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With our chests pressed together, he peppers soft kisses to the tip of my nose, where my mask ends. Each peck is a shot of delirious happiness that’s impossible to hide.
“Drink?” Henry asks, perching on a bar stool with me between his thighs. Like this, we’re about the same height. We’re face to face, even as he spins me to face the bartender. “What would you like?”
The whisper tickles along my jaw, causing me to giggle. “I don’t know.”
“You ever had a Shirley Temple?”
“I’ve heard of it, but no.” I tend to go with a simple Coke or lemonade. It’s a lot cheaper than a bunch of fruit juices mixed together.
“If you like ginger ale and cherry, you’ll enjoy it.”
“Love cherry, but ginger ale…nooooo…” The one time I tried it, it tasted like I was drinking a disinfectant. It burned my mouth, and the aftertaste was gross. Just the thought makes me shudder, something that Henry seems to think is funny.
“I know you drink lemonade, so you can try a kitty cocktail. It’s basically cherry juice, lemonade, and maraschino cherries.”
Henry orders the drink along with his brandy. While we wait for the bartender to finish serving us, I watch the other guests in their costumes. It seems really weird how they all seem to be wearing the same costume in different colours. Like they all coordinated prior to the party. The women are in corseted ball gowns, while the men are in black tuxedos. I’ve never seen so many glittering jewels in one place.
“I want to talk to you about Hush,” Henry says suddenly. “Mainly you working there.”
“What about it?”
When he starts to take his mask off, I know this is going to be a serious conversation. “I can’t have you working there.”
I knew this was coming. The last few weeks, he’s found a reason to cut our time short there, and my last pay cheque felt so dirty that I started looking for other options. It’s just not right for him to pay me to play for him at the club when we’re together.
“I saw you’ve been looking for a new job, but I thought that you might want to audition for the stand-in programme with the RPO?”
I twist to look at him. “The Royal Philharmonic? But that programme only takes on graduates. I’m not—”
“I know you’re still an undergraduate, but once in a while, they make exceptions for the conservatory, and I’d be calling in a favour from the music director.” Henry’s tentative smile shows that he knows I’m not comfortable with him pulling strings for me.
“That’s a nice offer, but I don’t want to put you out, and I like getting places by my own merit.”
He nods with a soft smile. “It’s an audition. If you got the place, it would be solely based on your talent. Besides, Colin is a friend of the family. If anything, he’ll be able to offer you great advice and guidance…”
“I don’t know, Henry.” This is probably one of the best offers anyone has made for my future career. However, I’m scared that if I accept this, I’ll forever feel indebted to him. I don’t want to look back and wonder if I earned my place.
“Think about it, at least?”
“Sure.”
Obviously, he doesn’t buy my reply because he spins me to face him again before he takes my mask off and places it on the bar with his.
“Life isn’t always about what you do, how you do it, or how amazing you are at what you do. Sometimes it’s about who we know and what they see in us.” His hands hold my face with his thumbs caressing my cheeks.
Where my hair is up in a low bun, his fingers tunnel into the loose knot at my nape. And my breath catches at the back of my throat when his nails rake over my scalp. The sensation is divine, causing me to sink into him.
“I could listen to you play all day, every day. And I’m not a musical person, but you are that good. You’re incredible, and you really should think about this. Consider it wisely.”
“Okay.” I nod. “I promise I’ll think about it.”
“Good girl.” He winks at me with a soft, sexy smirk.
Fuck, I love it when he calls me that. I don’t know what it is, but it makes my insides sing with excitement. I like pleasing him. The thought that I could make him half as happy as he makes me gets me giddy. I love it.
I love him.
More than I can bear.
