Five
Iwas in early the next morning, and by working through lunch and staying after Sadie left that night, I caught up on three days’ work. Dylan was very impressed when I called her that evening, even though she worried when I didn’t eat.
“You’re too thin now, Jory.” She sighed into the phone.
“Okay.” I indulged her as I ate the granola bar in my desk.
She promised to try and be in the following day if she felt better, but I told her not to worry, I’d call if I got in any trouble. I then made her guess to figure out who I had accidentally run into.
“I hate doing this, and you know it,” she complained. “Who’d ya meet?”
“Abe—your friend, Aubrey Flanagan.”
“Really? How funny.”
“I know, it was totally random.”
“Well, that’s great. Didn’t you just love her? Isn’t she awesome?”
“She is.”
“But don’t love her more than me, okay?”
“Could you be more hormonal?” I asked her. “Like that’s even possible.”
“Good.”
“That reminds me. I gotta call her.”
“That’s my cue to get off the phone.” She yawned and then burped.
“Lovely.”
“Sorry,” she sighed. “My stomach’s all screwed up.”
“Because it’s been taken over by an alien.”
“You’re funny. You should do stand-up.”
I smiled into the phone.
“God, I’m so sick of being sick. I need to have this kid already.”
“It’s only a couple more weeks, Dyl. Just rest.”
She appreciated me trying to rally her spirits and told me she loved me before she got off the phone. I called Aubrey immediately afterward. My pinch hitter promised to be in the office the following Monday morning at eight sharp. I told her I didn’t do sharp, I did ish, as in nine-ish.
“Ish?” She giggled.
“So ish,” I assured her. “Dylan and I might be a little laid-back, but still…eight in the morning is just obscene.”
“Okay, partner,” she sighed into the phone. “Nine-ish it is.”
When I asked how her date had gone with Rick Jenner, she said it wasn’t over yet.
Apparently, they had been inseparable since they’d had dinner.
“No.” I was stunned.
“Oh yes,” she said, and I could hear the smile in her voice.
“Have you even gone home yet?”
She had no comment. I chuckled, and she groaned.
“He’s a good guy.” I championed my brother’s friend.
“He’s a phenomenal guy,” she corrected me, “and so damn hot.”
I grunted. “I’ll take your word for it.”
“And speaking of hot guys…who was the gorgeous man I saw you leaving the Corner Diner with last night?”
“I didn’t see you.”
“No, I know. I yelled, but you were too far away. But who cares! Who was the guy?”
“Sam.”
“Oooh,” she purred. “Do you realize you just sighed when you said his name?”
“I did not.”
“Oh, I think ya did. Who is he?”
“He’s a police detective.”
“Well, he’s totally yummy. I approve.”
“Stop.”
“And can I just say what a stunning couple you guys make? I mean, holy shit, drop-dead, could-not-take-my-eyes-off-of-you-guys gorgeous.”
“No, we don’t, but you and Rick, on the other hand…really beautiful.”
“Well, thank you very much.” She squealed suddenly, and her throaty laughter filled my ears.
“Whatcha doin’, babe?” I teased her.
“Shut up.” She laughed more. “Richard Jenner, go away. I’m trying to talk to Jor—” A second later she was gone, and I smiled wide. It would be interesting to find out what Dane thought of his friend’s new girl when he got back from his honeymoon.
I was already home that evening when my friend Sloane called and invited me to dinner with her and her boyfriend, Derek.
Because I had turned her down the last five times she’d called me, I accepted and went to meet them at a steakhouse downtown.
When I met them outside the restaurant and was introduced to three other people, Kellen Attwood among them, I understood that I was being “fixed up.” I dragged Sloane to the bar with me, where she confessed that because she loved both Kellen and me, she hoped we would hit it off. I stifled a groan.
When we rejoined the group, Kellen had a glass of white wine for me.
I took it to be polite, even though I preferred red.
He stood close, asked me what I did, and complimented my leather racing jacket.
I was listening to him answer all Sloane’s questions about his job, his house, his car, and his plans for the holidays.
She was obviously interviewing him for me, letting me hear his answers and him tell me himself that he was a catch.
A hand on my shoulder made me turn, and when I did, I found myself faced with Aaron Sutter.
“Hey.” I smiled at him.
“Jory.” He smiled back, hand closing on my jacket. “What are you doing here?”
“Just having dinner with friends.”
“Great.” His eyes were locked on mine. “Eat with us.”
“There’s, like, six of us, Sutter,” I teased him, smiling wide. “How can you—”
“I’ve got a private room upstairs,” he said, easing me closer to him. “Come on, I feel like crap about last time. Treat your friends, eat with me.”
