing, but she suspected part of him meant it. Outrageous wasn’t the word. The guy needed taking down a peg or forty. ‘Not in this case.’
‘No?’ He chuckled, radiating good humour. ‘So that blush is pure annoyance? Then you’ve nothing to worry about, right? We can organise Lauren’s party together because you can resist me no problem.’
Could she resist him? For a second Mya wondered and then her fighting spirit came to the fore. Of course she could. ‘No problem at all.’
He leaned closer. ‘I’m sorry I haven’t seen much of you in recent years.’
‘Maybe you should have turned up to a couple of Lauren’s birthday parties.’
He winced, hand to his chest. ‘I was overseas.’
She knew he’d studied further overseas before coming back and setting up his own practice. ‘So convenient. For work, was it? You learned well from your father.’
‘Meaning?’
‘Doesn’t he use work for emotional avoidance too? Earns millions to buy the things to make up for it.’ Lauren had been given so many things and none of them what she’d truly yearned for.
The laughing glint vanished from Brad’s eyes. ‘Formed a few judgments over the years, haven’t you?’
Mya realised she might have gone more than a little far. ‘I’m sorry, that was out of line. I’ll always be grateful for the kindness your parents showed me,’ she said stiltedly, embarrassed at her rudeness.
But he laughed again, the devil dancing back in his eyes. ‘Their kindness?’
Okay, maybe he did remember the ultra-frosty welcome she’d got for the first year or three that she and Lauren hung out. ‘They didn’t ban me from their home.’ Even though she knew they’d wanted to. Now they realised they owed Mya something.
‘Don’t worry about it. I know even better than you what a mess it was.’
He’d certainly left home the second he could. Mya had been the one who’d spent every afternoon after school with Lauren in that house. She and Lauren hid up in Lauren’s suite, laughing and ignoring the frozen misery downstairs. The false image of the perfect family. ‘But Lauren’s the one who’s made the conscious effort to be different from how she was raised.’
‘You’re saying I’ve not?’
Mya shrugged. ‘You’re the mini-me lawyer.’
‘You do know my father and I practise vastly different types of law. I’m not in his firm.’
Blandly she picked up a glass and polished it. That didn’t mean anything.
‘What, all lawyers are the same?’ He snorted. ‘I don’t do anything he does. I work with kids.’
She knew this, and at this precise moment she point-blank refused to be impressed by it. ‘You think your save-the-children heroic-lawyer act somehow ameliorates your womanising ways?’ Because Brad was a womaniser. Just like his father.
‘Doesn’t it?’
See, he didn’t even deny the charge. ‘You think? Yeah, that’s probably why you do child advocacy,’ she mused. ‘To score the chicks by showing your sensitive side.’
He laughed, a loud burst of genuine humour that had her smiling back in automatic response.
‘That’s an interesting take. I’ve never really thought about it that way.’ He shrugged. ‘But even if it does give me some chick-points, at least I’ve done something with my life that’s useful. Is igniting alcohol for party boys useful?’
She shifted uncomfortably. Serving drinks was a means to an end. But she managed a smooth reply. ‘Helping people relax is a skill.’
His brows shot up. ‘I’m not sure you’re that good at helping guys relax.’
She met his gaze and felt the intensity pull between them again.
‘Are you still at university or are you finished now?’ He broke the silence, looking down and toying with the pile of postcards on the edge of the bar.
‘I’m there part-time this year.’
‘Studying what?’
‘A double degree. Law and commerce.’
‘Law and commerce?’ he repeated. ‘So you’re going to become a greedy capitalist like my evil father and me?’ He laughed. She didn’t blame him, given her stabbing disapproval mere seconds ago. ‘You’re enjoying it?’
‘Of course,’ she said stiffly.
‘And the plan?’
‘A job in one of the top-five firms, of course.’
‘Speciality?’
‘Corporate.’
‘You mean like banking? Counting beans? Helping companies raid others and earning yourself wads of cash in the process?’
