Luis released one hand to reach for Krissy so she didn't fly off his lap when the driver stomped on the brake, giving me the advantage.
I took it, slamming my fist into his arm as hard as I could before snatching the phone back from Krissy, seeing she had sent the last text. And that Nixon was as quick as before. Quicker even. And why wouldn't he be when the topic of stripping was on the table?
-- Stripping?
- I hope you haven't grown too attached to Krissy. I'm going to kill her.
-- I am going to need an answer to the stripping question, babe.
- I get hot when I'm drunk. Apparently, I take off most of my clothes. And that is when I become a happy drunk.
-- Interesting. Just so you know... there is plenty of alcohol at a Mallick family dinner.
Was he... flirting with me?
No. That didn't seem likely. He wasn't really the sort. I mean, I guess everyone was the sort. If you ever wanted to get laid, you had to at least have a small propensity toward flirtation.
- I promise to be on my best behavior at the Mallick's house.
Thankfully, he let the topic drop.
-- You guys have fun tonight?
- Yeah. Luis is in town.
-- Luis?
Right. He didn't know about Luis. I guess I had maybe figured he would have looked into me by now. And my social media was full of pictures of me with my brother.
- My brother. He's a model. He just dropped into town for the night. They dragged me out. I had too much sake. And sushi isn't exactly great drunk food.
-- You'd think working at a whiskey company would make you have a higher tolerance for alcohol.
- We don't exactly drink on the job.
-- Pity.
- You're a whiskey fan?
-- My drink of choice.
- Have you had ours?
-- At that price-tag? No, babe. Plenty of good whiskey under two-hundred bucks.
- Yeah, I agree. I have been championing for a lower price for a while now.
-- Don't want to cater to the rich?
- Well, there's nothing wrong with a luxury item. But catering to the rich lowers how many units you sell. If you cater more toward the middle class, you sell more bottles. It's good business. But my parents are a bit set in their ways.
-- Your parents own the business?
I hated texting because it was so hard to read undertones. Like if he was being condescending, if he was looking down on me because my parents had handed the reins of a company to me. If he was thinking thoughts on nepotism and how people like me never had to work to get where they are.
I worked.
In fact, I didn't work for the family business until two years before. I had set out to prove myself and had been steadily working on that until, well, life threw something horribly unexpected at me. And everything changed.
Giving me Devil Tears had nothing to do with nepotism and a lot to do with trying to give me a distraction, so I didn't self-destruct.
And it had mostly worked.
- Yes. They are looking toward total retirement. They are divesting and/or stepping down from management roles of all their companies.
-- Why pick the whiskey business out of the others?
- It didn't have to stay in California. It was close to being in the red. I wanted to turn it around. I... needed a challenge.
-- Except they are still butting in.
- Yes
I knew it was their company. And I was thankful they had trusted me with it, but it was difficult to make any real changes if you weren't given the full power to do so.
-- Are you in control enough to run sales?
- Short ones, yes.
-- Do all your new promo shit the week you slash prices. If you can show them that the slashed prices bring in customers, they will listen to you.
- Maybe you are Mr. Hot Advertisement Guy, after all.
-- Think I'm hot, huh?
Inexplicably, my cheeks heated further, making me almost unbearably hot. Thankfully, the driver was pulling down my road, and I could get in my apartment and crank up the AC to cool down.
Though something was telling me this new round of heat had nothing to do with the alcohol. And everything to do with the man on the other side of my text conversation.
- Yay. Home. Time to go.
It was maybe the most awkward segue I'd ever given someone, but it got me out of having to answer his question.
-- If that stripping thing happens, I'm afraid I am going to need evidence to believe it.
He was definitely, definitely flirting with me.
And I was definitely, definitely into it.
I had a feeling that things were about to get rather sticky between Nixon and me.
That was going to make the situation with me and Michael even more complicated.