by Kelly Myers
She whispers something in Leo’s ear and then flits away. Leo blinks down at me.
“What did she say?” I murmur.
“That you’re amazing.” Leo smiles as he takes a sip of his drink. “I can’t believe this is working.”
“You had so little faith in my acting skills?” I ask. “Also, don’t talk too soon, the night is just beginning.”
“You’re right, stay focused.” Leo glances down at the wine in my hand. “Maybe, don’t drink too much.”
I roll my eyes, but make sure my facial expression remains light and pleasant in case anyone is watching. “I can hold my liquor, don’t worry.”
Leo looks like he wants to argue, but just then another group of friends approach.
We do all the introductions. It’s a bunch of guys from Leo’s college fraternity, and half of them glance not-so-discreetly at my cleavage. I keep a faint smile on my face as they ask Leo about his job and dive into reminiscing about the club lacrosse team. I scan the room as they talk. There are several tables, and it looks like we’ve got assigned seating.
Now that my initial nerves have worn off, I’m getting excited for the challenge. How many of Leo’s friends can I impress just as well as I impressed Melanie?
I focus back on the group of guys. One of them is yammering away (he’s the one who looked the longest at my breasts), but the one closest to me has been quiet. I turn to him.
“You all played lacrosse together?” I ask. I could really care less, but I need to be in Attentive Girlfriend Mode. People always like people who show interest in them. Humans are, at our hearts, selfish beings.
“Yeah, but I was never as good as Leo,” the guy says. He looks up at Leo as if he’s some sort of demigod, and I have to put a Herculean effort into not rolling my eyes.
“You’re probably better than me at least,” I say. “I’m hopeless at all organized sports.”
“Really?” The Jerk has stopped babbling to Leo and turned to me. “I’m shocked, Leo here always liked the athletic chicks.”
I find it in extremely poor taste for this guy to mention Leo’s past dating preferences in front of a current girlfriend, but lucky for me, I’m not his real girlfriend. I don’t have to get sensitive and offended.
Instead, I give the Jerk a tight smile that he doesn’t see since his eyes are, once again, drifting to my cleavage. My dress isn’t even that revealing, this guy is just a total creep. He’s the type who can’t look at a woman without assessing her body and rating her based on that, no matter how average his own appearances are.
“Well I guess patterns are made to be broken,” I say. “As I’m neither athletic, nor am I a chick.”
My final sentence comes out with a bit more bite than I meant, but I can’t help it. The guy is such a sleaze.
I anticipate Leo stiffening up and trying to do damage control, but when I glance at him, there’s a satisfied smile on his face. He takes a step closer to me, which conveniently blocks me from the Jerk’s view.
“Well put,” Leo says. “Now I think we better head to our seats, looks like dinner is starting.”
With that, we both turn and head towards the tables.
“He was pleasant,” I mutter under my breath. “Sorry I kinda broke character.”
“Todd’s a jackass,” Leo says. “You handled him perfectly.”
Then, in one smooth movement, Leo pulls out a chair for me, and I settle into the seat.
“It was your email that helped.” I lean over and whisper. “I couldn’t have done it without your long list.”
Leo shakes his head and smiles. He looks like he’s about to say something back, but then another couple arrives at the table.
The man has curly brown hair and an open jovial face, and the woman is wearing a stunning floral dress.
“Leo! Looks like we’re at the same table!”
Leo nods. “Vince, this is my girlfriend Marianne.”
Vince’s eyes turn to me, and I see the interest in them. It’s like Leo has never had a girlfriend before, all his friends seem so shocked. Vince slides into the chair next to me, and his date sits on the other side.
“This is Dora,” Vince says. “I’m Vince, Leo and I go way back.”
“Not that far,” Leo jokes. “Vince jumped ship at my company after a few years.”
Vince blows out his cheeks and sighs. “The world of investment banking was not for me.”
“Oh, I can’t imagine how that could be.” I inject my voice with a heavy bit of sarcasm, but not so much to offend Leo. “It sounds positively thrilling.”
