Total pages in book: 94
Estimated words: 91461 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 457(@200wpm)___ 366(@250wpm)___ 305(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 91461 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 457(@200wpm)___ 366(@250wpm)___ 305(@300wpm)
“Good Lord,” I said when I reached them.
Dane had cashews in his right hand, the same Corona that Duncan had in his left, and he was throwing the nuts up in the air and catching them in his mouth.
“Are you drunk?” I asked him.
“No,” he said, lobbing a nut at Duncan, who caught it in his mouth like a trained seal. I glanced at the floor, assuming there had to be all the ones he’d missed while they practiced this weird act of theirs. But no, nothing.
“What is going on?” Aja chuckled as Sam put an arm around her and hauled her up against his side.
“These things are always horrible,” Duncan said flatly. “I hate them, you all hate them, but we’re here to support Aaron.”
“This is not supporting Aaron,” I advised him. “To stand around in our nice clothes, that is supporting Aaron.”
“Agreed,” Aja said, trying not to smile as Sam flagged down a waiter to bring her a White Russian and me a pina colada. “Sam Kage, I have not had a White Russian since college.”
“I think that’s been the same for me with a pina colada,” I apprised him. “What’s gotten into you?”
His smile was gorgeous, with the curl of his lip and the glint in his eyes.
“I mentioned the last time that these things should be far more casual and thus much more fun,” Duncan informed me. “So this is just an experiment to see if Aaron can get the same networking done, for him and others, without the formality.”
“I don’t know,” I said as the waiter returned with my frothy mixed drink. Just smelling it brought back memories of dancing in clubs until two in the morning.
“And no one ever eats anything,” Duncan pointed out. “We have all this food catered and end up having it all delivered to the closest homeless shelter.”
“That’s a good thing.”
“Yes, but Aaron already donates food that is designed by a nutritionist to every shelter in the city on a regular basis. This feast is not at all high in antioxidants, all the food groups are not represented, and it’s high in fat content. It’s all very bad for you.”
“Good,” Dane announced as he left us for the buffet that was set up in the dining room.
“Is there steak?” Sam asked, giving Aja a squeeze before letting her go, taking hold of Duncan’s bicep and tugging on him a moment to get him to move.
“Was there drinking at Hannah and the boys’ place I didn’t see?”
“Apparently so,” I said, walking along behind them.
It was like one of the restaurants in Vegas Sam and I had been to the last time we were there, food elaborately presented under mood lighting where the plates were endless and everything looked amazing.
“Oh who cares, let’s eat,” I told Aja.
Normally, neither of us ate. We stood around, we sipped things, we were exceedingly polite and were both ready to speak when Aaron dragged someone over to talk to us or brought us over to talk to them. She spoke on education and what was needed for the future. The last time he had her chatting with one alderman after another. He had me talk about all the different brands under the Sutter umbrella, and how grateful I was to work with the amazing people at the company. Duncan and Sam talked about the duty of law enforcement in these changing times, and Dane, of course, about the cultural importance of architecture and what it said about the city.
It was a snore.
And apparently Duncan was sick of it. He was tired of us having to get a bite to eat at our favorite diner on the way home because we were all starving.
He had taken the menu out of the hands of the people who normally planned and executed dinners at Chez Sutter and did it himself.
“I love tri-tip,” Sam said with a sigh as he filled his plate and passed up mashed potatoes for sweet potato fries sliced thin and Caesar salad.
“None of these things go together, you get that, right?” Aja asked Duncan.
“Yeah, but lamb with mint jelly and whatever the hell else is gross. We shouldn’t be eating babies at all. Of anything.”
“Veal is disgusting,” Dane chimed in. “It should not be eaten.”
“A hundred percent agree,” Duncan told him. “Look, I ordered the yummy yeast rolls.”
When we all went to sit down in the living room, people around us who were having serious conversations started inhaling the air.
“Is that pulled pork?” a woman asked me. She looked utterly exhausted.
“Yes.” I smiled back. “And there’s brisket too, and potato salad and coleslaw.”
She whimpered.
“It’s been a long week. Go get some barbecue.”
Glancing around, she had no idea what to do with her glass of white wine.
“Put it next to my pina colada, I’ll keep an eye on it for you.”