Chapter 4
chapter four
MARISOL
“Two tequila sunrises, please.”
I shake my head, grinning as the bartender walks away. “Do you ever start with anything else?”
My best friend, Sabrina, shrugs from across the high table, her black hair slipping over her shoulder. “Every good night starts with a tequila sunrise.”
Her eyes twinkle with anticipation in the warm, low light of our favorite cocktail bar, the dark winged eyeliner framing her bright blues.
She’s got one of those looks, the kind where people stop on the street to look at her. Her beauty is breathtaking, which means she finds more than enough attention on a night out, and she feeds off it.
I’ve told her over and over that she could be a model. She’s even had agents approach her over the years, but she doesn’t want to hear a single word of it, not wanting to step into that world. I can’t blame her, given my current situation.
“Yeah, well,” I say, picking up my glass as soon as the bartender drops it in front of me, “I’m in need of a good night.”
“Don’t I know it?” Sabrina says. “Why do you think we’re here?”
“Amen to that.” My glass clinks against Sabrina’s before we take generous sips of our drinks, both of us ignoring the pathetic, tiny straws they give you with cocktails.
“Did you see Jack has found himself multiple new clients already?” I ask. “Models are jumping at the chance to work with him.”
“Yeah.” She sets her drink down with more force than necessary.
“That’s because they all look at how successful you were before he tanked your career.
I still don’t understand how he came out on top.
” She shakes her head. “Little do they know your success had nothing to do with that boiled potato of a man and everything to do with you.”
I tip my head. “He opened a lot of doors for me, Sabrina,” I say. “And boiled potato?”
“Do not give that rodent any more credit than what he’s due.” She frowns. “You think he opened doors for you because that’s what he told you. Who’s to say those doors didn’t open for you themselves, and he’s just the one who walked you through them?”
I snort into my drink.
“What exactly is funny?” She cocks her head. “I am trying to make an encouraging speech to my best friend here.”
I shake my head. “I’m imagining a rodent leading me through an open door.”
Now it’s her turn to snort before it turns into a full-blown cackle. “Now I’m imagining a boiled potato leading you through an open door.”
We’ve lost the plot already, and we aren’t even one drink into the night.
As I come down from the laughing fit, I realize that she might be right.
Jack always told me he managed to score me certain jobs, but who’s to say those brands didn’t reach out to him?
I always blindly trusted his word because…
well, why wouldn’t I? To me, he was more than my agent; he was also the man I loved.
I didn’t see any reason why he would lie to me.
Now I know he was lying about almost everything, so why not that, too?
My phone buzzes atop the table. “Is that Rafael?” Sabrina rips my phone off the table before I can even look at the screen.
I roll my eyes, leaning back in my chair. “You really need to stop this obsession with my brother, I swear to god.”
“But he’s so hot,” she says, all dramatic flair included.
“Okay, ew.” I shake my head. “Can I have my phone?”
Her eyes narrow as she stares down at the screen. “Who’s Leo?”
“What?” I lean over the table, snatching my phone from her grasp.
“Your brother said that Leo is here for the weekend.” I frown as I look down at the message from Rafael that says exactly that.
“If he’s friends with Rafael, he must be hot. Your brother’s entire friend group is like a sexy hockey team or something. They all look cut from the same holy block.”
I can’t help but laugh. “You sure you weren’t drinking before this?”
Sabrina rolls her eyes. “Why don’t you invite him to come have a drink with us?”
“Absolutely not.” I shake my head before downing the last of my drink. That disappeared quickly.
“Why not?”
“’Cause he’s…” Leo. I have a feeling that if I invited him to join us, he and Sabrina would end up leaving together, and I don’t need to be reminded of just how single I am.
Besides, I’ve only seen Leo a handful of times in the last few years, and I’m not sure he’d be down to come drinking with us.
“Hot?”
How many times can you roll your eyes in the span of three minutes? “No, Sabrina. He—”
“He’s not hot?”
“That’s not what I’m saying.” Not at all. In those handful of times I’d seen him, I hadn’t been able to ignore how much he’s grown up since I knew him. That was back when we were still teenagers, so of course, he’s grown up, but not everyone grows up to be cut from a holy block, to quote Sabrina.
“So he is hot?”
I groan, hanging my head back. “Can I get another drink?”
* * *
I smile like a moron as I spin around in Sabrina’s arms. The two of us have been on the dance floor in this club for what feels like minutes, but the rational part of my brain knows it’s been over an hour.
Nothing soothes a troubled mind like a night dancing with your best friend. I feel so much better than I did this morning. Sabrina was right, every good night starts with a tequila sunrise, and maybe it ends with one too.
“Hey!” I yell to Sab over the music. “Want another tequila sunrise?”
“Hell yeah, I do!”
We shimmy our way over to the bar. “Two tequila sunrises, please!” I yell at the bartender. He flashes me a flirty grin before fulfilling our order.
I stare at his corded forearms as he mixes the drinks with a sexy kind of ease. It makes me hot as I watch him.
Sabrina breaks out in giggles from beside me, and when I turn to see what’s so funny, a tall, undeniably handsome man is smiling down at her.
“Ciao.” He flashes me a smile when he sees me looking at him, catching Sabrina’s attention.
“This is Salvatore,” she says, her voice low and sultry, and I can’t help but let out a snort. Salvatore sounds like the name of an heir to a mansion on a hill with a vault full of stolen jewels.
I laugh as we talk to him and the bartender for a while, my mind feeling at ease for a moment, and I cherish it. All I’ve felt lately is stress, this gigantic weight on my shoulders, because if things don’t start looking up soon, I don’t know what I’m going to do.
But that’s not a problem for tonight. I can deal with that in the morning. For now, I let the night carry me away.