Page 22 of Designed for Disaster

Stacy looped her arm through Natasha’s, almost like she was trying to stop her from running away. “It’s settled then. So, where are we going?”

7

NATASHA

As soon as this dinner was over, I was going to kill Stacy. Actually, I wanted to drag her away to the bathroom and do it there before the appetizers turned up. I’d already had to endure that godawful play. Was getting me roped into eating dinner with my grumpy boss and his friends really necessary?

It was bad enough that I had to pretend to be his girlfriend whenever Dee was around—despite how much I liked and admired her. I didn’t need to be sharing meals with Trent during my downtime too!

“Ooo, love this place,” Stacy said as we walked through the doors of Temple Gardens, a pricey open-air bar and restaurant just down the street from the racquet club. I’d eaten here once before, and though the food was delicious, the menu prices made it a special-occasions-only choice. But I’d just started a new job that paid me more than I’d ever made before, so perhaps tonight counted as a special occasion, even if I was spending it with my nemesis.

“Have you tried their spicy mozza sticks?” Dominic asked. He had a warm smile, but still carried an air of confidence and authority. With sandy hair greying at the temples, slicked back away from his chiseled face, he was giving silver fox vibes. Actually, all of Trent’s friends were ridiculously good looking. Vincent gave off retired rockstar vibes, and with Aiden’s blond curls and tall, well-built frame, he could have stepped out of some Norse myth. Come to think of it, I was pretty sure I’d seen his face on some magazine covers. What did Trent do? Troll for friends on models.com?

“Yes! So good. I would sell my soul for some of those,” Stacy said.

Dominic grinned. “You and me both.”

“Are we eating inside or outside?” Trent asked, sounding a little irritated as he approached the hostess. Well, I could assure him of one thing—I was even more irritated.

“Outside,” Vincent said. “It’s a nice evening.”

He wasn’t wrong about that. It was warm, even for mid-September, all the guys still in their shorts and t-shirts from their squash game. I tried not to stare at the way Trent’s shirt pulled against his broad chest. He was just sweaty enough for his shirt to cling to his well-defined biceps in a very distracting way. Bosses should not be allowed to look like that.

Especially grumpy jerks.

“If you follow me,” the hostess said, leading us across the restaurant and past the bar decorated with so much plant life it looked like it had sprung up in the middle of a rainforest.

“Cora would love this,” Dominic said, elbowing Aiden.

He nodded. “I’ll have to bring her back here.”

The hostess stopped in front of a large table. I sat down with Stacy to my right. Dominic sat next to her, and the rest of the guys sat on the other side of the table. Trent ended up in the chair directly across from mine.

I picked up my menu so I wouldn’t stare at his undeniably beautiful face. It was too tempting, though, and I snuck a couple glances as the waitress appeared for our drink order. Except for Dominic, who got a mocktail, the guys all ordered alcohol. Then Aiden and Dominic started asking questions about the drink menu, inquiring as to the types of alcohol used. I didn’t know if they were trying to show off or if they were genuinely interested, but I tried not to roll my eyes.

I did think that eating with four guys, three of whom I’d never met before and one of whom I couldn’t stand, was going to be horrendous. I shot Stacy a look that hopefully saidnext time listen to me. But she merely beamed in my direction before ordering a flowery-sounding cocktail Dominic talked her into trying.

Ugh. This was about to be the longest dinner of my life. I was tempted to down my meal as quickly as possible so we could get out of here, but I knew it would be a wasted effort. Stacy had never finished a meal quickly in her life because she liked to talk too damn much.

I sighed. If I was going to be stuck here for the foreseeable future, I might as well make the best of it. “I’ll take a Whiskey Sour, please.”

“Nice choice,” Aiden said. “You a big whiskey connoisseur?”

“I wouldn’t say that,” I said. “I’ve just never been a fan of beer. I sort of picked my poison in college and stuck with it. But I can’t say I’ve ever been in the position to be picky about the brand.”

“Don’t get this guy started on alcohol,” Vincent said, smirking. “He and Dominic will talk your ear off.”

“Oh?” I asked. Were they the kind of assholes who liked mansplaining every topic under the sun, whether they knew anything about it or not?

“I’m the co-founder and CEO of Elixir,” Aiden said.

“Like…the entire alcohol brand?” Stacy asked. “Like with the big office in midtown? That Elixir?”

Aiden chuckled. “Yeah. Dom’s the other co-founder, not to mention our chief marketing officer.”

I flushed, a little embarrassed by my assumption. Okay, in this case, maybe theydidknow what they were talking about. At least them interrogating the waitress about the drink menu made more sense now. “Guess we’re talking to the drink experts, then?”

“If you want a real drink connoisseur, you should talk to my other half, Cora…She’s got quite a following for her mixology videos on social media.”

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