me covertly from behind her menu. “You going to take her order?” I asked Scarlett.
She realized she was ignoring the rest of the table. Casting me a final, flirty smile, she moved over to the young brunette. “Sorry about that. What can I get you?”
“Just some tenders and fries,” Lola said. She watched Scarlett nod, then stared after her as she bobbed out of the room, hips swinging. I was sure she was doing that for me. I peered at Lola curiously. What did she think about such over the top behavior?
“She's cute,” I said flatly, gauging her reaction.
“Yeah. Beautiful, even.” Her fingertips went white on her glass of beer. It told me nothing.
Is she envious of the flirting or not? Why can't that information just be stamped on her—
“Fuck!” Lola coughed, covering her mouth and holding the beer at a distance. “That's strong!”
The laugh escaped me. I couldn't have stopped it if I'd wanted to. But, fuck. It felt good. “It does have a kick. Don't tell me that weak beer on the bus was your first?"
Narrowing her eyes, Lola slid the drink closer to herself. “Please. I'm surrounded by rock stars, how could that beer be my first.”
“Oh, sorry.” Lifting my palms in mock defense, I gave her a cocky grin. “You were the one saying you shouldn't be drinking. I thought that meant this was all new.”
“It's just this beer, that's all.” Fidgeting, she watched me warily. “It's just strong.”
“I know,” I said. Angling my chin up, I took a long, deep drought from my glass. It was a stupid move, entirely too braggart. Why was I acting like a show off? Setting the mostly empty drink down heavily, I arched an eyebrow at Lola's stunned expression.
Perhaps she wanted to prove something. I couldn't be sure. All I knew was that she proceeded to emulate me, chugging back half of her huge glass. I gawked at her jugular as it pulsed.
She managed not to cough, watery eyes challenging me after she slammed the drink down harder than I even had. “Well,” I murmured, gliding my fingers over the top of my damp drink, “Guess you showed me."
Lola went red from chin to hairline. It was a sweet treat after the beer.
“Stop teasing her.” Brenda draped herself into the chair beside Lola. The vodka tonic in her slender fingers was already halfway gone. As professional as she was, I'd never known her to curb her love of booze. She knew too well that she had a whole day to sober up before the next show.
The red-head reached out, lifting Lola's beer and taking a quick sip. I gave her a pointed look. “She's right. It's pretty strong,” she said, ignoring my frown.
“I believed her.” The beer had warmed my blood. That was good, it helped melt the crisp shard of irritation caused by Brenda breaking into my moment. “You don't need to protect her, that won't really help her 'blossoming rock star' image.”
Brenda rolled her eyes, but it was Lola who spoke first. “Drez is right, I'm fine. Besides, I'm sick enough of my brother acting like he always needs to protect me. I can handle myself.”
Right, her brother. I fixed my attention on Brenda. She just perched her plump lips on the rim of her drink. “About that," I said slowly. "Sean Cooper, he's really your older brother?”
“Sure.” Lola hesitated, glancing between me and my manager. “Why, is that a problem?”
It could be. “No,” I said, taking a pull from my glass. “If Brenda didn't think it was, then no.” She knew, there was no way she didn't realize when she took her name down.
The ice clinked in Brenda's suddenly empty glass. She pushed it aside, making it obvious for the waitress that she needed a refill. “I didn't think it was, and I still don't.” She leaned towards Lola. “Drez is just being paranoid.”
“About what? What's wrong with my brother?”
“Nothing,” Brenda said quickly. She scrunched her nose at me, and I knew she hated that the topic was coming up at all.
But it had to.
Looking over at Porter and Colt, I made sure they weren't listening. They were busy laughing over something or other, deep in their own glasses. “Lola,” I started, wondering how much she did or didn't know, “Your brother doesn't have the best history with me.”
“I didn't think he had any history.” Lola craned forward, confusion twisting her features. “The most Sean ever said about you to me was telling me to lower