Chapter 6 #2
“I’ve not told anyone about this, except Katie who called me out on it.
” I wait, seeing how hard this is for her.
I don’t want to interrupt since I’m more curious than before.
“It may sound na?ve . . . I may sound na?ve, but I’ve had a crush on him since the day I started working at the company.
He’s one of the lawyers there. And I’m completely invisible to him. ”
“Because he’s an asshole.”
She laughs. “I guess I’m attracted to assholes.” I’m not an asshole. “But it is what it is.”
“Did you have sex with him?”
A gasp comes out and her eyes are wide. “What? No. Of course not. Why would you think that?”
“Isn’t it obvious?” I don’t know if my relief can be seen, but I feel it in every cell of my body.
Annihilation of rule number one while reloading to take out rule two.
Shit. Back up a bit. I need to slow this roll down.
“You were wearing the same clothes this morning in the cab that you wore last night and you said you live in Manhattan, but you were driving in from Brooklyn.” My replay of her morning appears to entertain her, so much that her laughter echoes around us.
The beautiful sound captures an audience from a few nearby tables. “What’s so funny?”
“You.” Though she’s still laughing, she moves in closer, and says, “If I didn’t know better, I would say you were jealous.”
“Me?” This time I scoff. “To get jealous you have to care and last night was just another night at The Hideaway.”
“Wow, way to make a girl feel special.”
“You were feeling special. Now that, I will never forget.”
“Well my answer is not exciting. I stayed at Katie’s. The, as you call him, asshole, was meeting friends in the area. I told him I would be in Brooklyn too and that we should get a drink. I never expected him to come. As I said, he’s stood me up before.”
“You said you were invisible to him. He wouldn’t have walked into this bar if he didn’t see how beautiful you are.”
“He looks at me like I’m one of the guys. I want him to look at me like I’m one of the girls.”
“Sex and emotions don’t always have to go hand in hand.
I’ve hooked up with plenty of women and we both walked away satisfied and didn’t need to exchange numbers and talk about it afterwards.
” Her eyes are set on mine, hanging on every word.
“Look, Virginia. If he showed up, he has some interest, but I know his type. It’s not to have a conversation and romantic walks with you on the beach. ”
Absorbing what I’m saying, she ponders a moment, and then asks, “You’re saying that just because he talks to me doesn’t mean he wants more than sex with me?”
“Exactly.”
“I might be okay with this.” Her eyes widen, the light at the end of the tunnel coming into full few.
“What you said. I need to do sex things without worry and just have fun. Then he’ll see me as more than the numbers girl.
If I keep it light and then make my move and seduce him, he won’t be able to resist.”
“That’s not really what I was say—”
“This is perfect. Hardy, you’re amazing.” She sets her sights on me now. “I need your help since you’re so good at separating sex from emotion.” I should be upset that she sees me this way, but her train of thought intrigues me. “I have a proposition for you.”
The only problem I see is that my emotions are so entangled in her that I’m not sure if they’re hers or mine anymore.
I need separation from her to get proper perspective on what she’s really saying.
There might be an insult hidden in there, but Katie’s advice is not the greatest. She clearly needs my help.
I finish my drink and set the glass down. “Go on.”
Fidgeting, she says, “I want you to look at something.”
“Shoot.”
She reaches into her purse and pulls out a photo, then sets it on the table and pushes it toward me. “Look at this.”
I pick the photo up and stare at it. It’s not a flattering photo—some girl with thick-lensed glasses and braids, an odd orange tint to her hair and headgear.
To add more salt to this poor girl’s wound, she’s wearing a canary yellow turtleneck and purple sweatshirt over it.
Glancing up, I put the photo back down. “What is this? Who is this?”
“That’s me.” She actually manages to hold a straight face when she confesses this.
Grabbing the picture back from the table, I hold it up again. “This is you?” I fail at keeping the astonishment from my voice.
“It is. Senior year in high sch—”
“Senior year? A lot has changed.” Looking at her suit, I add, “Mostly.”
Shock rolls over her and she grabs her jacket by the lapels and looks down. “What? You don’t like my suit?”
“Ummm, it’s okay.”
When her shoulders sag, I add, “I mean it could be worse.”
“Not really by the sound of it. Geez. As if I didn’t feel bad enough—”
“I’m sorry. I don’t mean to hurt your feelings. I’m just in shock.”
“Am I that hideous in the photo?”
