[color=#b97703]“If you like it so much, I’m sure I could arrange something tomorrow,”[/color] Cas offered with a wink. All it would take was a couple well-placed phone calls, and he could have an entire restaurant cleared out in less than an hour. No company manager would ever turn down the crown prince if he wanted to rent out their building for an evening, especially since he always paid them compensation for the lost revenue. It wasn’t a privilege he took advantage of very often—there wasn’t much of a point when he already had the same services in his family’s mansion—but he liked giving Iris the royal treatment. It was all new to her, so she seemed to appreciate it much more than he did.

As she went on to talk about friendships, he nodded halfheartedly. To some degree, she was right, but there were few people in his life that he could count as the type of friends she was describing. Even Jay and Miles could have had ulterior motives. It was why the royal family often kept to themselves. When he was younger, he used to play with his cousins, but since the rebellion started, even they had been deemed untrustworthy. The isolation was part of the reason why he wished he wasn’t going to be the next king. As soon as his father passed, he wouldn’t even be able to attend social events without a security detail.

[color=#b97703]“Careful,”[/color] Cas teased when Iris called him Prince Charming again. [color=#b97703]“Use that one too much, and you’ll wear it out.”[/color] Despite his warning, there was a hint of warmth that turned his face pink when she made the jest. He was starting to hope she didn’t have a boyfriend for her sake. If she did, they might owe him an apology for all the flattering and flirting—whether intentional or not—she was doing with him over the past couple days.

As she told him to let her know if she crossed any lines, he waved his hand dismissively. [color=#b97703]“Please,”[/color] he said with a smirk. [color=#b97703]“Compared to my other friends, you’re harmless.”[/color] Jay and Miles egged him on far more than she did. In fact, it was thanks to their incessant pestering that he’d even found her in the first place. The two enjoyed causing trouble, and they often found ways to drag him down with them whenever they all hung out together.

At her following words, he raised his brows in unbridled surprise. No one had ever been gutsy enough to tell him to “chill” before. At least, not to his face. Hearing the word come out of her mouth made him laugh, and he hoped she wouldn’t stop being so bold once her memories came back. It was refreshing to share drinks with someone who wasn’t afraid to speak her mind, even if it meant telling the crown prince of Aspiria what to do.

He brought his glass to his lips and drank a portion of the beverage inside. The liquor went down smoothly, and he let out a satisfied exhale. Iris didn’t seem to have as much luck. [color=#b97703]“It’s a good thing we got you samples then,”[/color] he remarked, watching her disgusted face as she pushed away the margarita glass. Deciding not to let the rejected drink go to waste, he picked it up to down the rest. Generally, he preferred scotches and bourbons over tequila, but there was no sense in pouring out a perfectly good glass.

[color=#b97703]“You can try mine too if you don’t like any of those,”[/color] he offered, sliding the empty cup to the edge of the table for Martin to collect and shooting Iris a playful smile. [color=#b97703]“Who knows? Maybe you’re a whiskey gal.”[/color]