Page 19 of Wicked Flirt
He barked out a laugh. “Shut up, you pervert.”
She laughed. “So I’ve got tons of ideas for your Mardi Gras event. But first, what kind of budget are we talking here?”
“Whatever you need.” He’d pay anything to help out Lexi, who’d already made more progress with his mom in one lunch than he’d managed in the last two months.
Her eyes widened. “You don’t have to worry about money?” she asked in a hushed voice.
He took a sip of water. “It’s like this. Jake Campbell lent me the money for this bar. I paid him back within a year and then I invested in Dat Cloud. Before it went public.” Dat Cloud was Jake’s company and had made Jake a billionaire. Marcus had made out very well too.
“Before it went public,” she echoed. He could see her putting the pieces together. “You hit the mother lode!”
“Shh. I’m doing well. Now I can invest for fun, so I’ll invest in you for fun.”
She stared at him, clearly in shock. Obviously she didn’t know him very well. He’d do anything for his friends, and Lexi now qualified as friendnumero uno.
He made a big show of rolling his eyes and heaved a sigh. “Do I have to do everything? Hurricane drinks, beads, and purple, green, and gold decorations.”
She snapped to attention. “How about a speed-dating masquerade?” She made a pretend mask with her fingers around her eyes. “Just an eye mask, so you can still see most of the person’s face. And if you give the ladies half-price Mardi Gras cocktails, you could really pack them in here.”
He rubbed his stubbled jaw. “Keep talking.”
“We incorporate social media into it too. Royalty is a big part of Mardi Gras, so we make a king and queen of the bar contest. The first twenty people who enter will make a poll on social media to get votes.”
“Liking that social media idea.”
She went on enthusiastically. “We can have people make floats, like miniature floats out of small cardboard boxes, and then vote on the best one.”
He grimaced. “That sounds messy.”
“We could set up a couple of long tables away from the bar for people to make them.” She pointed over to the space. “Speed-dating rounds back here in the booths, royalty contest at the bar. Then staff can rotate people through stations. There’s something for everyone.”
“I like most of that, except the half-price cocktails. I think they’ll pay full price for this event.”
“Okay, then we can make cool cocktails too. Hurricanes, but also purple, green, and gold drinks.” She turned her laptop, clicking over to some saved cocktail recipes. “Anything look good?”
“Whatever you pick is fine.”
She smiled. “You might be my easiest client yet.” She looked around. “I don’t think you’ll have room for a live band with everything else, but we can make a cool jazz playlist, some nice mood lighting, like twinkly white lights. Some traditional New Orleans food.”
“We usually do jambalaya and gumbo.”
“Excellent. Maybe add some Cajun shrimp and grits. Ooh, maybe we could get some alligator meat too.”
He made a face. “You ever eat that?”
“No, but it sounds very New Orleans, doesn’t it?”
“You ever been to New Orleans?”
“No, but I read.”
He smirked. “I’ve been there. It’s amazing and the women flash you for beads.” He took a drink of water, hiding his smile.
“I always hated that. We should give out beads to the guys with the biggest dick.”
He spewed his water.
She cracked up.