‘Nothing wrong with wanting to earn a decent wage in a job where you can sit down.’ She walked away to serve the customers she’d been ignoring too long. Her need to achieve wasn’t something trust-fund-son over there could understand. She needed money—not for a giant flat-screen TV and a house with a lap-pool and overseas jaunts. She needed a new house, yes, but not for herself. For her parents.
She was conscious of his gaze still on her as he sat now nursing something non-alcoholic and taking in the scene. As she glanced over, she saw his eyes held a hint of bleak strain. Was it possible that behind the playboy façade, the guy was actually tired?
But he didn’t leave. Even when the bar got quieter and they’d turned the music down a notch. In another ten minutes the lights would brighten to encourage the stragglers out of the dark corners. Mya felt him watching her, felt her fingers go butter-slippery. She kept thinking about the kiss; heat came in waves—when memory swept over control. She couldn’t stay away when he signalled her over to his end of the bar.
‘I’ve been thinking about the drinks for Lauren’s party,’ he said easily. ‘It would be good to offer something different, right? Not just the usual.’
So that was why he was still sitting there? He was party planning? Not surreptitiously watching her at all?
‘There you go, see?’ Mya said brightly, masking how deflated she suddenly felt. ‘You’ll organise a brilliant party. You don’t need me.’
‘I need your expertise,’ he countered blandly. ‘I don’t think I can ignite alcohol.’
No, but he could ignite other things with a mere look. Mya pulled her head together and focused on the task at hand. ‘You want me to come up with a couple of Lauren-inspired cocktails?’
‘They’re the house speciality, right? So, yeah, make up some new ones, give them a cute name, we’ll put them up on the blackboard.’ He chuckled. ‘Something that’ll be good fun to watch the bartender make. Definitely use a bit of fire.’
‘And ice,’ she answered, then turned away to scoop crushed ice into a glass and wished she could put herself in with it. How could she be this hot? Maybe it was a bug?
‘What would you use to make her cocktail?’ he asked idly. ‘What kind of spirit is Lauren?’
She took the question seriously. ‘Classic bones, quirky overtones. A combination that you wouldn’t expect.’
She turned her back to him and looked at the rows and rows of gleaming bottles. Reached up and grabbed a few and put them on the bar beside Brad. Then she poured. ‘Her cocktail would need to be layered.’ Carefully she bent and made sure each layer sat properly on the next. ‘Unexpected but delicious.’ She smiled to herself as she added a few drops of another few things. Then she straightened and looked at him expectantly.
He just held her gaze.
Finally she broke the silence. ‘You don’t want to try it?’
He studied the vivid blue, orange and green liquid in the glass in front of him. ‘Not unless you try it first. It looks like poison to me. Too many ingredients.’
; ‘I don’t drink on the job.’ She smiled sweetly. ‘Are you too scared?’
‘Don’t think you can goad me into doing what you want,’ he said softly. But he picked up the glass and took a small sip. He inhaled deeply after swallowing the liquid fire. ‘That’s surprisingly good.’
‘Yes,’ Mya said smugly. ‘Just like Lauren.’
He grinned his appreciation. ‘All right, clever clogs, what cocktail would you put together for me?’
Oh, that was easy. She picked up a bottle and put it on the bar.
He stared at it, aghast. ‘You’re calling me a boring old malt?’
‘It needs nothing else. Overpowering enough on its own.’
‘Well, you’re wrong. There’s another like that that’s more me than a single malt.’
‘What’s that?’
‘Tequila. Lethal, best with a little salt and a twist of something tart like one of your lemons.’
She rolled her eyes.
‘And what are you?’ He laughed. ‘Brandy? Vodka? Maudlin gin?’
‘None. I don’t have time.’
‘You should make time. You shouldn’t work so hard.’
‘Needs must.’ She shrugged it off lightly. ‘And you have to leave now so I can close up the bar.’
‘Have lunch with me tomorrow. We can brainstorm ideas.’
She should have said yes to organising the party on her own. Why had she thought he ought to have active involvement? ‘I’m at class tomorrow. I’m doing summer school.’ She’d be in summer school for the next three years.
‘Okay, breakfast, then.’