“All right, all right. You certainly know how to have a good time, Lewin, I’ll give you that.” Roger chuckled. “But you know I already use Bergstein for my new developments. I don’t need a new broker.”
Julian leaned forward. “Bergstein is a good man, but I’ll be honest with you, he’s not on his game these days. I have an entire team that would be at your disposal. Bergstein has Patty, his secretary… that’s it.”
Roger sighed, jiggling the ice in his vodka and soda. “He has been presenting us with a lot of low-ball offers lately.” He rubbed his chin. “I just don’t know, Lewin.”
Julian seemed disheartened. Roger was a hard nut to crack.
“But Julian’s the number one broker in the city,” I stated in a matter-of-fact tone. I’d learned that from his file.
The three of them stared at me because I’d barely spoken all night, especially not when Julian and Roger were trying to talk business.
I turned my attention to Julian, who frowned, his eyes pleading with me to shut up, but it didn’t deter me.
“How does Bergstein rank, Julian?” I asked.
Julian rubbed his temple. “He’s not even in the top five hundred.”
“Yes, that’s all very well and good, but I don’t buy into that ranking stuff. I only care about results.” Roger scoffed.
“Exactly. Results.” I leaned over the table. “It’s all a numbers game, Roger. You’re a businessman, you must buy into those at least?”
Roger frowned. “Well, of course, but—”
I interrupted. “How much did your team sell last year?” I asked Julian.
Julian glanced between Roger and me, trying to figure out where I was going with this.
“800 million,” Julian replied.
I almost choked on my own tongue. “R-right.” I stared at Julian in astonishment. “And how about Bergstein?”
Julian tilted his head, thinking about it. “Less than 100 million.”
Roger rubbed the scruff on his chin once again. You could almost see the cogs turning in his mind.
Julian smirked at me and then leaned back in his chair. He took my line of thought and ran with it. “That’s eight times the amount of sales in dollar figures, Roger,” he said casually. “Eight times as many clients and eight times the amount of closed deals compared to your friend Bergstein… and that was just in one year.”
Roger looked down at his glass, then back up at Julian and I. He was silent for almost an entire minute as he mulled it over.
My mouth went dry while we waited for Roger’s response.
A slow smile built on his round, puffy face, and he chuckled. It wasn’t a mocking laugh, but a triumphant one.
He signaled to the waiter. “We need a bottle of champagne. On me.” He smiled at Julian. “Because I think we just closed a business deal.”
Julian let out a long sigh and grinned. He shook Roger’s hand, and they immediately began discussing the logistics of their next meeting.
My shoulders relaxed, and I took a gulp of wine. Thank God that had worked.
An hour later, as the restaurant closed up, Roger and Thalia stood. “I’ll get my assistant to email over the contract tomorrow.”
Julian was collected, not letting his excitement show, even though I was sure he was. We walked the couple to the street outside the restaurant where two black town cars were lined up.
After saying fond goodbyes, Roger and Thalia got into the first car and pulled away.
“This is us.” Julian nodded toward the second car.
He held the door open for me, and I slipped inside. While I waited for him to get in, the nerves from earlier in the evening returned. What would happen now?
The dinner was over, I’d served my purpose. Was that it? This was new territory. It wasn’t like it was a real date.
Would he expect a kiss when we said goodnight? Was that even allowed? It wasn’t like he was paying for ‘extras’.
My thoughts were interrupted by Julian sliding into the backseat beside me.
He spoke to the driver. “We’ll drop Ms. Ingram home first.” He turned to me. “What’s your address?”
I told the driver, and he nodded. We pulled away from the curb, and the opaque divider separating the back and front of the car buzzed closed. We were alone.
Shit. I squirmed against the leather and tried to pull down my dress, which was riding up.
Julian looked at me sideways. Something dark flickered in his eyes. “Thank you for tonight. I couldn’t have done it without you.”
“I doubt that.”
“I’m serious. You kinda saved my ass back there.” He smiled. “Did you at least enjoy the evening? I know Roger is a bit of a wet towel.”
Suddenly, I felt shy. I looked down at my hands and then back at him. “I had a lovely time. The best, actually.”
Julian swallowed, not taking his eyes off mine. “I’m glad.”
In the silence, I noticed how close Julian was to me. His muscular thighs were only inches from mine in the narrow confines of the car. The very thought sent intense bolts of electricity hurtling through my core. I squeezed my thighs together, this time harder than before, to get some relief.
How did he have this effect on me?
He knitted his eyebrows together. Did he notice? Could he see how just being in the same space as him seemed to energize the air around me?
He grazed his bottom lip with his teeth. He looked as if he would say something, but he thought the better of it at the last second.
Instead, he simply offered me a weak smile and diverted his attention back to the window.
We traveled in silence until we arrived at my apartment building. When I stepped out onto the sidewalk, Julian was there holding open the door.
“This is me.” I pointed toward my building.
Julian moved forward to hug me goodbye, brushing his lips on my cheek at the same time. “Good night.”
Even the light touch sent shivers down my neck.
When he pulled away, his gaze was unreadable. “Thank you.” His voice was deeper than before, almost gravelly.
