Not really. We’re not playing until after dinner, since my dad didn’t want me to “have to miss out” on the speech portion of the evening. (Ha.)
“This’ll just take a second,” Nora says, sounding almost…nervous?
“The vanilla scent in here is a little much.”
“Yeah, it’s pretty gross, isn’t it?”
She’s smiling. I know I’ve pleased her, but I don’t have the faintest idea why.
“Please, Cormac,” she says, and I nearly groan. This again. I can deal with angry or annoyed Nora, not the Nora who begs.
I step into the vanilla stench, feeling like I’m stepping into hell itself, and she follows me inside, closing the door behind us. My body takes notice of everything, including the whisper of a breeze as she turns to face me again.
I swallow dryly again. “It’s a little too late to put a halt to the wedding. They’re probably consummating it as we speak. That little old woman seemed to think so.”
Her brow furrows. “Are you talking about Dottie? She’s not a little old woman.”
The officiant was both short, stature-wise, and elderly, but I know Nora too well to point that out. “If you say so.”
“She’s a very successful businesswoman.”
“That doesn’t make her any less little or old.”
“Haven’t you met her before? Dottie’s one of your dad’s best friends. She owns that tea shop downtown. She’s part of that group they’re in. You know, the Wise Elders.”
“I don’t make a point of hanging out with my father’s friends, do you?”
She snorts. “Fine. Point taken. My dad’s nearest and dearest are probably a study group of strippers.”
“Did you bring me in here to talk about Dottie or…strippers?”
“No.”
She walks over to the desk and opens a bottom drawer, pulling out a flask. After taking a swig, she offers it to me.
The thought of putting my mouth where hers has been stirs something inside of me, but that’s exactly the way I shouldn’t be feeling, so I shake my head. “You can keep your saliva to yourself.”
She rolls her eyes again and sets the flask on top of the desk. “I’m just going to come out and say it.”
“That would be for the best.”
“Pansy—”
“Who’s Pansy?”
“The vanilla woman.”
I nod.
Nora taps her lips, obviously hesitating.
“Nora?”
She takes a deep breath, then blurts, “She thinks you and I are in a secret relationship.”
Laughter spills out of me. “Why would she think that?”
If I didn’t know any better, I’d think she was blushing. “Because she walked in on…you know.”
