by Holly Rayner
She upped her haughty socialite air. “Oh, I know I have your full attention.”
She winked. He had winked at her several times by now, but it still took him aback that she returned it. In his mind, he was the one who was supposed to be charming and witty and a little bit over the line. But there was so much about Josie that surprised him—it almost wasn’t worth counting them up anymore. Almost.
He had plans for the day after they finished brunch. Short and sweet, he had thought. Just enough time to give her a taste of who he was and what he could bring her, and then he would go about his day and leave her wondering about him.
That was how it was supposed to go. But as brunch neared its end, he found himself dragging his feet. He was full from the meal, but there was a part of him that wanted to order more food, if that was what it took to keep her sitting in front of him, laughing and playing his heart seemingly without realizing how much she was doing so.
What an absurd thought! It must have been the mimosas that she’d cajoled him into drinking with her. It must have been something about the way that the light from their patch of sky overhead filtered through the leaves of the plants and cast little shadows across her face. It must have been any number of things that were putting him off his usual game.
Still, he propelled himself forward. They finished the meal and stood to leave. She looked at him quizzically.
“I have an agreement with the owner,” he said in answer to her unasked question. “Our meals are on him, and he’s happy to do it.”
She seemed a little bit thrown off by that aspect of it, which he could remember planning to be part of this whole experience. Just another little thing to set him apart from all the other men she must have dated. Just another little thing to remind her he was different, and she should treat him differently than she might have treated them.
It felt strange to remember that he had thought these things when he was planning the day. He knew that was how he operated, but it still felt as though someone else had made those kinds of calculations in his head. Here, standing in front of Josie, calculations didn’t seem to apply.
They wandered out through the restaurant, and past the ever-present line out front. Another little calculation. Another little thought that he previously had that felt wrong, now.
Almost as wrong as it felt for him to leave her presence.
“So, I suppose you have places to go and people to see?” Josie said.
Her question was innocent. Standard. But Matteo couldn’t tell if it was wishful thinking that he read a little bit of disappointment behind it.
“I do,” he said. And, as he said it, he let a little bit of the disappointment that he was feeling that their time together was ending show through in his voice. That was not part of the plan. But here he was…
“Anyway,” he continued, “I’m sure you do too. Heading off to the aquarium? Communing with the fishes?”
She responded well to the gentle teasing, and the sweet familiarity they’d already developed in so short a time together. But she shook her head.
“Actually, I’ve never been to the aquarium here. I moved here to be close to all of that, but since being here my focus has always been on modeling. Doesn’t leave much room in my head for anything else.”
There was definitely something behind that, but he didn’t pursue it. Instead, he let every ounce of his disbelief show.
“You haven’t been to the aquarium? You know it’s world-class.”
“Well, I’m not a school child, so…”
“No, but it’s what you love. And it’s the closest you’ll get to what you love while you’re on dry land.”
The meetings he had planned for this afternoon… George was going to be frantic rearranging everything. He pulled out his phone and called his assistant.
“George?” He spoke into the phone. “Yeah, I’m going to need you to clear my afternoon. Something more important has come up.”
George had questions. Matteo couldn’t answer them. Not right now.
“I thought you had important things to do?” Josie asked.
Her face was a cipher, with everything she might have felt or might have meant sealed behind a blank slate. Matteo could only hope and guess that his words had had the intended effect.
“I did, but they’re not more important than you.”
He stifled the impulse to wink. He stifled the impulse to back off when all he wanted to do was move forward. He stifled the impulse to be the man who had made those calculated gestures and convoluted power plays when the greatest effect any of his words had on her was when he had been most open, and honest.
“And so am I,” he continued. “So you’d better cancel whatever plans you had for the afternoon because your afternoon has just been booked.”
The cipher broke, and she laughed. No amount of calculating could have brought him this result.
They took a car to the aquarium, and Matteo was glad to see how close Josie chose to sit to him. He was glad to see the little traces of excitement slipping through her expression when she was distracted by something and couldn’t keep her mask on.
He liked that mask. He liked the practiced ease with which she interacted with the world, giving just the impression she wanted to—no more, no less. But he liked it all the more for the edges that he began to see the better he got to know her. He liked the way he suspected that those edges were far less visible with people who weren’t him. He’d spent all of that time trying to figure out how to get her to see him differently than she saw others, but he hadn’t realized why he really wanted her to do that. And, he hadn’t realized how easy it would be to do.
They were out of place at the aquarium. There was no getting around that. They weren’t children, or tourists, or employees. But any thoughts of trying to be less obvious, or avoiding being seen, or leaving, were banished from Matteo’s head before he could even think them. He was too lost in Josie’s joy to care about any of that right now.
She may have abandoned the potential for a career in marine biology years ago, but she clearly retained much more of the knowledge then she realized. With each new tank, each new exhibit, she had little facts to share with him. And, as much as he enjoyed her careful control over her emotions, all that only made it more wonderful to see her become overwhelmed with enthusiasm and want to share it with him.
