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“Garrett, get your boss a drink. What are you even doing right now?” she snaps.
“I was getting your wine,” he says, and she rips the glass from his hand.
“Well, I’m not the guest, am I?” she asks through her gritted smile.
“There’s an open bar out back, isn’t there?” Natalie asks and heads that way before whispering. “Come with me.”
I follow her. I could use a drink. Right now I’d follow her into the mouth of a dragon if it meant getting away from whatever is going on with her sister.
“Is she always like that?” I ask her as we walk outside onto the porch. There is a pool, a grotto, multiple tables and chairs, and an outdoor bar that is apparently staffed for the event. Thank God.
“No,” Natalie says casually as we walk up to the bar. “Sometimes she’s mean.”
I crack a smile.
“Natalie! Long time no see!” the bartender says with recognition.
“Yeah, well, I tend to avoid my family,” she says, and he chuckles.
“Espresso martini?”
“Let’s go with a Cosmo,” she says.
“Look at you,” he says.
“Classy, right?”
He turns his attention to me, and I sniff. “Whiskey. Rye. Neat.”
“Perfect,” the bartender says, and while I don’t love watching Natalie talk to other men, I enjoy seeing her confident banter. It seems to come out more than it did the first time I met her. Though it still deflates a little around Reese.
“So I take it you’re the new boss?” he asks me as he sets the glass down and pours two fingers of nerve-numbing, life-saving liquid into it.
“He sure is,” Natalie says, and I slide my attention over to her. I can’t read the tone, but there definitely is one.
“Well, welcome to the chaos,” he says. I get the feeling Reese throws a lot of open-bar parties. I also make a mental note to check how much Garrett is getting paid.
“How long do you think this is going to last?” I ask Natalie once both of us have taken a sip of our drinks.
“Until Reese thinks she’s impressed you.”
I grunt. She smirks.
“How do you feel about the promotion?” I ask.
She bites her lip and sets her glass down gingerly. “I mean, I wasn’t expecting it.”
“Why?” I snap out before she fully completes her sentence.
“Director of events?” she asks. “It’s a leap of a promotion,” she says.
“I’m aware.”
“It’s like one step below–”
“Me,” I state, and she clicks her tongue.
“Yeah.”
