Recognition registered on the face of a girl who stood several feet away. Keeping her eyes on Cory, the girl leaned over to whisper to another girl standing beside her.
Emily wondered how she was supposed to behave when she knew she was being watched. While she tried to focus on what was happening on stage, she could see the girl who had been whispering about them looking her up and down.
Cory brought his hand up to the back of her neck and began rubbing it. Then he gave her shoulder a soft squeeze.
“These guys are good, but do you want to go some place a little quieter?” he murmured in her ear. “I was thinking the pool at the Standard.”
She nodded. Cory put his arm around her waist and led her out of the Whisky. They decided to walk to the Standard, and were soon ascending the steps of the hotel. He took her hand again as they walked through the lobby, past the carpeted ceiling and soft black chairs that looked like curved cushions, and exited out a set of glass doors.
The pool was empty, except for the two pink dinghies that floated on its surface. A bar was set up beside the pool, serving the thirty or so people who sat in white lounge chairs.
“What would you like to drink?” Cory asked, leading her over to the bar.
“I’ll sit this round out,” she said. “I’m feeling pretty good already.”
Cory ordered a pomegranate martini for himself, then took Emily by the hand to an empty part of the courtyard.
“Do you want to try it?” He held out his martini glass to her. She took a sip of the sweet liquid.
“It’s good,” she told him. “I like that you’re not afraid to order a girly drink.”
“You do, do you?” Careful not to slosh the drink from his glass, he looped his arms around her. “What would you do if I ordered a Cosmopolitan next?”
She pretended to seriously ponder his question. “Swoon, I think,” she decided.
He bent his head down to kiss the tip of her nose. With Cory so close to her, the warmth of the heat lamps upon them, and the stars twinkling down from above, it was hard to believe life was anything but perfect.
“We could probably sneak over there and keep doing this, and nobody would see us.” Cory nodded his head at a dark strip of the courtyard that ran alongside the hotel, which was almost concealed from view.
“You’re probably right, but being in view of people might make you at least kind of behave.”
“It might. Then again, it might not.”
“You’re horrible,” she joked, just as she saw a security guard watching them. “I think we’re about to get scolded.”
Cory followed Emily’s line of sight and spotted the security guard. “That might be our cue,” he said, but he took his time releasing her from his arms.
“It is almost one a.m.,” she pointed out. “Closing time, or at least last call for the pool bar.”
He put his glass down on one of the tables near the pool, and then took her hand. They walked back through the lobby and outside of the front doors of the hotel.
“Are you okay getting home yourself?” Judging by Cory’s question, he was as reluctant for the night to end as she was.
Emily nodded, but made no move to flag down a cab.
“We’ll do this again, right?” he asked.
“Absolutely. Call me this week.” She turned away from Cory to get the attention of a cab headed in their direction. The driver signaled and slowed to pull over to the curb.
She turned back to Cory. “This is my ride.”
“Thank you for an amazing night.” He didn’t seem to care that the cab driver was watching them as he circled his arms around her waist, pulling her in so his hips pressed closely against her body. He leaned down, his mouth finding hers. This kiss was more passionate than the one they’d shared on the sidewalk earlier in the night, leaving Emily never wanting to pull away.
It was the cab driver lightly tapping his horn that made them break apart. Cory touched a strand of her hair.
“Text me when you get home so I’ll know you got there.” He opened the cab door for her.
“I will,” she promised.
Emily got into the car, and Cory closed the door behind her. He watched her cab as it pulled away from the curb, just like he had last Friday night at Cabo Cantina. Turning her head