He would never have planned a day to the aquarium as a way of impressing a Miami model. But now, he couldn’t imagine not having come here. They spent the entire afternoon walking around, to the point that Matteo’s feet hurt—he’d chosen the shoes for the look of them, not functionality.
By the time they were done, the afternoon had begun to turn to evening. The world outside was no less humid, but it was a little less hot. And the evening breeze cooled them down further. As she had, time and time again throughout the afternoon, Josie stepped closer to him. He wondered if she knew she was doing it. He didn’t know which he was hoping for.
“And now,” he said, “I really do have to go to my meetings.”
The mask was there, but so were the edges. And around the edges he could see her disappointment. He never thought he would so much enjoy such a negative emotion on her face.
“Well, with the app launching soon, I guess this is really high time for you to get your work done, isn’t it?”
“Yes,” he said, “it is. Are you coming with me?”
She raised her eyebrows. “Is that an option?”
“For you? Of course it is.” He slid his hands into hers for the first time and felt her give a little squeeze.
“Then let’s go!” she said.
Chapter 9
Josie
Everything was different that night than it had been mere hours ago. Was it really that morning when Josie had first stepped into the restaurant, looking to meet some mysterious rich backer about an unknown project?
The afternoon at the aquarium had been like a dream. She had assumed her interest in marine life
would disappear if she let it wither away. Some part of the back of her mind had clearly been mourning its loss, even as she consciously decided that her new life was more important and had no room for anything else. She didn’t understand how Matteo had so quickly picked that little piece of her up, put it back in, and made her feel more whole than she had in months. She didn’t understand how he knew that was what she needed, but she was glad he did.
She couldn’t help wondering, now and then, how much of this had been planned out in advance. He couldn’t have known about the aquarium—she hadn’t told him about any of that yet. And that call he made to his assistant had seemed real.
But was it all a show? Had he always intended that, if things went well at brunch, he would sweep in and then make her a priority? Push her even further down the winding path towards falling for him completely? How had he known that it would work so well?
Probably, the answer was obvious. Probably, he’d done this hundreds of times. Probably, there were plenty of women out there that he had made feel this way, all of whom would be laughing at her if they could see her now, falling for the ruse.
That uncharacteristic insecurity kept creeping in, every now and then. She didn’t like it, but she liked what had brought it about. So she did her best to shake it off, move on, and enjoy her evening.
And enjoying her evening certainly wasn’t hard. When Matteo had mentioned meetings, she had understood he really meant checking out new places as potential partners for his app. And yes, she had understood that they would be high-end and difficult to get into. But still, she hadn’t expected it to be quite this enticing.
Their first stop was a restaurant that she heard talked about in hushed tones even at the most important events, with the most important people. Getting a reservation here was impossible, even for some of Miami’s best designers. But for Matteo, apparently, it was as easy as showing up, flashing a smile at the doorman, nodding toward Josie and saying, “I’ve got myself a pretty plus-one tonight. Table in the back?”
It didn’t take long to see why getting a table here was so difficult. The food was exquisite—and made Josie wish that she had a better-developed pallet to appreciate it with. The decor, likewise, was almost aggressively stylish. She’d spent much of the last several years on high-fashion photo shoots of one kind or another, and even she felt like she was a little out of place here.
Matteo definitely wasn’t feeling out of place. Unlike at brunch, they weren’t separated from the rest of the world—off in their own little courtyard. Here, they had a table up where they could overlook most of the dining room. And, coincidentally, where most of the dining room could see them.
Everyone, it seemed, knew Matteo. Or at least they were eager to make it seem as though they did. Throughout dinner, various people came up to see them. Matteo was gracious, and Josie couldn’t help but admire how swiftly and easily he gave them a good impression but also got rid of them at the same time. Even though there was a fairly large number of people who were interested in seeing him, it didn’t feel like it interrupted their meal in any appreciable way—it was just part of Matteo navigating through the world.
Josie tried to figure out the pattern of who he introduced her to and who he didn’t. There seemed to be some reason behind it, but she just wasn’t sure what. She realized that, were she with Lewis right now, she would be offended. But already there was something that made her trust Matteo enough that she figured he had a reason. She would ask him about it—eventually.
Eventually! Was she already thinking in those terms? This was a first date, not even an intentional first date on her part. But it had stretched across most of the day…
Again, they left without paying. This time, she felt a little better about it. Mostly because they actually met with the owner. It gave her a chance to compliment the food and the establishment. And, it gave her the chance to see Matteo compliment the food, as well as the establishment.
And that was something that she was very glad she saw. It was something more than the graciousness with which he treated the people who came up to see them. He was complimentary without seeming hyperbolic. He made the proprietor feel as though his food and his service and his place were exceptional, but also somehow that Matteo was exceptional for thinking so. The man responded warmly, but still Josie got the feeling that Matteo hadn’t ceded any position for future bargaining.
