14. Phoenix #3
She chuckled, smile growing as she studied me.
“Seeing you on the runway, I could tell you three were having the time of your lives with the way you were swaggering,” she said, “It was good to see you hold your head up high instead of slouching around trying to slink through the shadows. As for Parker, and I’m assuming the other is Aspen, since I never see you far from his hip, good for you. I expect a formal introduction.
“Yes, ma’am,” I replied, knowing her version of a shovel talk was in their future. “About the gear, Dorian knows I love the leather headpieces he makes, especially the ones that have straps and buckles, so he always makes me look like I showed up straight out of Hellraiser,” I said.
“That’s exactly where my mind went when I saw you too,” she said. “You pulled it off beautifully. Please tell me that you intend to continue doing shows with them.”
“For as long as Dorian wants me to,” I replied.
“Good. I’m glad you have an outlet you enjoy and friends to enjoy it with,” she replied. “And I envy you the backstage view of that many beautiful men changing clothes.”
“Grandma!”
She just tsked again and sipped the wine she’d poured into her water glass after she’d drained it. “I’m old, I’m not dead…or blind.”
“You’re not even that old,” I grumbled.
“Precisely,” she replied with a wink. “Now, do you have a finale in mind for the signature cocktail event? If not, I’d like you to consider coming up with something that will be a true showstopper.
Like those purple dragon leathers that Dorian unveiled.
I thought my eyeballs were going to fall out of my head and into my glass when Raleigh came stalking out in that one.
You don’t think he and Murry would be interested in coming back for one night only for your cocktail event, do you?
As part of the legends series, of course.
It would be nice to be able to drool over the way they move together one more time. ”
At this point, I knew that I should be used to the outrageous things that came out of her mouth, but now that my cousins and I were adults, the filter was truly starting to give way to a side of my grandmother I’d never seen before.
“I can’t promise anything until I talk to them, but I’ll ask,” I promised, not wanting to give her false hope by telling her that they’d gotten excited when I’d told them about it. They’d even tossed around ideas about what their cocktails would be if they were doing it.
I doubted I’d get the words all the way out of my mouth before they said yes, but just in case, I’d wait until they committed, after they spoke to their Daddy.
“Let me know what they decide,” she replied.
“I will,” I said. “As for the finale, I did have something in mind. I was going to ask our two biggest draws to create and unveil a cocktail together.”
She looked thoughtful as she sipped her drink, humming a little, before smiling.
“I like it, but let’s throw an additional twist in there and have them come up with drinks that complement one another.
Hopefully, they can find some common ground in the process, and if not, then at the very least it will make their lives miserable for a little while, which is what they deserve for damaging my grandson. ”
Huh?
“Grandma, how did you know what happened to my face?” I asked. “Even Uncle James doesn’t know what really took place.”
“Of course I know what is going on with my dancers,” she replied. “And it’s past time those two put their issues aside and learned to work together.”
“I didn’t want to make an issue out of it,” I admitted. “But I warned them that they would have to figure out how to work together. This is just one of several ideas I’ve put together for them.”
“Good, it isn’t right for brothers to feud that way.”
“Whoa, back up a minute. Gram, are you telling me they’re related?” I said, completely blown away, given the animosity I’d seen between them, not to mention how different they looked.
“Half-brothers, but yes, they share a father and carry a lot of grudges stemming back to him, too.”
Guess I should have expected her to still know everything about all the dancers who worked at the club, despite no longer being part of the day-to-day operations.
I knew she popped into the back from time to time, but it was beginning to sound like she might be there far more often than I realized.
No wonder she’d been up in arms about the incident reports; she’d likely heard far more in-depth versions of what had taken place from those who’d had a bird’s-eye view of some of the incidents.
“I’ll make sure the team keeps an extra eye on them,” I assured her.
“Thank you,” she said before kicking back the last of the wine in her glass, “Now, let’s go see if the buzzards left any cupcakes behind.”
I was more than happy to follow her and grab sticky treats and another bruschetta if there were any left. Having her approval had sent my confidence soaring, while the little voice in the back of my head kept repeating I can’t wait to tell Parker and Aspen.