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  “Interesting. Evan told me you were an accountant.”

  I rolled my eyes. “Not really. I used to work for an accounting firm, in HR. I was a math major. Now I do this. All he knows is that I work with numbers, I guess. My brother isn’t that observant.”

  Niall paused to sip from his drink and give a quick glance around the room. “So...I haven’t been here before. It’s cool.”

  “It’s fun. During the week it gets a lot of hot businessmen.” I watched for his reaction. Some men would be jealous even without a right to be.

  He laughed and tapped his glass to mine. “Nice. I swore I’d never work for a place where I had to wear a suit and tie.”

  “No?”

  “Nope. Polos and khakis all the way.” He grinned.

  “But a man in a suit is so...”

  “Uncomfortable,” he said.

  “You should try wearing panty hose and heels,” I told him wryly, testing him a little. “No, really. You should try it.”

  “I did dress like Dr. Frank-N-Furter for Halloween once. That was the last time you’ll see me in heels.” Niall shook his head. “I could deal with the lipstick, but damn, the shoes just about broke my ankles.”

  I giggled, delighted and tingling at the thought of it. “I love Rocky Horror.”

  “We should go sometime. They show it at the Allen Theater every few months. Props and everything. But I’m not dressing like Tim Curry again.”

  “How about like Rocky?” The whiskey sour was warming my insides. Loosening my tongue. Making me flirty.

  Niall snorted laughter. “In a gold bikini bottom? Wow. No way. Nobody needs to see that.”

  “I bet you’d look great.” I made a show of looking him up and down. “You’re a swimmer.”

  “How...” He shook his head. “Not anymore, I mean, not competitively. But in high school I was, yeah. How did you know?”

  “You have the body for it.” I sipped more drink and sat back so the server could put our plates in front of us. “Were you any good?”

  “Never lost,” Niall said.

  I paused with a fry dipped in my ketchup. “Never? Not once?”

  “Nope.” He shook his head, looking both faintly proud and a little embarrassed. “Not once.”

  “Wow. That’s impressive.”

  He shrugged. “Didn’t do me a lot of good in the long-term, you know? I mean, what you do and who you are in high school only really matters in high school.”

  “In high school I was a cheerleader.” I tucked the fry into my mouth, relishing the salty, greasy yumminess. “How about that.”

  “Rah, rah, rah,” Niall said.

  “Elise!”

  I turned to see another familiar face. Eric was a local ER doc I’d dated once or twice before we figured out we weren’t really suited for each other. He’d been stumbling through his search for a mistress, looking for one harsher than I ever wanted to be. He’d wanted something full-time and long-term, a whole lifestyle thing, which wasn’t what I’d ever really been into, but I liked him a lot. I introduced him to Niall.

  “Hi, good to meet you. You’re new?” Eric asked.

  Niall hesitated, looking to me for a second. “Yeah, I mean, Elise invited me. I’m kind of along for the ride.”

  “Right on.” Eric nodded. “Gotta get your feet wet somewhere. This is a great group to do that in. And Elise is a great lady. Treat her right. You don’t want to get Cubby on your bad side.”

  Niall looked at me, his smile a little twisty, a little secretive. A lot sexy. “No, I sure wouldn’t.”

  Eric looked beyond us to a small cluster of people at another high-top table close to where the food had been laid out. He held up the glass of white wine he was carrying. “I should get this over to my lady. Take care, Elise. Nice to meet you, Niall.”

  I wanted to ask Eric who his lady was—the icy blonde in the black wrap dress? She looked like the sort of woman capable of beating the hell out of a guy who was into that sort of thing. To my surprise, though, he pressed the glass into the hand of the short, plump redhead sitting on one of the high stools next to her. The redhead wore a flowery caftan-type dress that clung to ample curves, and a pair of orthopedic sandals. She twisted to let Eric lean against her as she kissed him. Thanking him for the drink, probably. My expression must’ve showed the surprise, because Niall followed my gaze.

  “You know her?”

  I shook my head. “No. I just wouldn’t have picked her out to be...well... I guess you never really know what people like about each other, huh?”

  Niall gave her a curious look then turned back to me. “I guess you never do.”

  More of my friends showed up then, and the crowd got lively. Someone had set up a small speaker system playing music from an iPod. The appetizers disappeared. People danced a little or ordered food, but most of us stood around in small groups chatting about life, work, families. I was talking with Randi, a woman I’d met a few times previously but didn’t know very well, when Niall excused himself to use the restroom. As soon as he’d gone, she leaned close to me.

  “How did you two meet?”

  “He works with my brother,” I told her.

  Randi gave me a look over the rim of her wineglass. “He’s very cute.”

  I looked automatically toward where Niall had gone, though I couldn’t see him. “Is he?”

  “Oh, sure. And he clearly adores you.” She nodded.

  I laughed. “Oh...we’re not...”

  “No? You’re kidding.” Randi’s brows arched upward. “I thought you’d been together forever, the way you talk to each other.”

  I had to think about that. Niall and I definitely had a patter down, riffing back and forth. “No. We just met, tonight, actually.”

  “I’ve been looking forever to find someone. Online dating is hell for straight people. God help those of us who are a little crooked. Half the guys are looking to find a mistress, whatever that means, and it’s usually nothing like what I want.” Randi rolled her eyes and lowered her voice. “I mean, look, I don’t mind pouring myself into a corset now and again, but most of the time I want to be in lounge pants when I whip someone, you know?”

  “I don’t really—”

  “They say they want to submit, but it’s still all about them.” Randi looked disgusted.

  I’d had my share of that, for sure. I thought of Esteban, my delightful boy. Finding him had been lucky and rare, and even so, not without its problems. How different tonight would’ve been if he were here with me. “Niall and I aren’t on a date.”

  “But he’s a sub, yeah?”

  I laughed again. “No, I don’t think so. He’s not mine, at any rate.”

  “I’d convince him,” Randi said just as a nudge at my elbow showed me Niall, a glass of iced tea in his hand.

  “I brought you a drink.”

  Randi gave me a look so significant I had to cover my mouth against a sudden burst of laughter. Niall gave us both the sort of look men give women when they suspect they’re the butt of some joke they don’t understand and don’t want to know about.

  “Thanks,” I said. “Would you mind asking the bartender to put some lime in this, instead of lemon? Crushed ice if they have it, too. And a straw.”

  Niall nodded without looking even the tiniest bit put out. “Sure, no problem.”

  Randi waited until he’d gotten out of earshot. “If he’s not yours, can I have him?”

  “Umm.” I laughed awkwardly. “Sure? I guess?”

  In a few minutes Niall was back, handing me the glass of iced tea. One sip told me he’d had it prepared perfectly. “Thanks. I was thirsty.”

  Randi gave me another look. I didn’t mean to giggle, but couldn’t hold it back. When she excused herself, Niall watched her go then turned back to me with a shake of his head.

  “Ooookay.”

  The crowd had thinned a lot, and amazingly we’d made it almost to last call. “You want to get out of here?”

  “Sure.