Page 50 of Nothing to Tell

“Why?”Roxie asked.“Not a bad thing to be so into a guy you can’t contain yourself.Resisting that can be painful.Honestly, it’s bad for your health.”

“Yeah, and what’s everyone going to remember about me?What a great first impression on his friends.”

“Okay.”Roxie laid a hand over hers.“Yes, Bastian probably knows most people in this room, but they’re not his friends.Not the ones that matter.”

“You know his friends?His real friends.”

“Yes, and they’re not here.”

“Will they hear about this though?I’ll forever be the woman who molested a stranger in polite company.”

“For starters, he’s not a stranger—” Roxie turned toward the bar when the server brought their drinks.And that tension in her brow wasn’t promising.“Where’s my umbrella?”The guy blinked in surprise but met Roxie’s eye when she looked up.“This should have an umbrella.”

“I—”

“Mandatory umbrella,” Roxie said.“If it doesn’t have an umbrella, I can’t drink it.Are you a qualified mixologist?I should have a little paper parasol, right here.”

“I’m sorry, Miss Kyst.I don’t think—we don’t have cocktail umbrellas.”

Roxie sighed.“It’s not your fault.Someone will be hearing about this though.Imagine sending your mixologists into the wild without paper umbrellas.A travesty.”She waved the guy away.“Go on.Back to work.”The drink wrinkled Roxie’s nose.“My boyfriend better never hear about this.”

“Your husband.”

“My—right, my husband!I’m surprised that doesn’t feel icky.”Roxie pushed the second drink closer and raised her own.Okay.They were drinking.“To spontaneity.”That was one word for it.After drinking, Roxie licked her lips a few times, concentrating on the liquid.“Not bad.Not perfect.But not bad.To my palate, Z’s would be a whole different story.He’s pernickety.”

“He knew who you were.”

“He knew—the bartender?Yeah, a lot of people know who I am these days.”

“Have you met before?”

“No, it’s a Crimson thing.”

She’d recognized Roxie too, maybe not too accurately, but the face was familiar.

“I don’t know how you do it, go around with everyone… Don’t you worry what people think?”

“I do,” Roxie said, straightening her spine.“My Casanova.I worry what he thinks.He’s really the only one who matters.These days.I trust my girls to think positive and my guy to open the confusing labyrinth of his mind to me without prompting.”

“Have you met his family?”

“Yes.”

“Did they push you together?”

“No,” Roxie said, laughing after another sip.“No, the people in his life were wary of me to begin with.I was an unknown factor.A crisis event waiting to happen and I’ve fulfilled that role many, many times.”

“I had it with Damon,” she said, stirring her drink with the straw.“My family wanted us to be together.My dad wants—none of that matters now.”

“Exactly.None of that matters.Dickwad Damon doesn’t matter.On with the show,” Roxie exclaimed, tossing an arm in the air.“What comes next?Who comes next?”

Roxie’s confidence was enviable.She liked to think of herself as strong, assured, in some areas of life: love wasn’t one of them.

“Do you know Robyn?”

“Never met her.”Roxie directed her straw between her lips, the depth of liquid in the glass went down, paused, and down again.This woman could hold her liquor.“But I know they broke up.By all accounts, she and Bastian weren’t that great together.If you want to meet her, I can make it happen.”Roxie twisted fast and grabbed the arm of someone passing by.“Is Tripp in town?”

The bewildered person took a second before answering.“Madrid, I think.”