This was different. Even though he didn’t want this journalist anywhere near him, the cat was out of the bag, and he needed to get her on-side. His plans would go more smoothly if she didn’t fight him the whole way. He needed to play nice and make up for his earlier abruptness. Mark, his lawyer and best friend, was constantly telling him he would get things done more quickly if he turned up the charm. As far as Eli was concerned, his job was to make money, not friends, but it couldn’t hurt to sweeten Miss Simons up a bit.

He gestured to the bartender. “What’s that girl having?” he asked, motioning discreetly toward the journalist. “The one who looks like she took a bath in a rainbow.”

The bartender grinned. “That’s Aria,” he said, speaking with a trace of an Irish accent. “You’ve got your eye on a good’un. A real sweetheart. She’s having Irish whiskey tonight.”

Irish whiskey from an Irish bartender. Go figure.

“Send her another one. On me.”

“Want me to mention you?”

Eli shook his head and settled back again to watch the three women. After a few seconds, the taller one turned to face him. He met her gaze until she looked away. Moments later, Aria looked up at him. Her brow furrowed, and she began to say something to her friends but was interrupted by the bartender.

“Hey, Ri, drink for you. From the out-o’-towner.” Davy interrupted Aria’s thoughts, offering her a glass.

“He sent it?” she asked, following Davy’s gaze to Elijah Lockwood. “Tell him thanks, but no thanks.”

“Are you crazy?” Sophie interjected, stopping Davy before he could leave. “Hot guy sends you a drink and you send it back?”

“It’s bribery,” Aria said. “He wants me to write nice things about him.”

“So what? When was the last time someone bought you a drink?” Sophie asked. “For that matter, when was the last time you slept with someone?”

“Excuse me?”

Sophie rolled her eyes. “Come on, Ri. When?”

“How is that relevant?”

“Why are you avoiding the question?”

Aria thought hard. She counted back eighteen months. It couldn’t have been that long ago. “I don’t remember,” she hedged.

Sophie’s expression was disbelieving. “When was the last time you even dated?”

“Well, there was Hemi...”

“That was three months ago, and you only went to the movies. Once.”

Aria sighed. She could see where this was going.

“You never give anyone a chance, Aria. You don’t have enough fun. Why not accept a drink from tall-dark-and-rich?”

“It would compromise my objectivity.”

Avery chuckled. “You and your bloody morals. Don’t send the drink back. I’ll have it.”