She knew being a businessman was a skill. She understood that Matteo had done very well for himself, with a big idea and great execution. But she hadn’t ever seen the actual art of the interaction in quite this way before.
Not that she let him see how impressed she was. She smiled when she was introduced, in the most noncommittal but still warm way that she knew how to. She seemed generally positive, but not too engaged. It was a posture she had practiced, and she was glad at this point that she had. It served her well on Matteo’s arm.
Next stop was a nightclub. At this point, Josie was relieved they’d changed clothes before their evening started. Matteo had taken her to an exclusive boutique. One where an assistant helps you from the moment you step through the door. She’d tried on three dresses, modeling them for Matteo on an opulent stage in front of gilded mirrors. After showing his appreciation for each choice, he purchased his favorite for her. An emerald green number that showed off her figure and highlighted the green flecks in her eyes.
At the nightclub, they were surrounded by beautiful people dressed head and shoulders beyond any other establishment. In comparison to this place, other nightclubs were demure gatherings. This was where the party was.
And where the loud, pulsing music was. She held Matteo’s hand tightly, not wanting to lose him in the crowd and crush of people. It was an overwhelming experience in here, but it was an effective one. That must be what makes this place so difficult to get into, she thought. Even if you weren’t in a mood to dance, this place would put you in one. This place would pull you onto your feet and carry you toward the floor, teaching you to dance the way people are moving—wild, and free, and a little bit over the edge.
People came up to Matteo here, too. But the greetings were much quicker and had less room for finesse. No one could really hear anyone else over the music, and expressions were even hard to see. So, mostly, these short interactions were a greeting, and acknowledgment, and parting.
Josie liked it that way. She liked not having to share any more than a moment of Matteo’s time with anyone else. The thought shocked her, but the world around her was so alive that it felt difficult to process the surprise.
She’d never been one to dance at parties. It wasn’t her thing. The sensuality of it reminded her of what she lacked—the experience that everyone else in this room had probably had many times over, but which she hadn’t. But here, with Matteo, she found herself compelled to dance. She moved toward the dance floor before they could even get drinks, pulling him behind her.
And she danced. She danced with him, and she could feel his body close to hers, and for the first time she didn’t feel her lack of experience as something that was a failure. It was more of a temporary state.
It was hard to tell where songs began and stopped. Everything blended seamlessly, and the people and the music and the lights and the movement all became one inseparable mess she was a part of. She noticed that Matteo left her, but she found that she wasn’t distressed by it. He had probably tried to tell her something about it, but she was too caught up in everything around her. Seeing and speaking to the owner, she imagined. But even that thought felt somehow far away in the middle of the experience of the club.
But it had been an unexpectedly long day, with an unexpectedly large amount of walking. And, by the time Matteo came back, her body was beginning to tire. She felt his hand in hers and turned to look at him. And, when he nodded toward the exit, she nodded her agreement.
She followed behind him off the dance floor in the same way he followed her onto it, and she enjoyed the symmetry. She enjoyed ever
ything about this night—the same way she had enjoyed everything about this day.
She was exhausted, sweaty, and thirsty when she slid into the limo that was waiting outside for them.
“Did you enjoy yourself?” he asked.
Coming from someone else, he could’ve been teasing her. It could’ve been an accusation. Coming from Lewis, she knew, it would have been something like that. But Matteo seemed happy to see that she had had a good time in the club.
She nodded. “I did. Does that mean they made the cut?”
He slid his arms around her shoulder as the limo gently began pulling out into the street. Just as gently, he tucked one sweat-soaked strand of her hair behind her ear.
“It sure looks like it to me.”
She could usually tell when a man was going to kiss her. But she couldn’t tell right now whether he was or not. Just now, it felt like he wanted to. It felt like maybe he had wanted to for some time. His eyes were devouring every square inch of her face with that same unique ardor that he had displayed the first time they had met at that bar. It thrilled her and unsettled her now the same way it had then.
It felt like the moment of truth—was he going to kiss her? Was he going to ask her back to his place? Was she going to go with him?
But instead, his actions surprised her, the way it seemed so often they did. He leaned back into the seat of the limo and used his arm around her shoulders to gently nestle her against him. She laid her head on his chest, rested from the dancing, and enjoyed the ride.
She didn’t know why she hadn’t expected another club, but when they showed up at one, it seemed obvious. This place was very different from the last one, and Josie was glad for it. Instead of an overwhelming experience, it seemed to be a refined and relaxing one.
Josie took the opportunity to duck into the powder room to fix her hair and makeup. Her agent would be furious if any pictures of her sweaty and disheveled should slip out and be published. Elaine would have all sorts of things to say about her image and the protection thereof, but there was at least one advantage of Josie’s career being at the beginning of its arc—she wasn’t well known enough to be recognized. And besides, any of the people who shot her looks generally changed their expression quickly when they realized who she was with.