“I do. Excuse me, I’ll go get one.” He leaned in close to my ear and whispered, “Don’t move, I’ll be right back, okay?”
I nodded, and he headed toward Jake and cocktail central.
“Oh my God,” Shawna breathed. “Who’s the guy? He’s hot.”
“No idea,” I answered, taking a sip of champagne. “I tossed my necklace at him.” I fingered my strand and looked for the guy in the crowd.
“Well, I think you should go for it,” Alia said.
“Yeah, I don’t think so.”
“Why not?” Shawna asked. “It’s not like you have a boyfriend.”
I shrugged but didn’t reply.
Shawna sighed all dreamy. “If you don’t want him, can I have him?”
The dark stranger returned and smiled at me. “So where were we? Oh yeah, you were going to tell me your name.”
I laughed. “Barrett.”
“I’m Eric.”
A person bumped into me, causing me to domino into my new companion, dousing us both in champagne.
“Crap,” I muttered. “I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay, it’s not your fault.” Eric shot a glare at the drunken guy who was gently being coerced to the front door by security. “You spilled your drink.”
“I’ll get another,” I said, attempting to move away toward the bar, “and I’ll get us a couple of napkins.”
“No,” Eric said. “I’ll go. One glass of champagne coming right up. And some napkins.”
“How about a scotch?” I asked. “I really don’t like champagne that much.”
“Whatever you want.” He left with a wink.
“He’s nice,” Shawna said. “I wish I could meet a nice guy.”
“You can,” Alia said.
“I always pick the wrong ones. Eric,” she sniggered. “Like Prince Eric fromThe Little Mermaid.”
I saw Eric work his way through the crowd, coming toward me. “Let’s cheers again,” he said, handing me a glass of scotch.
“Here, here,” Alia said.
As we sipped our drinks, Eric engaged me in conversation, but my eyes wandered around the club. I kept hoping Flynn would randomly show up, and we could spend the rest of the evening flirting and talking and moving forward in our strange relationship. I wanted him despite our circumstances, despite his mysteriousness, despite him basically being my boss.
“You okay?” Eric asked, rotating his body away from Alia and Shawna just slightly, so I was forced to turn with him.
“Hmmm? Oh, fine.”
“You seem a little distracted.”
“Sorry.”
“I really enjoyed your performance,” he said.
