Shaken Not Stirred (Mixology #1)(47)
Author: Alyssa Rose Ivy

“No. Something’s off. I can tell.” He took my hand and started to lead me back to his office.

I needed to leave that building, and fast. I leaned in to whisper in his ear. “I’m great. You just tired me out. I’m going to go get some sleep in case I don’t get any tonight for some reason.”

He grinned. “That’s probably a good idea.”

I smiled before hightailing it down the stairs.

Chapter Eighteen

“Do we really have to go to this?” I smoothed out my black pencil skirt. I opted for the conservative look, complete with a green tailored shirt. I was determined to look as far from sexy bartender as possible. If Colin thought my choice of dress was odd, he didn’t say anything. He only complimented me on how I looked in dark green.

“Yes. He’s my boss, Maddy. I can’t exactly cancel on him.” Colin focused on the road. I wished the drive were longer.

“You could go without me. Besides, you already got the promotion.” I turned to the window. I hoped this wasn’t some sort of invitation to swing. Colin had explained that the Fitzgeralds only spent a few weeks a year in the Outer Banks, but Gabriel was in town to work on a few larger projects out of that office. What fantastic luck.

“Why are you so against going to dinner at the Fitzgeralds? They have a beautiful house and they always cater in good stuff.”

“I don’t see why I need to come.” I needed to get out of this awkward night. Every excuse I could come up with failed, and I never used the sick excuse. It’s asking to come down with the flu the next day.

He placed his hand on my leg, lightly squeezing it until I looked at him. “Because they want to get to know you. Because I want you there.”

“We’ve only been dating a few months. It’s not like I’m your wife.”

He hit the brakes, pulling over to the side of the road. After putting the car in park, he unbuckled his seatbelt and captured me with his gaze. “Out with it. What the hell is going on?”

“Nothing.”

“Bullshit. I’ve never heard you try to get out of something so hard before.”

“You’ve only known me a few months.”

A look of understanding crossed his face, and I didn’t like it. There was nothing for him to understand. “I know what this is about.”

“What? I’m sure you’re wrong.”

He shook his head in annoyance. “I’m not wrong. This is because you’re insecure about our status as a couple.”

“Excuse me?”

“I don’t fully understand, but I know that’s what it is.”

“You’re not making any sense. Are you implying I’m insecure because I’m not wearing an engagement ring or something?”

“Maybe.”

“You are wrong. Completely and utterly wrong.”

“Then what is it?”

“Nothing. I could name at least fifty things I’d rather be doing tonight.” I sounded like a brat, but I didn’t want to spend the evening socializing with Gabriel and Suzanne. I couldn’t imagine a more awkward outing.

Colin ran his thumb over my hand. “You’re going for me. It’s important to me.”

“Fine.” In hindsight, I probably should have told him about his boss, but that sounded like the worst idea possible back then. Well—not as bad as having actually had sex with his boss and his boss’s wife. That was a much worse thought. “Let’s go.”

Colin drove the short remaining distance to the Fitzgeralds. I tried to tame my nerves, but it was hopeless. I kept coming up with a hundred ways the night could be a complete and utter disaster. Colin was quiet, and I knew he was probably annoyed at me. I couldn’t blame him, but I also didn’t blame myself.

I’d managed to calm my heartbeat to a reasonable level by the time Colin opened the car door for me. We walked up the wooden steps to the front door of the massive three-story beach house. Colin hit the doorbell.

“Colin, hi!” Suzanne threw her arms around Colin before turning her attention to me. “And you must be Maddy.”

I stared at her. Was this the same Suzanne? Instead of a tight black dress, she wore a pair of cream slacks and a blue blouse. Her hair was pulled back in a neat chiffon, and her nails were a neutral color. “Hi.” The one word was all I could muster.

“Gabriel is out on the back porch. Why don’t you head out there, Colin? We’ll meet you with some drinks in a few minutes.” She took my arm.

Before I could so much as call out to Colin for help, I was dragged off.

“I didn’t think I’d be seeing you again so soon.” Her hand remained perched on my arm as we gazed out the floor-to-ceiling windows in the living room.

“Trust me, neither did I.”

“You left in quite a hurry that night.”

“Could you blame me?” I looked right at her. I couldn’t let her intimidate me. I wasn’t the one playing Susie Homemaker by day and sex kitten by night. Susie Homemaker? Wow, she nearly had the right name.

“Yes. It was very close-minded of you. You didn’t even hear us out.”

“I got the gist. It was plenty.”

“Were you seeing Colin at the time? Did he know you were out on a date with another man?”

“No. I was single.”

“Have you changed your mind?”

“No. Of course not.”

“I thought maybe you had. I mean, you did show your face here. That had to have taken a certain level of curiosity.” She walked over to a bar and took down four red wineglasses.

“No, it took a boyfriend who wanted me to come.”

“Boyfriend. A cute word isn’t it?”

“Yeah. Cute.”

“May I ask you one question? Then I promise to drop the discussion of our past association.”

“I guess so.”

“Why did the proposition upset you? Clearly you were attracted to Gabriel. Was it that you weren’t interested in being intimate with a woman, or—”

I cut her off before she could make things any more awkward. “No, it was more the idea that you two are married.”

“Really? It’s all about monogamy?”

“At least partly.”

“I guess you do fit Colin.”

“Fit him?”

“He’s fixated on settling down.” I was pretty sure she wanted to say more. I assumed it was along the lines of boring, but thankfully, she didn’t continue. I couldn’t ignore the “settling down” comment. Especially not after Colin’s ring remark.