And it would be a treat, for anyone. Unless you lived under a rock, everyone knew Aaron Sutter.
People saw his name splashed all over newspapers, read articles and saw his picture in magazines, understood that he was rich, powerful, and connected.
Partying with him was champagne and caviar—nothing but the best. So there was no reason to say no when someone was offering to make a normal Wednesday night into an event.
It was assumed that dinner would just be the beginning.
The expressions given to him were ones of wonder as he led the entire entourage through the crowded restaurant, one arm draped over Sloane’s shoulder, the other hand tight on my bicep.
Up the marble staircase to the second floor was a private room that had its own tiny dance floor and was set up like someone’s living room instead of a restaurant.
“This is amazing,” Kellen said, watching Aaron as he mingled with his friends.
“Yep,” I sighed, motioning the waiter over to me, passing him the full glass of wine and ordering a Chivas and water. “It’s all first class with Aaron.”
“He’s even better looking in person.”
The man was handsome, period. Live or in print, he looked exactly the same.
“Don’t you think so?”
“Sure.”
He stepped in closer to me. “So, listen, before this evening goes on any further, I would like to get your number so I can call you and ask you out on a real date.”
“Who’s going on a date?”
We both turned to find Aaron beside us, his hand on the back of my neck, fingers sliding up into my hair.
“I…” Kellen faltered, and I saw him watching Aaron’s obvious show of possessiveness. “I wanted to thank you for inviting me, Mr. Sutter.”
“Aaron,” he corrected gently. “And I’m sorry, did you want to ask Jory out?”
He swallowed nervously. “I did, yes.”
Aaron nodded before he excused us both, leading me toward the table. “Sit with me.”
I chuckled. “That was kind of an asshole thing to do, don’t you think?”
“No,” he said. “He needs to know that if he wants you, the line forms behind me.”
I smiled at him. “C’mon, Sutter, order us all something to eat already. Everybody’s starving.”
“Yes, dear,” he said, smiling back, pulling me closer.
It was fun, as it always was when Aaron was the host of his own party.
He didn’t order off the menu but instead rattled off selections that the chef would only prepare for him.
And normally I took offense to the making of assumptions about what I wanted, but I wasn’t in the mood to argue, so I let him tell the waiter what I would have.
“Lemme take your jacket.”
I took it off and passed it to him. When he complimented the dress shirt underneath, I gave him a look.
“What?”
“I look the same as always, Sutter, don’t screw with me.”
He scowled.
“You, on the other hand, look great,” I assured him, fixing the collar of his dress shirt under his V-neck sweater. “But you always do.”
“Do I?”
“Quit fishing,” I grunted.
“I just like it when you notice.”
I stared into his eyes and tried to understand, again, what it was that wasn’t there. Why I wouldn’t just change for him and be the way he wanted. Anyone in their right mind would. The man was perfect, and yet…not for me. He wasn’t perfect for me.
“Try the wine, J,” he said, moving a piece of hair out of my eyes.
“I thought I drank too much?” I quipped, suddenly annoyed for no reason.
“Please, I don’t want to fight.” He sighed, stroking my jaw. “I just want to feed you and maybe, hopefully…take you home with me.”
I let it go and tried the red wine. He was looking at me expectantly, and I felt a familiar knot twist in my stomach.
Always, I could be counted on to let him down in these instances.
He thought I knew wine and food, and I didn’t.
He imagined me a connoisseur because he was and all his friends were, but the truth was that I had simple tastes, always had.
“You like it?”
“Yeah, it’s great.”
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.” I turned to look at Sloane, asking her to repeat her question about Dane. She wanted to know about the wedding, and I was more than willing to give her details.
Later, when a plate was set down in front of me, Aaron drew my attention to him with a hand on my knee.
“Try the steak, J. It’s Kobe beef, and you’re gonna love it.”
And I did like it when I tried it, but I didn’t want to be told that I had to love it. As usual, I realized I was nitpicking at him and tried to stop. When my phone rang, I excused myself to the opposite side of the room before I answered it.
“Jory.”
“Sam.” I sighed because I was so happy to hear his voice.
“Well,” he said softly, “that’s the best greeting I’ve gotten so far.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah. You sound good. Where are you?”
“I’m at dinner.”
“Dinner? What is it, like, ten now?”
I laughed at him. “Don’t be so regimented, Detective. Dinner’s whenever you want it.”
“If you say so, but I gotta tell ya, you keep some weird-ass hours.”
I smiled into my phone. “Very true. Why are you calling?”
“You said I could.”
“Yeah, but—”
“You know the other night, when you said that all I wanted you for was to fuck, that was messed up. You knew it was crap even when you were saying it.”
“I don’t wanna talk about—”