“No, thank you,” I whispered.
His eyes drilled into mine. What was he thinking? We were almost touching. That same electricity from the car was present, almost like an invisible force pulling us closer.
Any other situation and I would have reached out to him. I wouldn’t have been able to stop myself. But this wasn’t a normal situation. This was a business arrangement.
Nevertheless, I couldn’t help but wonder why Julian couldn’t take his eyes off my lips.
Before I could ponder the thought, a car horn blared just feet from where we were standing, breaking the moment. Startled, I spun around, and we both stared at the angry driver behind the wheel of a nearby car.
Julian cleared his throat as he turned back to me. “Well, I should go.”
“Right.” I stepped toward the front doors of my building, while Julian slipped back into the car.
Once inside the foyer, I looked back briefly. Julian was watching me from the car window.
My heart rate pulsed. He was probably making sure I got inside safely.
I headed to the elevator.
What a night.
What a man.
I collapsed against the wall of the elevator as it ascended to my floor. I closed my eyes and then opened them again to center myself.
I thought this job would be easy money.
But all that night had proved to me was that none of this was simple. Not when it came to him.
Chapter Ten
Lola
The door creaked open. Soft footsteps padded across the floor toward me.
Next thing I knew, Aspen leaped on top of my bed with me still in it. I pushed and kicked at her from under my sheet. “Get off me, you animal!”
After a brief struggle, she relented, giving me room to move.
I sat up and picked the sleep from my eyes. “What the hell?”
As
pen was still in her pajamas. I glanced at the clock. It was way too early.
“So?” Her eyes widened. “How was it?”
I groaned. “You’re kidding me. You woke me up at the crack of dawn to ask me about last night.”
She laid back, throwing her legs over the edge of the bed. “How was your date with the rich hottie?” She was positively glowing.
“It was good.” I flopped back onto my pillow. Something told me that wasn’t the answer she was expecting.
She rolled her eyes. “Come on! Give me more than that.”
“Well...” I yawned. “He was charming and kind. We had dinner, he closed the business deal, and then he dropped me home.”
Aspen wasn’t pleased. “That’s it? No juicy details?”
“It wasn’t that kind of job, remember. It was just a dinner date.”
“But something must have happened. It’s fate.”
I sat up on my elbows and glared at her. “Don’t start that again. It’s not fate. Trust me. He’s not...”
“Oh, I get it…” Aspen interrupted, with a rather annoying level of snark in her tone. “He doesn’t tick all the boxes on your ‘list’ like Noah does.” With that, she leaned over to my nightstand, where my journal was laying open and picked it up. She flicked through it, her eyes lighting up when she found a pink slip of paper.
“Here we go!” she said as if she was making an announcement to the room. “Number one—”
“Stop it!” I tried to snatch the pink paper back, but she wouldn’t allow it. I stared daggers at her. “I wrote that when I first moved here. Are you going to judge me on a single moment of naivety?”
She chuckled. “Well, you kept it, so it must be important to you. And by the way, you’re just as naïve as when you moved here, so don’t start me on that.”
I scoffed. “Says the girl who believes I’m fated to end up with a guy whose wallet I found in a dumpster?”
She ignored me, turning her attention back to the list. I’d written it a long time ago after reading a self-help book about how to find love in New York. Write down the attributes of your ideal man, it said, visualize him, and he will come.
“Number one,” Aspen repeated, reading off my list. “Attractive: Tall, light hair. Unconventional fashion sense.” Aspen tried and failed to suppress a laugh as she read it.
I glared at her.
She turned red. “Unconventional fashion sense?”
“You know I like arty guys.” I sighed.
She pursed her lips, trying to compose herself. “Number two. Light-hearted. Doesn’t take himself too seriously.”
“There’s nothing wrong with that,” I added.
She shrugged, moving on to the next. “Three. Artistic career.” She raised her eyebrow at me. “Four: No baggage. Five: Responsible, law-abiding. Six: Not afraid to express his emotions.”
She flicked her eyes back up to mine. “That’s quite a list.”
I snatched it back from her and threw it between the pages of my journal. “It’s reasonable.”
“Based on your criteria, your dream guy is a straight-laced, hipster poet who’s never had a girlfriend.” A wicked glint twinkled in her eyes. “I think you should throw that thing out the window and bang the hot Lewin brother.”
“I told you, Julian is just a client. And I don’t think there’s anything wrong with having standards. My dream guy is out there, I just haven’t found him yet. If you have a problem with that, write your own list!”
She stared blankly at me. “You’re infuriating.”
“You’re a brat,” I shot back.
A smile crept across her plump pink lips. “You don’t know what to do with him, do you?” She took to her feet. “I saw how nervous you were last night when you were getting ready. You wanted to impress him, which means you like him. You have the hots for Julian, and he’s not even close to meeting the standards set out on that paper.”
I glared at her and pointed to the door. “Out.”
What gave her the right to stick her nose in my business?
She sighed as she sauntered toward it. “You know I’m right.”
My stare hardened. “Now.”
With one last roll of her eyes, she walked out, shutting the door behind her.