“You were never hideous. You were just hiding behind,” I start to say, moving my finger over the top of it, “a lot of other stuff. There’s a lot going on here.”
“That’s why I need your help.”
“How can I help you?” I ask not sure where this is going.
“I want your help to win Lowry.”
“What’s a Lowry?”
“The asshole. That’s a Lowry.”
Whoa. Whoa. “Whoa. Back up. You want my help winning the attention of that asshole from last night?”
She eagerly nods with a wide smile. “Yes. Exactly.”
“Maybe I’m a bit slow, but let me get this straight. You want me to help you somehow get the attention of some guy who doesn’t deserve your attention, much less your time of day?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because you know how to get everyone’s attention without even trying and then you know all that other stuff.”
“What other stuff?”
“The sex stuff.”
This time, my eyes go wide before they narrow in utter confusion. “What sex stuff?” Oh man, that pink I love so much colors her cheeks. How does she work the bravado shy girl thing so well? She’s not even aware of how she affects men. Unicorn.
Leaning over the table, she glances around to make sure no one hears her. “Last night. What we did last night.”
Dot.
Dot.
Connect.
“You want me to teach you sex stuff?” I didn’t think my eyes could go wider but now they’re practically hanging out in disbelief.
She nods.
I repeat, “You want me to teach you sex stuff to get the attention of that asshole who doesn’t deserve your attention, nor time of day?”
She nods again. “Will you help me?” I’m not sure how long I’ve been staring at her, but it’s long enough for her to clap her hands in front of my face. “You still with me?”
“How?”
“How what?” She sits back down, looking a little confused herself.
Shaking my head, I ask, “How do you want me to teach you?”
The way she talks about this as if this is so ordinary, like we’re figuring out where to order takeout tonight. “I’ve been thinking about it. You made me realize last night that it would be like lessons in love, in romance.”
“In seduction?”
“Yes.”
“You understand that’s ludicrous, right?”
“I do, but what I’m doing now isn’t working.” Looking down, she holds her jacket out. “At all. I need help. Your help. You get any woman you want. Women throw themselves at you. You know how to read their wants and needs. You know how to make a woman feel special without feeling dirty.”
“Unless they want that.”
That makes her laugh. “Yes, unless they want to feel dirty.”
“Hey, Hardy?” Eddie calls from behind the bar, and waves me over.
We both look over and then back at each other. I say, “They need backup.”
“What do you say? Will you help me?”
“I’m not even sure what this entails.”
She pushes the photo back toward me. “When is your next night off?”
“Sunday.”
“We can talk then, go over the details. You can decide after that. If you say no, I won’t blame you. But if you say yes,” she says, her excitement growing, “we can plot it all out, set the rules and such.”
Standing up when Eddie calls me again, I run my hand through my hair. “This is wild.”
She stands as well, close to me, too far for my liking. “I can tell you like living dangerously.”
I don’t like when the danger involves my heart, but I know I’m going to accept the challenge, ready to put it on the line. “I don’t do things on dares.”
“Then what will get you to do this?”
“I like homemade lasagna.” I’m a mighty good cook, but I might just have fun with this, and score a home-cooked meal out of this nutball idea.
“Done. How’s seven?”
I like her too much to say no. “That works.” I hand her my phone. “I’ll text you directions to my place.”
She quickly adds her number into my contacts and says, “I put my number under my new favorite drink.” Handing it back to me, she bounces once on her feet and then lifts to hug me.
My arms wrap around her and I inhale the sensual vanilla I’ve come to love into my lungs. My body relaxes, and I wish we weren’t in the middle of the bar. Stepping back abruptly, I say, “I’ve gotta go.”
“Thank you.”
I nod and head to the bar. When I look back at her, she’s heading for the door.
Eddie says, “Jagger called in sick.”
“Is he?”
He laughs. “I think he’s dick deep in the girl from the corner deli.”
TMI. I look at the door, hoping to see Virginia once more, but she’s gone.
“I’ll fill in. Just cover a few more minutes.
” I dash to the door and push it open. When my feet land on the snow covered sidewalk, I look right and then left, searching for her.
When my eyes land on her great body, I call out, “Hey Virginia?”
Snow is falling, little white dots covering her hair when she turns with a flourish, a sweet smile on her lips.
My heart hurts just looking at her. She’s so beautiful.
I open my mouth to tell her—You were never invisible to me—but that doesn’t come out.
Instead, I chicken out, and say, “See you Sunday.”
Her smiles grows and she replies, “See you Sunday, Hardy.”