Vince tips back his head and laughs. “You’re funny. How did you end up with this wet blanket?”
He gestures at Leo, and I blink in surprise. Leo seems unruffled, but this must be the type of comments he was referring to in the car. I can see how they might bother him. Sure, my own friends tease me about being irresponsible or impulsive, but they mean well. And they never call me out in front of other people, especially not my dates.
Even so, I don’t think Vince even realizes how rude he’s being. Maybe all of Leo’s friends have been teasing him about his bland personality for so long that they don’t know it’s gone too far. It’s clear that Leo has mastered the art of hiding his annoyance because he’s just nodding and smiling and taking a sip from his drink.
“Oh, we have a good time.” I look up at Leo with as much adoration in my eyes as I can muster. Let his friends wonder at our perfect little relationship. “Leo has hidden depths.”
Leo raises his eyebrows, and I can tell he thinks I’m laying it on a bit too thick, but then he glances at Vince’s face, and a satisfied smile takes over his expression. Vince is cocking his head and regarding us with something akin to envy. He wants what we have. I know it’s all a lie, but even so, I feel a burst of happiness.
“So what do you do now?” I ask.
“Oh, I decided to do something as crazy as follow my passion,” Vicne says. “I started my own restaurant – it’s in the Gold Coast.”
“Really? What’s it called?” I instantly like Vince more. Here’s a guy who understands the importance of pursuing passions, even if they’re not practical.
He describes his modern restaurant, and though I’ve never been, I promise him that I’ll check it out. I’ll need to text the details to Zoe. She is always on the hunt for hot new restaurants.
“We’ll go together sometime,” Leo says. “I’ve been before, and I think you’ll like it.”
He reaches over and puts his arm on the back of my chair. I revise my earlier opinion: Leo is a halfway decent actor. I almost believe that he knows my tastes in restaurants and wants to take me out to Vince’s spot.
The rest of the dinner flows from there. I don’t even have to think, Leo and I just fall into an easy pattern. Vince is charming and funny, and he carries most of the conversation. He’s actually far more interesting than I thought any of Leo’s acquaintances would be. He’s not exactly an artist, but he’s passionate and cultured, and if I wasn’t on the clock as Leo’s date, I would totally flirt with Vince.
During dinner, there are a few speeches, and then everyone breaks off to chat and drink more. I talk a bit more with Jacob and Melanie, and meet a few other people.
Then Leo checks his watch and gives me a look.
“Should we head out?” he asks.
To my surprise, it’s after 10. The night has flown by. Truly, it’s maybe the easiest $800 I’ve ever made.
“Sure,” I say.
We say our goodbyes, and Leo grabs my hand and leads me to the door.
He doesn’t let go as we exit the restaurant and stand on the street, waiting for a car. I assume he’s just being careful in case someone from the party walks out and sees us. I’m happy to stand right by his shoulder and look totally smitten. Who knew staying in character could be so easy?
When the car pulls up, Leo opens the door for me, and only then does he let go of my hand.
8
A
s soon as the car starts moving, Leo looks at me with wide eyes.
“That was amazing,” he says. “Truly, I thought we’d be lucky just to survive without getting caught, but you killed it.”
I giggle, feeling giddy from the glass of wine and the success of the night. “Thanks for the vote of confidence.”
“Seriously, Marianne, that was great,” Leo says. “Thanks.”
I glance up at him. He says my name so carefully, as if he’s thinking hard about the pronunciation of each syllable. And, I didn’t think Leo was the type to say thank you so easily.
“Well, your friends have definitely been bamboozled,” I say. “I actually think some of them might like me more than you now.”
Leo laughs and nods. “It’s possible.”
He reaches into his jacket pocket and pulls out his wallet. He lifts an envelope from within and hands it to me.
“There’s the payment,” he says.
I widen my eyes as I glance in the envelope. “You’re paying me in cash.”
