Ego Trip - Tabatha Kiss Page 0,1
says, perching on the barstool again. “Pretty girls don’t go drink-less around these parts. Not on my watch.”
I smile. “Thanks, Oli.”
He takes a quick sip from his own bottle. “Hey, are you okay?” he asks.
“Yeah.” I touch the bottle in front of me and a cool shock tingles my fingertips. “Why?”
“You just seem a little... off. That’s all.”
“Had a long weekend,” I answer, keeping it vague.
“Graham keeping you busy?”
“Strangely, no. He gave me the weekend off.”
He nods. “So, are these the downturn eyes of a girl who had too much fun or not enough?”
I look at him, instantly pulled in by his bright, blue gaze. I didn’t come to the bar to make chit-chat, but he procured me a drink. Might as well make some conversation.
“Not enough,” I answer. “My boyfriend dumped me.”
His head tilts with sympathy. “I’m sorry.”
“We weren’t together for very long. A few months. Or weeks, maybe…” I sigh. It’s telling that I’m not sure. No one to blame but myself for that one. “I’m starting to see a pattern here.”
“Like what?”
“Oh, you know. You meet somebody, you open yourself up, and then…”
I mime a few explosion motions with my hands.
Oliver nods. “So, you get dumped, come back here, and immediately see a big ole’ wedding party in the lobby, huh?”
“Wound, meet salt.”
“That’s rough.”
“No, that’s coarse. Add in Graham eloping and dragging his new ex-wife-bride along with us for the next while for a constant show of lawfully wedded bliss, and you’ve got rough.”
“Graham eloped?” His jaw drops. “Again?”
I nod. “Apparently.”
“When?”
“Just now. I saw them in the lobby.”
Oliver’s face screws up as he twists on his stool and pats the shoulder on his other side. “Hey, Hayden. Did Graham elope again?”
Hayden, Graham’s younger brother and the second heir to the Botsford crown, turns to look at us.
“Yeah,” he answers nonchalantly.
“When?”
“Like, just now.”
“Oh.” Oliver turns back to me and nods once. “Your story checks out.”
I laugh. “I’m happy for him. Really, I am. It’s just the cherry on top of the shit sundae that is my love life lately. Or… always, actually.”
“Eh, you’re young and hot. You’ll bounce right back.”
“Well, I do have that.” I pause. “For now.”
Oliver chuckles as he turns more in my direction. “How’s everything else going? Are you still liking the job?”
“Oh, the job is great!” I say. “I love my job. I get to travel the world, stay in fancy Plazas, meet amazing new people.”
“Pick up Graham’s dry cleaning,” he teases.
“I actually don’t mind the grunt work involved. There’s something really cool about being right-hand lady to a billionaire.”
“Definitely cool.”
“We’re going to Rome next month! Very excited about that.”
He squints with envy. “Damn, that’s a cool job. Even the title sound cool. Company Liaison.”
“Assistant to the Company Liaison ain’t too bad, either.” I sigh. “It’d just be nice to come home from my various business travels and have someone waiting for me, you know? But there aren’t a lot of guys out there willing to have a long-distance relationship for almost half the year, so…”
“Well, if you want my advice...”
I shrug. “Go ahead.”
“You’re living the dream,” he says. “I mean, what are you, twenty-four? Twenty-five?”
“Twenty-three,” I say.
“Even better. Paige, you have an amazing job. You’re young and hot, as previously mentioned.”
“Say it as much as you like.”
“You’re young and hot.”
I smile, genuine and wide. “Thank you.”
“You’ve got all the time in the world to find a man willing to sit around and wait for you to come home. Hell, you’re going to Rome next month. You don’t want to worry about some loser back home in Vegas when you should be out there mounting a Centurion.”
I laugh. “I’m not sure they make those anymore.”
“Carpe diem.” He smiles. “Isn’t that what people say out there?”
Seize the day. It’s tempting. And true. I shouldn’t worry about a happily ever after when I could live a happily ever now.
In fact, that’s exactly what I’m going to do. Starting —
“Now...” Oliver’s deep blue eyes study my face. “Do you feel any better?”
“I do,” I say. “Much better. Thank you.”
“Good. Because I take the satisfaction of my guests very seriously.”
“Do you?”
“Is there anything I can do to make your stay more satisfying?”
I bite my lip. “I think I’m okay.”
“Well...” He clears his throat as he grabs a napkin off the stack nearby and scribbles something on it. “If you change your mind, let me know.”
He discreetly slides the napkin toward me.
You. Me. Tonight, it says.
No one has to know.
My breath hitches. Obviously, I knew what Oliver was implying