“I take it back!” she laughs. “It’s like ye dinnae trust me. When have I steered ye wrong?”
“Freshman year, Nelson Yates who told me I had to meet his mother before we could go to dinner?” I say dryly. “Oh, wait, I made a list on my phone of all of your most disastrous suggestions about my love life.” She groans as I pull out my phone, pulling up my notes app.
“Not thelists!”Maisie says dramatically. “Okay, have I steered ye wrongrecently?”
“Only because I’ve given up on dating, along with bad tequila and the belief that high-waisted jeans are flattering,” I say sourly.
“Ye won’t regret it!” Maisie gives me a big, smacking kiss on the cheek. “Who knows, ye might actually have fun, ye uptight wee thing.”
Probably not, I think. But I’ve pined after Michael long enough.
“Look at you! You’re gorgeous!” Mom says, giving me a huge smile. “I’m guessing you and Maisie are going out clubbing? Remember, don’t drink anything you didn’t see the bartender make, and-”
“Not to worry, Mom.” I’m putting in some long, sparkly earrings Daisy gave me at school and I’d never had an occasion to wear them. “We’re going to Whiskey Dreams, it’s a MacTavish nightclub. Youknownothing’s getting spiked there.”
“Well, good,” she says, taking my brush and running it over a couple of snarls in the back of my hair that I’d missed. “Maybe you and Maisie can meet a couple of nice guys there.” She grins at me in the mirror. “Hot, nice guys.”
“Yeah, we’re bringing our own,” I say, putting my brush and some lipstick in my little purse. “Maisie’s setting me up with her new boyfriend’s co-worker.”
“Oh?” Mom looks so pleased that it’s making me feel guilty for not having more of a love life. “What’s his name?”
“Bryce. He and Miles work together at a venture capital firm. He seems… nice,” I say with a shrug.
“So much enthusiasm,” she teases. “Still, this is good. You’re been working so hard in this internship. You’re twenty-two! You’re supposed to be having fun and making poor life choices!”
“What have you done with my mother?” I laugh, shaking my head. “I don’t think you’re supposed to be telling your daughter that.”
Mom flushes, chuckling a bit. She’s always been so pretty. I got my slate-grey eyes and aggressively thick hair from her. I’m concerned, though, because life seems to be wearing her down recently. There are dark circles under her eyes, and I’ve been hearing her out in the kitchen in the early morning hours, moving around quietly.
“Do you want me to pick you up some melatonin pills?” I ask gently, “I feel like you’re never fully rested.”
“I’m fine,” she brushes it off. “Go!” She makes a shooing gesture at me. “Go have fun.”
Kissing her on the cheek, I breathe in her soothing lavender-vanilla scent. “I will. I’m still getting you those melatonin pills, though.” I make a quick note on my shopping list.
One last check for lipstick on my teeth and I’m slinging my purse over my shoulder, halfway out the door when she calls out.
“Sophie?”
“Yeah, Mom?” I turn around, watching her expression go from miserable to forced cheerfulness in seconds.
“Nothing.” She shakes her head firmly. “Go and have fun. I love you.”
Hurrying back, I give her a big hug. “I love you, too. Always and forever.”
“Always and forever,” she echoes, watching me leave.
Chapter Four
Michael…
The sultry drawl of the saxophone filters over me like a caress. I’d designed Whiskey Dreams, our newest club, to have more of a speakeasy feel, something completely different than most of our nightclubs. I’m fecking sick of chrome and blinding mirrors and the competing clamor of three different DJ’s on as many dance floors.
I wanted this place to be one of a kind.
Once guests get through the heavy door with the whispered password, the club opens up into a main room with elegant wood paneling and comfortable, secluded booths. The blues band plays softly behind the lead singer, a woman with a gorgeous, smoky voice who I’d lured away from a legendary club in New York City. There are still different sections and seating levels here, of course. I canna very well be doing business with an Armenian arms trader sitting next to tables filled with socialites out for espresso martinis and being seen..
However, no business tonight. I’d forgotten I’d agreed to show Celia the club until my personal assistant reminded me this afternoon. Maybe tonight is the right time to end this. Her unwarranted comment at my family’s dinner forced me to picture a lifetime with this woman.
