Another suited man joins Ray, and I’m so relieved he still seems distracted that I don’t even argue when Holly steers us towards a corner booth.
I slide in as far as I can, half hidden by the high back, like a woman evading capture.
“I don’t think he saw us,” I whisper.
Holly laughs as she pours the Champagne. “He definitely saw us, Wynter. Ray notices everything.”
“Oh god.” I bury my face in my hands.
She nudges one of the glasses towards me. “Relax. He told Joel to make sure we had a good night on him, and that is exactly what we’re doing.”
I blink at her. “He did?”
She nods, then glances across the room. “Did you see the man who went over to him just now?”
I cautiously peek over the top of the booth.
The man standing with Ray is broad, dark-haired, and dressed like money.
“No.”
“That’s Vinn Romano,” Holly says. “Another powerful hotshot around here.”
I stare at her.
“How do you know all these people?”
She shrugs. “I work here. I listen. It’s basically research.” I laugh. “His wife, Sofia, is adorable,” she goes on. “Tiny. Sweet. Gorgeous. And she has that man absolutely wrapped around her little finger.”
There’s a dreamy note in her voice that makes me smile.
“I want that,” she says. “A powerful man on his knees, begging me to marry him.”
I scoff and lift my glass. “Powerful men scare the shit out of me. Give me a quiet, shy man any day.”
Holly gives me a look over the rim of her Champagne. “You’ve clearly never been with a man like Dale.”
I nearly choke on my drink. She shudders dramatically. “It’s been months and I still think about it. Nothing compares.”
I burst out laughing. “But he hasn’t even acknowledged you since,” I point out. “What exactly is attractive about that?”
She shrugs, completely unbothered. “The memory.”
I shake my head. “No. Men like that are dangerous. They’d ruin your life and leave you crying into a cocktail.”
She grins. “For one night like that? Worth it.”
I stare at her. Then laugh even harder. “When you put it like that . . .” We both dissolve into giggles.
Before long, we’re joined by a group of men in expensive suits, they’re all polished shoes and shiny watches, owning the kind of confidence that comes from getting whatever they want.
They flash their platinum cards at the bar as if that alone should impress us. It doesn’t impress me. It mostly makes me want to shrink further into the corner of the booth.
Holly, on the other hand, is in her element.
Within minutes, she has them laughing, buying more Champagne, and hanging on her every word. I don’t know how she does it, but she has the whole table wrapped around her little finger before I’ve even finished my glass.
I end up trapped between two of them—Guy and Price.