AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I slid his drink to him. “No charge, sir.” I said it smoothly, subtly, in case he wasn’t drinking because he didn’t realize it was an open bar.
He raised the glass and toasted me with a chuckle. “You say that, but technically I’m fitting the bill for everything here.”
“Your party, sir?” There was a different attitude required in a place like this, versus the bar where I’d met—
Nope. Wasn’t going to think his name.
“Technically,” the guest said. “I don’t understand the point ofwe’re doing so well spending your money, we’re going to spendtonsof it on a party and say it’s in your honor.And don’t call mesir, I’m not your sergeant.”
“What should I call you?”
“Xander. And you are?” He extended his hand.
I shook it. “Landon. Why do you want them to think you’re drunk?” I wouldn’t ask most people, but this one seemed like he could offer enough conversation to keep me from thinking about—
And he seemed like he’d rather not be mingling.
“Because they’re drunk,” Xander said. “And they’ll relax and spill their secrets if they think I am too.”
Fair point. I’d seen a lot of that. Like Mega— “Do they have secrets you want?”
“No. Their secrets are things likeI fucked my secretaryorI spent too much on porn. Pft. Big deal. But they are more interesting when they take the sticks out of their asses.”
I liked him.
“Tell me, Landon. You have anyone who cares if you sleep with your secretary?”
I couldn’t stop my snort. “Do I strike you as the kind of person who has a secretary?”
Xander shrugged. “Do I strike you as the kind of person who can afford to invest in the kind of company who can throw a party like this?”
“I’m not answering that.”
Keeping his attention on the room, rather than me, Xander finished his drink in a few short swallows. “Give me another of the same, and answer both my questions, or I’ll be offended.”
I wouldn’t want him offended. I mixed him another seltzer with lime, and handed him the glass. “No, you don’t look like the money here,” I said. “And no one cares if I fuck the secretary. They…” I wasn’t going to delve into my personal life, and I especially wasn’t going to pretend Megan and Nigel were ever more than they were, no matter how much my heart wanted it to be true. “No. To both questions.”
Xander glanced at me briefly. “They? The pronoun game, huh? I’ve done my fair share of that.”
As had I, but I wasn’t going to correct him and tell himthis time I actually mean plural people. I’d rather he be the one talking. “Oh?”
“Areyouthe one looking to get people to spill their secrets?”
I shook my head. “Not for any nefarious reasons. I’m an ear, and your stories tend to be less sad than mine.” Even that was saying too much.
“Hmm.” This time, Xander nursed his water. A sip at a time while he continued to survey the room.
A woman approached on the arm of a man twice her age. He nodded at Xander and made small talk about the party and the numbers, while she examined her nails and tried not to look bored.
“How’s your wife?” Xander asked.
The man paled. “Ah… Working.”
The woman who had been on his arm raised her brows. “I need to get back to the party.” Odd thing to say, considering she hadn’t left.
“Cherise. Wait.” The man grabbed both their drinks and hurried after her.
“Seems as though you don’t need them drunk, to find out who’s fucking who,” I said.
