I narrowed my eyes to faux angry slits and studied her expression to see if she was kidding. Her dark brown eyes stared back at me, telegraphing she was telling the truth. I didn’t remember Jake ever offering to get us into Club X, though.
“I have no recollection of that, ladies,” I teased, doing my best lawyer voice for Josie.
Erin looked to her right at her, who sat on the arm of my couch smiling. “Would you like to help her remember?”
Josie loved her job as an insurance fraud investigator and even though we teased her about the fact that she acted like one twenty-four-seven, she took every opportunity to tease us right back. “My pleasure, Ms. Andrews. Now, Ms. Lucas, do you remember the night Mr. Richfield and the two of us sat here discussing how to celebrate your twenty-fifth birthday? I believe you were seated in the same place as you are now, not surprisingly since you’re a creature of habit who never changes.”
She took a breath in her interrogation, and I mumbled, “Harsh,” at her assessment of me, regardless of how correct she was.
“Continuing on, Ms. Lucas. Now do you remember Mr. Richfield suggesting you go wild and really let your hair down?”
Her piercing blue-green eyes stared at me as she waited for my answer. To be honest, I didn’t remember anything she and Erin were claiming. “Ms. Tellow, since Jake says that to me at least once a week, I doubt I’d be able to remember the time he said that nearly three years ago.”
“It was a week before your birthday, and he told all three of us he could get us into Club X. If I remember correctly, and I’m sure I do, you declined his offer while the two of us eagerly jumped at the chance to join.”
Erin nodded her agreement. “Ringing any bells, Liv?”
“No, but now I feel like the odd man out. So you two have been going to Club X all this time? What’s it like?” I asked, unsure if I really wanted to know but too curious not to ask.
“In. Fucking. Credible,” Josie said as she slid down onto the couch cushion next to Erin. “Some of our best times have been at Club X. Now I’ve never taken advantage of the top floors, but someday I will. I’m telling you ladies, when I think of a fantasy I can’t make come true in my regular life, those Club X folks are going to come in damn handy.”
I looked over at Erin, the more reasonable of my two closest friends, but she had that same wide-eyed look that told me she’d enjoyed my new workplace too.
“What?” she asked, throwing her hands up in the air. “You’re looking at me like you’re surprised. I’m not allowed to have any fun?”
“No, it’s just that I always considered you the more sensible of the two of you.”
“Yeah, well, sensible or not, that club you’re working at is the hottest place I’ve ever partied. You should see the men there, Liv. Oh my God!”
“Nice. So why haven’t I heard you guys talking about this place before now?”
Erin and Josie turned to look at one another, and then Josie made a gesture to zip her mouth closed. “It’s like Vegas, baby. What happens at Club X stays at Club X.”
The two of them burst into laughter, and for the first time since I’d met them years before on our high school track team, I felt like an outsider. Everybody I was close to knew all about Club X but me. It was sophomore year when I didn’t qualify for regionals and they did all over again.
“It’s okay, Livy. You haven’t missed anything you would have liked. You like a more refined kind of place,” Erin said trying to make me feel better but only making me feel worse.
Emptying my wine glass, I swallowed my pinot noir and shook my head. “You’re right. I don’t like to have fun much anyway. I was too busy working my ass off to get canned before I could even get vested.”
I knew I was slipping into the pool of self-pity, but I didn’t care. I may not be the kind of girl who swung from the chandelier, but I wasn’t the model for the front of Old Maid cards either.
“Oh, Livy. Erin didn’t mean anything bad by that. It’s just that you tend to be more straight-laced, you know? We just thought Club X was too low brow for you since you showed no interest in Jake’s offer. You’re more of a wine and cheese party kind of girl.”
“I guess that’s supposed to make me feel better, Josie?” I asked with more emotion in my voice than I’d intended.
Erin leaned over to give my knee a sympathetic squeeze. “I’m sorry. We’re both sorry. It’s all water under the bridge now, though. You’re going to be part of the inner circle of Club X, so whatever stories we have are going to pale in comparison to yours. I’ve heard the men who run the place are sexier than all hell. Are they?”
I thought about Cassian and Stefan March and had to agree. Both were definitely sexy. And Kane? While that mad, bad, and dangerous to know vibe wasn’t what I liked in a man, I could certainly understand why some women would be all over him.
“I don’t know, Erin. They were very nice,” I teased as I pretended to play coy.
“Nice my ass,” Josie butted in. “I saw that Cassian March one time at a hospital benefit Sebastian and I attended last year. The man oozes incredible fuck. I swear if I hadn’t been in a relationship, I would have made my move on him. I bet he gets freaky when that Italian made suit comes off.”
“I remember seeing his younger brother one night at the club,” Erin added. “No suit for him, but I can tell you that man can definitely fill out a shirt. He was wearing this button down look that fit so perfectly I swear he had it painted on. I like my men more muscular than Josie here, so he’s my kind.”
“His name is Stefan,” I said, liking that I could at least feel like I knew them in a different way than Erin and Josie. “He’s really sweet.”
“You like him! I see it in your eyes, Liv. Tell us everything that happened!” Erin squealed.
I stood from my seat to head into the kitchen for another glass of wine and to escape the probing stares of my two best friends. The non-disclosure agreement I’d signed just hours before weighed heavily on my mind already. I knew it probably wouldn’t have violated anything if I told them about meeting all three brothers, but I wasn’t going to be able to keep my cool about Cassian and Stefan if I didn’t get my feelings under control.
Gulping down some wine, I took a deep breath and walked back into the living room to find them waiting for me to explain. Sitting down, I balanced my glass on the arm of my favorite chair and shrugged. “There’s nothing to tell. I met all three brothers in my interview. I’m going to be Cassian’s assistant, but I had to meet with the other two also. They were nice.”