Page 25 of Mafioso's Muse
Lili looked questioningly at Willow.
‘Vaughn owns the bar,’ Willow explained as she chewed on her lip.
A look of understanding settled on Lili’s face. ‘Really? What are the chances?’
‘In this city? High,’ Vaughn replied, looking down at the four champagne flutes on the table. ‘What are we celebrating?’
Lili picked up her glass, which had barely a sip left in it. ‘Single life.’
Vaughn looked at Willow, and she felt ridiculously hot suddenly.
‘I see,’ he said. ‘Do you have a plan to get yourselves safely home when you’re done congratulating each other on this… achievement?’
‘Yes,’ they replied in unison.
He looked between them. ‘Good. Have a good night, ladies.’ He walked off towards the bar, rejoining the man he’d entered with.
Shaking her head as she stared after him, Lili said, ‘Of all the bars I could have dragged you to.’
‘It’s fine.’ Willow picked up her drink and finished it.
‘He could have at least offered us free drinks.’
That made Willow smile. ‘Especially at these prices.’
‘Let’s go dance,’ Lili said, setting her flute down on the table and pulling Willow to her feet.
Willow sank back down onto the stool. ‘No, I?—’
‘Oh, don’t get all weird just because Inky Capo’s here.’ She tugged Willow up again and began dragging her towards the dance floor. ‘You can just swing your arms to the beat if you want, but we’re dancing.’
Willow glanced over her shoulder and relaxed a little when Vaughn was nowhere to be seen.
For the next hour, the pair danced to Cyndi Lauper, Rick Astley, Toto, and The Bangles. Many of the songs were before their time, but they knew most of the lyrics.
‘Drink?’ Lili signalled when New Kids on the Block came on.
They were four drinks in and both lightweights when it came to alcohol, so Willow declined. ‘I’m strictly water from this point on.’
After a quick water break at the bar, they returned to the dance floor for a final dance before their planned departure. A remix of ‘Fresh’ began to play, and they both burst out laughing. Harrison had a playlist of classically arranged pop songs for studio time, and thiswas one of their favourites.
‘I can’t listen to this without doing pirouettes,’ Lili said, getting into position and completing a turn.
Willow laughed. ‘I’m not doing turns on a rare night off.’
With an exaggerated smile, Lili continued to do perfect pirouettes in time with the music. Though it was a lot faster than they usually did them due to the fact that the version playing wasnotthe classical one.
‘Everyone’s looking at you,’ Willow shouted over the music.
‘In a good way?’ Lili shouted back.
Laughter tumbled from Willow. ‘I can’t tell.’
Stopping, Lili grabbed hold of Willow’s arm as she waited for the dizziness to pass. ‘Seven’s not bad in ankle boots after a few drinks.’
‘I could beat that.’
Lili let go of her. ‘Go on, then.’