Page 38 of Not Safe For Work

“No, what’s that?”

“It’s in the hotel. My second favorite tiki bar in the city.” I let go of her shoulders but offer an arm for her to hold on to. She’s looking a little wobbly on her feet, though I can’t tell if it’s the shoes or if she’s been drinking.

“What’s your first favorite?” she asks when we start walking through the hotel.

“Let’s see how you handle this one first.”

We head downstairs and follow a long corridor to get to the restaurant. Liv never lets go of my arm. Based on the hiccups that started in the elevator, I’m positive she’s been drinking, but she doesn’t seem too drunk. Either way, she can use me for balance any time she wants.

The Tonga Room is one of my favorite places in the city. I’m definitely biased, because I love a good tiki bar, but there’s something about it, being in the basement of the fancy Fairmont hotel, that makes it extra special.

I had a feeling Liv would love it, but when we walk in and she sees the boat floating in the middle of the restaurant, her shriek still catches me off guard. The restaurant itself is one big square-shaped bridge, so every table has a clear view of the water in the middle, where a small boat houses a band playing reggae. As soon as you walk in, you’re immediately on a tropical vacation. Even the air is sticky with humidity and rum. The scents of coconut and pineapple swirling all around us.

Unfortunately, I forgot how busy this place gets on the weekends. There’s an hour and a half wait for a table.

“That’s okay,” Liv says when she sees my disappointment. “Let’s just grab a spot at the bar.”

The bar is slammed too. We walk the full length of the restaurant, but every seat is taken.

“Olivia!” I turn toward the voice and find a pretty blonde sitting at one of the tables closest to the water. She’s flanked by two men in expensive suits.

“Oh my god, she remembers me,” Liv squeals. She takes a few sharp breaths like she’s hyperventilating. “That’s Lucy Gold, my favorite author. Can we go say hi?”

“Of course.”

“Hey, Lucy,” Liv says, her nerves on display. I run my hand down her spine to help settle them. “Did you have a good time at the gala?”

“It was an amazing event. Henry’s getting over some jet lag, so he took Rowan upstairs a while ago, but these are my friends, Jayce and Graham.”

The men stand and we all greet each other. They seem nice enough, even if I’m a little jealous they’re stealing some of Liv’s attention.

“Why don’t you join us?” Graham offers, his Australian accent throwing me for a sec. “I’m sure the wait for a table is ages.”

She looks at me, her eyes pleading a bit. No idea who Lucy Gold is, but if it makes Liv happy, I’ll talk about books for the rest of the night.

“Thanks, that’d be great actually.” I pull out a chair for Liv and once we’re seated, I throw an arm around her back. Maybe I feel a little possessive because of the guys sitting across from us, but she’s my pretend girlfriend, not theirs.

“I just have to say,” Liv starts, leaning toward Lucy. “I have readBeautiful Beastsat least three times. I actually just finished my last read about a month ago. After my break-up, it really spoke to me. Like, I wanna be the villain of my own story, you know?”

What the hell? There are a million questions I want to ask her about this. I decide that I’ll try to remember them later, because there’s no way I’m cutting into Liv having her moment right now.

Lucy laughs a little. “I love that. I don’t think I’ve ever heard someone phrase it that way before, but I was actually going through a tough break-up when I wrote it. I was tired of focusing on the happy ending, and I wanted my lead to have her moment without a man to make it happen.”

“Ugh,yes,” Liv replies, completely lit up. She licks her lips a few times and I turn around to try and flag down a server. “I know you don’t know me and I’m sure I sound ridiculous, but Ithink I could feel that through the book. It’s just so empowering and it really made me want to find a better story for myself too. Not killing people, obviously. But just taking control of my narrative. You’re such an incredible writer.”

Lucy looks down at her drink before taking a long pull from the pink straw. “The best feeling is just knowing my words resonated with you. But no more talking about me or I’ll get very weird, very fast.”

“That’s just because she’ll drink until she’s comfortable getting compliments,” Jayce says, smoothly sliding Lucy’s coconut drink toward himself.

A waitress pops by to take our order and Liv looks to me. “What should I get?”

“Oh, get this!” Lucy offers, stealing her drink back. “It’s called theDivine Dragon.” She says the last two words with a flair, and I can immediately see that she’s a storyteller.

“You’re a divine dragon, Luce,” Graham says, ruffling her hair. No one has made it clear if either of these guys is “with” Lucy, but I’m getting major brother and sister vibes.

“Ooh, that sounds good,” Liv replies, reading the menu. “But I can’t decide between that and a Mai Tai.”

“I’ll get the Mai Tai,” I tell her. “We can share.”

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