Mixed Up(65)

Raven put her glass on the coffee table and picked up the polka dot folder. "Well, focus, because I'm ready to work."

"When are you not?"

"Exactly. Are we pairing these cocktails with dishes or not? My mom texted earlier and booked a table for fifteen. I need this done by then so I can give them a set menu."

"I can cater for them."

"I know you can. I just don't want to." She grinned. "I like to be awkward."

"I never noticed."

"Don't be a dick."

"Wouldn't dream of it." I flashed her grin right back at her and grabbed the menu. "All right, talk me through your cocktails."

Raven tucked her hair behind her ear and opened her folder. She went through several pages before settling on one. "I want to start with the appetizers."

So, start with them we did. We talked through each flavor and taste until her glass was empty. When that happened, she poured herself another glass of wine and brought me a bottle of beer. We moved slowly through her menu and mine until we had a decent amount of main dishes to cocktails. Double and triple checks happened, along with a heavy dose of doubts, but eventually, we made a menu that was marginally acceptable to Her Royal Highness, Duchess of Cocktailville.

"That was harder than I thought," I said, putting the menu down.

"Than you thought?" Raven raised an eyebrow. "I'm the one who had to create a whole new drink."

"And I'm sure the Cock Blocker is going to be a huge seller." I paused. "Maybe not for straight men or women. Or gay men."

She tapped her pen against her bright-red lips. "It's the ultimate wingman or best friend drink."

"If my wingman ever cock blocked me, I'd give him a black eye."

"Is that how my brother got a black eye on your twenty-first birthday?"

I stopped. "No, that was the chick he hit on. He forgot she had a glass in her hand, and she had a better aim than most baseball pitchers."



       
         
       
        

"Seems reasonable." She dropped her pen to her knee. "I'm sticking with Cock Blocker. It's that or Spank Bank."

"Spank Bank will sell better."

"Even if it doesn't come with item for said spank bank?"

Again, she made me pause. "Maybe go with Cock Blocker and put Spank Bank in the, er...notes section on your phone."

Her grin was so wide and infectious. Her eyes glittered with her silent laughter even as she delicately covered her mouth with her hand. There was just something about the way happiness spread across her features and lit up her face that was so enamoring. I could watch her laugh all day, without sounding like a weirdo.

Something about her being happy made me stupid happy.

I didn't like it at all.

"Good idea." She tapped out something on her phone, giggling. "Thanks. I feel like tonight was really productive."

"It was...in a roundabout way."

"Did the Cock Blocker cock block you?"

"You didn't make it, so no."

Raven jumped up off the sofa and darted around to the kitchen.

"That wasn't an invitation to make it!" I threw myself over the arm of the chair after her.

She grabbed a bottle of vodka from the bottle rack on the side. Hurrying my feet, I reached her just as she set the bottle on the side. The second her grip loosened, I swept her back and away from the alcohol.

In my experience, her cocktails lived up to their filthy names. I didn't need this one working against me.

I pulled her into my body. Her ass tucked against my pelvis, and she laughed wildly, wrapping her little hands around my wrists. I had almost a head of height on her when she was barefoot like she was right now, but there was something laughable about the way she fought me.

My arms had her locked into me, yet she wriggled and writhed like her life was dependent on it. My cock hardened with every time she moved her ass against it, and it didn't take her long to notice it, because she quickly stopped, almost sagging back against me.

I splayed my fingers across her stomach. The yoga pants she wore didn't give much resistance against my hand where her skin was concerned. I could feel the way her heart was beating where she was pressed so firmly against me and my left thumb crept up just high enough to feel that beat. It was the barest vibration against the side of my thumb, yet it was still harsh enough that I could feel every boom-boom as it rocked against her ribs.

She took a deep breath in. It was sharp and harsh, pushing her chest back into mine. A shiver spread across my skin as hers touched mine. The warm brush was more than enough to make me shiver and swallow back the heat of her touch.