Better? So Riley did have some issues, one of which was no doubt anorexia or bulimia. I couldn’t ask Fox about any of this, though. I’d said Riley was a friend, and if she were truly a friend, I’d know about whatever he was talking about.

Plus, this was so none of my business.

Our drinks arrived, which gave me something to do besides sit there saying nothing. I took a sip and gulped back a choke. The flavor was smoky and intense.

And damned good.

Why had I never tried bourbon before? To hell with cosmos and all those other frou-frou drinks I usually preferred. From here on, I was a bourbon girl.

“What brand do you suppose they gave us?” Fox asked me.

I had no idea. This was my first foray into bourbon. “I don’t know,” I said, “but it’s really good.”

“That it is. Nice and smooth. I’ll bet it’s a boutique bourbon from upstate. Some of those are amazing.”

“Oh, yeah.”

“What’s your favorite?”

I took a sip. “This one, as of right now.” Good save.

“Here, here.” He clinked his glass to mine and took a sip.

I took another. Wowza. This was good stuff.

Fox signaled the server. “We’re going to need another round here. I can tell already.” Then he smiled at me. “This night is just getting started.”

23

Rock

“What can I get for you?”

“Bourbon on the rocks,” I said.

“Any particular bourbon?”

“The first one the bartender can get his hands on works for me.”

The waitress laughed. “You’re the second person tonight who’s said that to me. You realize that’s an excuse for Johnny to give you the fifteen-year Pappy’s. It’s sixty-five dollars a shot.”

“Whatever.” Why should I worry about money now that I was CEO of Wolfe Enterprises? I was more interested in something else. “Who else said that to you?”

She nodded toward the left. “A lady over at that table.”

I stared in that direction to a table in the corner. Three men and two women, one of whose back was to me but I’d recognize her anywhere. She was wearing the same jacket she’d had on during dinner, and the man sitting next to her had his hand on her forearm.

Jealousy lit up within me.

The server took Roy and Reid’s orders while I continued to grit my teeth over that slug touching Lacey’s arm.

Before the waitress left, I signaled her. “Just out of curiosity, did the bartender give the woman at the other table a sixty-five-dollar glass of bourbon?”

She laughed. “He sure did. Two, actually, as they ordered another. Four altogether, because the guy next to her ordered the same thing. They’re going to be surprised when their bill comes.”

I chuckled.