“Wow,” he says. “It was pretty damn obvious, but okay.” Being Natalie’s brother, Jackson is family, but he also works upstairs. It was his parents' brokerage firm that we bought. He’s barely out of university, but he’s been working his ass off to prove he deserves to be there.
“Don’t worry about me. I’m good—”
“I know,” Nick says. “You’re fine. You always say that.”
I level a glare at him. “I am, except I could use another whiskey.”
As if her ears were burning, Margie’s here and offering, “Another drink, handsome?”
Jackson wags his finger in the air. “Another round, Margie.”
Still staring at me, she winks. “You got it.”
Nick says, “She’s definitely into you, man.”
A guy leans back from the table beside us. “I’m not one to give unsolicited advice, but I know a thing or two about Margie. She wants three things from a man. By appearances alone, you have two out of three.”
“What’s that?” I ask.
Chuckling, he replies, “Looks and money.”
After taking a sip of my drink, I say, “Trust me, my looks and bank account are the least interesting things about me.” I’m confident I have more to offer than that.
Nick is laughing but manages to say, “We’re going to have to trust you on that one, brother.”
Jackson leans forward as if Margie will somehow hear us over the rowdy crowd, and asks the stranger, “What’s the third?”
“A wedding ring.”
I angle to get a good look at him by resting my elbow on the table. “She only dates married men?”
“No, she likes to break up couples.”
He doesn’t seem like a shit-stirrer, but I know nothing about him. “That’s a damning accusation. How do you know?”
He shows his left hand where there’s no ring to be found. “I once fell for her tricks.”
“Luckily, I’m just here for the whiskey.” I toast to that and then empty the glass.
“Wise choice,” he says, setting the legs of his chair down again and rejoining his friends.
Jackson says, “I’m fairly certain it takes two to tango. He can’t place all the blame on her.”
I eye Margie across the bar as she rubs some other guy’s arm, the bartender now glaring at that guy. I’m not upset one bit.
That doesn’t change the fact that I’m reminded it’s been too long since I was with a woman. Clearly, I’m not seeking a relationship, but companionship with some fun at the end of the night wouldn’t be so bad. Turning back to my friends, I say, “I’m sure she’d appreciate the vote of confidence, though I’m not sure she needs it.” Just as her laughter reaches my ears, I cut my fingers through the air in front of my throat. “I think I’m done for the night.”
“Another round is on the way.” Standing, Jackson moves around the table. “I’m gonna take a piss.”
The bartender delivers our drinks and grunts when he sets mine down. Nothing else. Just a grunt.
Glancing between the glass and Nick, I ask, “Do you think it’s safe to drink?”
“Since I’m the spare, I’ll sacrifice myself to protect you, Sire.”
We’ve had a long-running joke about me being the heir and him the spare. Nick and my mom never appreciated it, but I cracked my dad up a few times. Not that he liked me more, but he likes a good one-up, and that was mine. “You will?”
“No, I fucking won’t. Drink it.” He taps his glass against mine, and adds, “The guy’s not going to kill his clientele.”
That’s true, so I drink. “Hey, I wasn’t going to say anything, but since you know about the list, I might as well tell you that I already did number one.”
“You gave in? What made you do that?” With a cocked brow, he sits back, crossing his arms over his chest.
“Figured it was the easiest, and that might satisfy her if she asks.”
“Maybe. What’d you have to do?”
Sitting forward, I curl my shoulders. “Waste my fucking time, that’s what. It was the reason I was late to work on Monday.”
Chuckling, he shifts around in his seat and rests his arm on the back of the chair. “And look. You lived to tell the tale. Now what was number one?”
“I had to be lying in the grass at 9:17 AM on a sunny day. On a weekday, to be precise.”
With his brow wrinkled, he looks as confused as I still am regarding this list. “Why?”
The liquor has loosened me up, so although I’m not usually the shrugging kind, I do it and then slump back down. “I don’t know.”
“What happened?”
“Was my life forever changed? No. Did I get dog shit on me? Yes. And then the dog’s owner was stalking me.” Rolling my neck to the side, I give it a good stretch. “We had it out on the sidewalk before I lost a jinx and ended up meeting her the next morning to buy her a coffee as payment.”
“What the fuck are you talking about?”
“The debt for the jinx. It was actually quite funny because she—”
“Huh? It sounds a lot like you’re talking about a woman you met while on one of Mom’s missions.”
“No, I’m not talking about the woman. She was cute but kind of weird. I was talking about 9:17 in the morning. It was just a coincidence we met at that time. Like I said—”
Jackson returns and drops into his seat. “What’d I miss?”
I say, “Nothing.”
But my brother has to include the whole world in this embarrassing conversation. “Andrew met someone.”
“How long was I gone? Five minutes?”
Nick laughs. “Not here. He met her the other day.”
“Ah.” Jackson discovers his fresh drink and holds it up. “Well, here’s to meeting new people.”
We tap our glasses together and drink, and then Nick says, “Speaking of meeting people. Some guys just walked in who I want you to meet.”
And just like that, I’m reminded of why I’m in New York, of my goals, and try to forget about the distraction of the female persuasion.
I follow the direction of his gaze, and ask, “Oh yeah?”
“Big money, but they have shit portfolio managers. We could help them.”
“First, we have to land their accounts.”
He stands and dusts my shoulder. “We will. They’re brothers like us. Work together. Play together. Make money together.”
I look behind me. “Who are they?”
“The Everest brothers.”
In my head, that statement should have had a bigger climactic build than it did. Everyone’s heard of the Everest brothers. “Ethan Everest, the tech billionaire?”
“Tech. Shipping. Electric cars. You name it, he owns it, billionaire. That’s the one. And his older brother, Hutton. Impressive portfolio. He holds interests in Europe and domestically. May not be a billionaire yet, but he’s well on his way.”
I take another long pull from the glass and then see them heading our way. “I love landing a whale. Two is even better.”
“I believe the term is a pod.” Nick and I look at Jackson. He clears his throat, and says, “Technically speaking, a pod is a group of whales.”