“Yeah, what’s wrong with that?” he asks.
I shrug. It’s a little old-fashioned. Or a little too much like a drug dealer. But hey, money is money. I shove the envelope into my purse.
“Well, I must say I enjoyed the challenge.” I give Leo a pitying glance. “Good luck telling them about our imminent break-up.”
“Yeah,” Leo says. “That’s gonna be tough.”
He cheers up almost instantly. “But now they’ll let me off since I’ve proven that I can date and all that.”
“Sure.” Secretly, I’m pretty sure his friends will just tease him more about letting a catch like me get away, but I keep my mouth shut on that topic. “Feel free to tell them I was crazy and bipolar and clingy or whatever else guys say about their ex-girlfriends.”
“No.” Leo’s tone is totally serious. “I wouldn’t say that about you.”
“Well, it’s not me, is it?” I furrow my brow at him. I don’t get why he’s all of a sudden being so somber. “It’s Fake Marianne. She doesn’t exist.”
“Right,” Leo says. “Right.”
For a few long minutes, we both stare out the window. It’s late, but I’m not tired at all. I always get this late after a performance. Every cell in my body is buzzing with the post-show high. I want to dance through the streets or go streaking or drink champagne on a rooftop.
Leo turns back to me, his serious face gone. “I nearly choked on my drink when you put Todd in his place.”
“You sure I wasn’t too snarky?” I ask.
“No, not at all,” Leo says. “You were just snarky enough to ensure that Todd doesn’t pester me to go grab a beer with him for at least three months.”
I laugh, and we start to relive other moments of the night. We’re like two kids who have successfully pulled off a prank, and we start to lean towards each other and gesture as we celebrate our triumph.
All too soon, the car pulls up outside my building.
“Hey,” Leo says. “You want to grab a drink?”
I hesitate with my hand on the door. I examine his face for any signs that he’s up to something, but he seems genuine. Like he also is just too excited to call it a night.
“I could get out here, and we could go to that lounge around the corner?” Leo asks. “I feel like celebrating a bit.”
“Sure!” I say.
If I were Zoe or Bea or Elena, I would hesitate to wonder what this post-gig drink was all about. In fact, a voice that sounds suspiciously like a blend of all three of my friends whispers in my ear: “Is this really a good idea?”
But I’m not like my friends. I dismiss the voice and choose to live in the moment. And in this moment, a toast to my raging success of a performance is exactly what I want.
In no time at all, Leo and I are seated in a corner of the lounge, lifting our glasses.
“To a high-risk, high-payoff night,” Leo says.
“To my impeccable acting skills,” I say. “And I guess saying yes to plans that I know are ridiculous.”
“You thought it was ridiculous?” Leo cocks his head in curiosity.
“Yes, because it was,” I say. “All my friends told me not to go, but I guess I have a weakness for the particularly harebrained schemes.”
“Oh, come on, it wasn’t that absurd,” Leo says.
“Easy to say that now,” I joke.
“What are your friends like?” Leo asks. “And didn’t they see my LinkedIn? How could they not be on board after that?”
I shake my head. Every time he tells a joke, it catches me by surprise. I like it.
“First of all, my friends would never mock me for being single,” I say. “Maybe they make lighthearted fun or express concern, but they never take it too far.”
“My friends aren’t...artist-types like you,” Leo says. “That’s why they’re a little more serious.”
I roll my eyes at the disdain in his voice when he says “artist-types.”
“My friends aren’t just like me,” I say. “One of them works at a top consulting firm.”
That catches Leo’s attention, and I launch into a boastful speech about Zoe’s high-powered career, and Beatrice’s sales skills and even Elena’s work ethic and kindness. I always love to rave about my friends, and my tipsy state only makes me chater all the more. Leo seems interested though.
“Your friends sound great,” he says. “And my friends are great, they’re just…”
“Judgmental?” I ask. “Aren’t parents supposed to be the ones encouraging you to settle down, not your own friends? They literally acted like you’ve never spoken to a woman.”
