“Hm?”
I look behind me, caught by his raised eyebrows and the quirky tilt of his mouth. My words dry up for a second, then I face forward again, shuffling ahead as the queue advances. “Nothing but hard liquor for me.”
He taps my elbow. “Get a glass and follow me.”
I leave the line and trail after him, snagging a glass from the end of the bar, not even thinking to question the instruction. Inthe deserted corridor, he waits until the door closes, then pulls a hip flask from his pocket.
“Oh, I see. Being your usual bad boy self.”
He pours a centimetre of whiskey into a glass for himself, setting it on the floor, then reaches for mine. “This is a Glenfiddich ’37. My dad got it at auction for just a hair over eighty grand.”
I snatch the glass back from him just as he pours. Luckily, his reflexes are good and only a drop spills on the floor.
Lachlan gives me a crooked smile. “You do have to hold the glass under the flask to really get the benefit.”
“I’m not drinking something worth that much!”
“What else is the point of it if not to be drunk? That’s literally its life purpose. Don’t you want the whiskey to be happy?”
He makes such a sad face that I burst out laughing, halfway to hysterics. “I’m sure the whiskey will be happy inside someone who can appreciate it more.”
Retrieving his glass from the floor, he tosses it back in one gulp. “Mm. Notes of alcohol and inebriation. Is that the appreciation you were talking about?”
I shake my head, clamping my lips together to stop another laugh. “Not exactly what I had in mind.”
“Who taught you, you weren’t worth it, George?”
His voice is light, like he’s still joking, but his eyes fix on me with more intensity than normal. I’m thrown off kilter and struggle to answer. “It’s… I haven’t tried drinking very often, that’s all. I won’t know the difference between that the cheapest brand at the liquor store.”
He gives a quick shrug, waving around the empty hallway. “Do you think someone’s sitting up in heaven, totting up your score?”
“No. I just… It would be wasted.”
“And why does that matter? It’s wasted on me, too.”
“I’m sure your father didn’t buy an expensive bottle so I could sneak a drink at the formal dance.”
“Why did he buy it, then?”
“To drink it himself?”
“He’s teetotal, so not that.” Lachlan tops up his glass and pushes it into my hand. “I don’t want any more. If you don’t drink it, I’ll just tip it out in the bathroom sink.”
I try to return it, but he lifts his arms to avoid me.
“Go on, George,” he urges as I shake my head, then he reaches over to push the glass up to my lips. “Show me you know you’re worth more than some musty whiskey in a bottle. A uselessthingthat rich men toss back and forth between themselves at auctions, instead of enjoying. Even if you don’t like it, that’s a better result that hiding it in a climate-controlled cellar to maintain its value.”
My heart is beating far too fast. The scent from the glass is strong, but it’s Lachlan’s smell that’s overpowering. The tangy notes of sweat mixing with the richer scent of his aftershave, something spicy, challenging, just like him.
The first sip, my tongue doesn’t know what to do with itself. The alcohol content is cutting, and I have to open my mouth after swallowing to clear a pathway for clean air.
A moment later, the subtler tastes come through. My tongue still buzzes from the spirit, but it picks out different threads, leaving behind a slight darkness of oak, the lighter dance of citrus exhaled before it fully develops.
I take another mouthful, larger this time, letting it sit on my tongue for a second before swallowing. The bite of alcohol is more pronounced this time, but it also evaporates more quickly. My palette adjusts to the delivery system, clearing a pathway for the other aromas to take centre stage.
Lachlan feels in his pockets, then pulls out the same earrings and necklace I wore the first night. He takes off my fake bling and massages my earlobes before affixing the jewellery. His head bends so near mine as he fastens the necklace that the world shrinks to his soft breath teasing my ear.
“There. That’s better.”
