Page 170 of Manhattan Bossholes

Cora sighed. “People keep asking what I’ve been up to. What I’m doing for work.”

“Right.”

“And I obviously can’t tell them about the Masked Mixer, since that’s supposed to be anonymous.”

“Ah,” I said, starting to understand.

A frustrated line appeared between her brows. “When I tell people I’m bartending in Manhattan, they all smile and say, ‘That’s nice.’ But I know they really mean, ‘Hmm, you’ve accomplished nothing since high school.’”

“There’s nothing wrong with bartending.”

“I know!”

“But also, you could have told them you’re working at Elixir.”

Cora shrugged. “I thought about it, but then they’d ask what I do there, and I’d have to try not to actually give myself away.” She shot me a wicked grin over her shoulder. “They’d be like, ‘Oh, you work for Aiden! What’s it like being one of the lowly employees to His Majesty the Billionaire?’”

I groaned. “I’m not talking to you anymore.”

Cora broke into a fit of giggles, catching my hand as I pretended to leave the line. “I’m kidding. Okay, I’ll stop now.”

A wave of heated sparks spread up my arm. It was like getting an electric shock, and my heart skipped. When I met her eyes, I could see she was blushing, as potently aware of me as I was of her. We hadn’t had a chance to repeat our kiss…but God, I wanted to. I just wanted to make absolutely certain she was ready this time so the kiss wouldn’t end as abruptly as the last one had.

She stiffened suddenly, her eyes widening at something happening over my shoulder.

“What is it?” I asked.

She shook her head. “Nothing. No. Sorry.” She laughed, the sound strange and choked. “It’s nothing.”

“What’s wrong?”

I turned around, my eyes flitting over the packed gym, but I couldn’t tell what had caused her reaction.

She lifted her finger, discreetly pointing out a tall man in a black button-down shirt. He looked up, and though he was vaguely familiar from high school, I couldn’t recall his name. I was pretty sure he’d been in Cora’s year, though.

“That’s, um…Levi,” she said. “The guy I dated after you.”

Oh. Oh, shit. I turned back to her. “Are you all right?”

“I just hadn’t expected to see him,” she admitted, clutching her empty dinner plate to her chest. “He lives in California. I never thought he’d fly all the way in for the reunion.”

She looked a little sick, paling under the flashing lights. I took her by the arm and gently ushered her out of line to a nearby table. “Here, sit.”

She did, plopping down in the seat without argument.

“Can I get you anything?”

“No, I…” Her mouth hung open, but no words came out.

“Should I⁠—”

“We broke it off last year.” She played with the tablecloth. “Well, he broke it off,” she muttered without looking at me. “I didn’t have much choice in the matter.”

That sounded messy, and despite her gritted teeth, she sounded hurt. And she appeared alarmingly shaky. “Seriously, Cora. You look like you’re going to pass out. Want me to find…um…Kate? I was talking to her earlier, and she’s a doctor now—she’d know what you need. Actually, I think she said she’s a pediatrician, but she brought her husband, and he’s an ER doctor, so⁠—”

She ran her hands through her hair, combing through the dark red curls before smoothing her hands down her dress. “No, I’m fine.” She gave another one of those tight little laughs. “It was a shock seeing him. That’s all. Really, I’m okay.”

“At least let me get you a drink?”