Leo cracks a smile and shakes his head. “I do date, I just never do the whole serious relationship thing. They think I have commitment issues, but really I’m just busy.”
“I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I guess we have something in common,” I say. “I’ve never managed to commit either.”
Leo looks up at me and something in his dark eyes makes my breath catch. I realize how close we’re sitting, our thighs almost touching. Then, so soft I barely feel it, Leo runs his finger over my upper arm. His touch is gentle and ticklish, but something about it makes my skin burn.
He is handsome. I never said he wasn’t. And since we both have owned up to our commitment issues, we might be on the same page. I could never go on a real date with him, but maybe I could just kiss him?
Almost as soon as the thought pops into my head, Leo leans forward and brushes his lips against mine.
In that moment, all the lines get blurred. Leo and I go from having a black and white (albeit strange) arrangement to existing in a total grey area.
And, I don’t care. My lips curve into a smile as Leo pulls away.
“Was that alright?” he asks.
As an answer, I lean forward and kiss him back, lifting my hand to his jaw to feel the sharp stubble on his face.
“Come back to my place?” Leo asks. “Or do you have work tomorrow?”
Even if I had an early shift, I’m too intrigued by this turn of events to say no. But as luck would have it, it’s my day off tomorrow.
“No, let’s go,” I say.
Leo takes my hand and leads me outside. We seem to float down the street. It’s the perfect blend of late-night adrenaline and leftover excitement from our masquerade.
Leo lives in a building only a few blocks away. He opens the door to a spacious apartment, with simple but tasteful furniture and a gleaming kitchen.
I take it in with one quick glance and then turn to Leo. I’m not impressed by nice apartments or big paychecks. I just want to see if this mysterious man can satisfy my desires. Earlier today, I would have said there was no way. I would have said Leo is too stiff and bland, but after this evening, I think there might be some hidden passion.
Sure enough, Leo seizes my waist and kisses me hard on the lips. I wrap my arms around his neck and gasp as his mouth moves to my neck, and his tongue flicks the skin just below my ear. Hi
s hands move over me, touching me everywhere. My hips, my ribcage, my shoulders. It’s as if he’s trying to touch every inch of my body in as little time as possible, just to reassure himself I’m really there.
He buries one hand in my hair and lifts his head to look down at me, all of a sudden holding still.
“I’ve wanted to touch your hair all night,” he murmurs. “To see if it’s as soft as it looks.”
He catches one curl in between his fingers and lets the lock slip from his hand.
Then he captures my mouth again, but this time he goes slower. He gently urges my lips apart and dips his tongue along my lips. I press my chest against his, desperate to get closer.
I’ve always had a healthy sex drive, and in the past my impulsive nature has prompted me to go for who and what I want. I don’t think about the consequences. Once the kissing starts, I just let my instincts take over. And my instincts are screaming at me to get Leo out of his clothes.
I slide my hands beneath his jacket and shove it from his shoulders. Meanwhile he keeps one hand firmly on my lower back and begins to push me backwards towards his bedroom.
I let out a giggle of delight as he grips my bottom and lifts me against him. I wrap my legs around his waist and recapture his mouth as he carries me towards his bed.
He lays me down on the bed and flicks the light on. I prop myself up on my elbows and look at him, my eyes dancing with anticipation. I adore the lead-up to sex. I relish every heated glance and meaningful touch.
I didn’t think this was going to happen tonight, but I can’t deny I’m excited.
Leo spreads out above me and starts to kiss along the neckline of my dress as his hand inches up my ribcage and skims my breast. I arch my back into him, letting him know with my body that he can take more. He can take it all.
I reach up and tug at my straps until they fall from my shoulders, and one of my breasts is exposed. Leo takes in the sight with hooded eyes before he leans over to lick and suck at my pert nipple. I clamp my thighs around his hips and shove my hands under his dress shirt, which has come untucked. His hair is disheveled too, and it’s turning me on so much.