I buried my face in my pillow. She had no idea what she was talking about.
My list and Julian Lewin were two separate entities. One had little to do with the other.
I squeezed my eyes shut. Memories from the night before came back in flashes. His contagious laugh at dinner, the intensity of his gaze in the town car. The feel of his lips brushing the tender skin of my cheek.
I tried to push it all out of my mind. It was pointless dwelling on it. After all, I could receive a call from Gia any moment now to give me my next assignment—with some other guy.
I flipped onto my back and took several deep breaths.
“She doesn’t know what she’s talking about,” I whispered.
To Julian, I was just another escort. The guy was a habitual escort dater. That should be warning enough that something is wrong with him.
That was it. He was probably some messed up sex addict. Maybe I wasn’t even his whole night. He was probably waking up next to some hot girl at that very moment. A booty call.
I ran my palms down my face.
What did any of it matter? A guy like him… who could have anyone…
Why the hell would he like a walking-disaster like me?
* * *
The following afternoon, I met with Noah at the diner around the corner from his place. When he slipped into the opposite side of the booth, I was still finishing a design sketch.
Noah leaned over the page, looking impressed. “You got skills, Lola-pop, that’s for sure.”
“It’s nothing. Just a pet project.” I could feel my cheeks warm as I flipped the book shut. It wasn’t just any old project, it was special, but I wasn’t ready for the world to see it.
Noah took a sip of my black coffee. “So, you homeless yet?”
“No, actually.” A smile crept across my lips. “I got a job.”
“No way!” He jammed the cup back down on the table, brown liquid spilling over the edges. “How? Where?”
I thumbed the corner pages of my sketchbook. I couldn’t tell him the truth. Could I? Would he judge me for it?
I didn’t want to risk it.
“Just light clerical duties… you know that sort of thing.” I felt terrible about the lie almost instantly. It was the first thing I’d ever hidden from him.
He seemed surprised. “Well, there you go. I knew you’d find something eventually. Is the pay all right?”
Amazing. More than amazing, was what I wanted to say, but that would raise more questions.
“It’s enough that I can cover my rent and my school supplies,” I lied. I felt sick. I hated this.
Dolores, the waitress, came by with a refill, offering her usual scowl at the two of us. We only ever ordered coffee when we went there, no food. We couldn’t afford it. I think she resented us taking up the table.
I changed to a safer topic. “Anyway, I’m still waiting for your manuscript. I thought you’d be done with it by now.” I wiggled my eyebrows up and down in excitement. “I can’t wait to get my hands on that baby.”
“Oh,” Noah’s face fell as he wiped his fringe out of his eyes. “Nina still has it. I’ll get it to you as soon as she’s done.”
I scrunched up my nose. “Nina? Is she with your publisher? I thought you’d want my eyes on it first.”
“No. She’s a friend.” His eyes darted out the window for a moment and then back to me.
I paused.
A friend had it? That didn’t make sense. I was his first reader. Always.
“You’ve never mentioned Nina before.” My voice was quiet.
“Yeah, I met her like three weeks ago at one of Darryn’s gigs.” His eyes were unreadable. “She plays bass in a jazz band. She has a degree in English lit,
so she said she’d look over it for me.”
“Right.” It was all I could get out.
I gripped my sketchbook a little too hard. I was speechless.
An awkward silence fell between us. It was never uncomfortable with us. Ever. This was a first.
“You’d like her,” he added, as if that was going to make me feel better about it.
Then he hesitated. There was something on the tip of his tongue that he didn’t want to say.
I wrinkled my forehead. “What?”
He looked down at the table. Why was he so shady?
“We’re sort of seeing each other.” He looked me right in the eyes. “She’s my girlfriend.”
I shifted back in my seat, almost like the words had hit me right in the chest.
“Girlfriend,” I whispered.
Girlfriend? Since when did Noah want to commit to a relationship? He dated, but he’d never had a girlfriend in his life.
This girl was obviously different. Different from me, because it was only last Christmas, after too much eggnog that I’d tried to kiss him and he pushed me away. “It’s not that I don’t like you, Lola, I’m just not ready for a relationship. I want to focus on my career for a few years.” Those were his exact words at the time.
But now, he was ready. And he chose Nina.
The bass player. The jazz girl.
“Lola.” Noah’s voice snapped me back to reality.
I had to say something.
“She sounds…” I tried to sound casual, not like he’d just run me over with a bulldozer. “Cool.”
He furrowed his brow. “Yeah. She is. I want you to meet her.”
I brought the coffee cup to my lips and nodded, even though the thought of it made me want to pour the luke-warm liquid all over his perfectly messy bed hair.
Satisfied, Noah smiled. He looked relieved. “Yeah, so Nina was saying—”
“—you know what?” I pretended to look at the time on my phone. “I just forgot, I have a thing to do for school this afternoon. An important… thing.” I packed up my bag, only meeting his eyes for a brief second. “I really need to go.”
Noah grimaced. “Oh. Okay.” He watched me as I slung my messenger bag over my shoulder and slid out of the booth.
Obsession: Seven Vices Series Page 6