Page 165 of The First Taste

I raise my hand as a signal. The bartender comes over, smiling. “What can I make for you?”

“Make her a French 75,” I say.

The bartender nods, disappearing. When she reappears a half minute later, she holds a champagne flute. The contents of the glass are a curl of lemon, a little gin, a dash of simple syrup, and an effervescent champagne topper.

“Here you go,” she says, setting it on a cocktail napkin before Kaia. “Enjoy.”

“Thanks,” Kaia says. She looks at me again as she tastes the cocktail. As though she needs feedback from me when sampling something new.

That’s…interesting.

Her expression brightens. “Mmm! This is good.”

I smile coolly. “Baby’s first cocktail.”

“Hmm?” she asks, leaning her head closer to my mouth.

“Never mind. Where were you when I called?”

Her mouth pulls down in a frown. “Here and there. Out with my friends.”

I narrow my eyes on her face. “What friends?”

I move my hand toward her cheek, thinking to tuck a piece of her cornsilk hair back behind her ear. But I’m not expecting her reaction.

Kaia flinches, closing her eyes and recoiling. I stop, my hand hovering in the air between us.

It’s the first time I’ve seen her behave like that, as if she were an abused puppy and I were her unhinged owner.

That’s a learned behavior if I’ve ever seen one.

After a second, she opens her eyes. Warmth instantly rushes to her cheeks.

“Sorry,” she says, looking mortified. “You… uh…”

I shrug one shoulder, dropping my hand. Instead I pick up my drink, taking a sip. The cool liquid burns on its way down.

Kaia puts her champagne flute on the bar, pouting. “Is it usually like this? When you… start seeing someone like me? Or am I just spectacularly awkward?”

“I wouldn’t know,” I say.

She looks up at me, surprised. “What do you mean?”

“You’re not the first girl to catch my eye at Club X,” I say, swirling the amber contents around in my tumbler. “But you are definitely the first one that I’ve seen outside the club. The only one I’ve had a contract with.”

She blinks, flushing. “Oh. I just assumed that you had…dated… women from the club before.”

I purse my lips and cock my head. “You caught my eye. But you had my attention the second that I saw you do an arabesque. The stripping was all flash, but the actual ballet is the reason that we are both here right now.”

I reach out, trailing my fingers over her knee. She looks up, swallowing hard, her hazel eyes so wide and innocent.

“Don’t you agree?” I murmur.

She sinks her white teeth into the fullness of her bottom lip, smiling shyly. “I never quite know what to think when I’m around you.”

I smirk at her. “I promise to keep you on your toes… quite literally.”

She squints at me. “Did you just make a pun?”