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I swallowed.
“Like Osian?”
She patted my upper arms. “I couldn’t say this at the lodge, but, darling, you need to get rid of that man.”
“Merrick has a really big business deal with the Cardiffs.”
“You are more important in the long run.”
“It’s more complicated than that.” I took a deep breath, still fairly drunk, but feeling more in control. She accepted my weak smile, tilting my chin up.
“Vincent will be looking for me,” she said. “Are you going to be okay?”
I nodded. “Yeah, sorry for having a breakdown.”
She hugged me tightly.
“Now, go try and have a bit of fun,” she said. “Safely.”
I left the bathroom and watched her join her husband at the bar. Vincent slipped his arm around her waist and his mouth lingered over hers before kissing her deeply.
My chest ached. Would I ever be in their shoes? So in love for more than two decades?
My eyes skimmed the room, desperate for Merrick. He stood on the other side of the room, talking to a group of men in suits. Svelte, radiating that magnetic energy from every pore. In his element.
I shivered despite the sweat dripping down my spine.
“Clara.”
I spun and found myself face-to-face with the last people I expected to see.
“Travis,” I said. “Liam.”
They looked fancier than I’d ever seen them in black suits and slicked back hair. Liam had a Cosmo and a whiskey in his hand. He held out the former to me and I accepted it, surprised.
“Why are you two here?”
Travis looked a little sheepish. “Well, we actually do a fair bit of business with the organization,” he admitted.
“Our company purchases…things from Merrick,” Liam said. “I just do the bartender thing for fun, to get women.”
“Oh?”
“Yeah.”
There was a long silence as I waited for them to elaborate. They both got more and more uncomfortable, shifting their feet.
“Want to do shots?” Liam said.
I stared at him and my spine relaxed, pushing aside everything I’d just told Adele. She was right. I needed to have some fun tonight.
“You know what…yes, I’d love to do shots with you,” I said.
They both flashed elated grins and we lined up along the bar in the corner. The bartender was a handsome, tattooed man with a silver eyebrow piercing. When he saw us sit down, he raked his eyes slowly over Travis and Liam.
“You alright then?” he asked, meeting my eyes.
“Yeah,” I said, offering him a sweet smile. “I’m all good.”
