Chapter 7
James
“Did you see the news about Peter Drake stepping down as CEO of Rooster?” Sebastian asked me over drinks at Whiskey Locker the following Thursday after work. “There’re whispers that Theo Drake has put his hat in the ring for the selection of the new CEO.”
My friend stared at me expectantly, but my mind was elsewhere. The last thing I wanted to talk about was work. I’d spent the last couple of days talking about the tech giant and its stocks. When they’d rise again. If they’d keep dropping. When we should reposition our portfolio back under them.
Instead, I watched the door, scanning each new patron as they walked in—waiting for a certain brunette to appear.
I’d been buried in work until nearly ten last night and by the time I finally left the office, all I wanted to do was collapse into bed and sleep until the sun forced its way through my blinds.
But still, I stopped by my favorite bar—just in case Hallie was there, working her charm and trying to seduce one of my coworkers into spilling details they’d probably rather keep to themselves.
“You know, Berkley Williams came out relatively unscathed in this complete debacle with Rooster.” Sebastian’s voice trickled back in over my thoughts of Hallie, which had been recurring over the last few days.
I’d spent the better part of the night after I ran into her on Tuesday reading through her biography on Sophisticate ’s website and scrolling through social media for any signs of a Hallie Woods.
All I found was a food blog that covered local eateries around the city.
Each review was thoughtful and done with an intention that sought to elevate the restaurant in front of more people.
Plus, she seemed to get really great engagement on there.
I told myself I was only trying to find different ways to protect my friends by staying up until three in the morning scrolling through every review.
But in truth, I was also curious. This was a completely different perspective of the woman I’d been convinced was calculated and ambitious.
“We managed to position our portfolio for minimum damage,” I replied. “That’s our job, after all.”
Sebastian studied me from his side of our booth. We’d known each other long enough to know when the other was being purposefully vague.
I glanced down at my watch, ignoring the curious look my friend was giving me.
It was nearly nine o’clock. If Hallie was planning on coming here tonight, she would have already showed up.
I was certain of it. It was quite possible that she’d taken my threat seriously and tried her hand at a different bar to avoid me.
“Do you want to grab a night cap at McGuire’s tonight?” McGuire’s was another regular haunt for many of the people I worked with, though not nearly as popular as Whiskey Locker.
“We haven’t gone to McGuire’s in a long time,” Sebastian said slowly, and I could practically see the wheels turning behind his green eyes.
But because Sebastian never turned down a good time, he didn’t argue when I flagged down the waiter, handed over my card without blinking, and stood to grab my coat.
McGuire’s was only a few blocks away from Whiskey Locker. After a long day at the office, most of my coworkers didn’t want to venture far for a drink. Whiskey Locker was newer, flashier, and definitely more upscale—but McGuire’s was the kind of place that didn’t need polish to have charm.
The floors were a little sticky, the bar a bit cramped, but the beer was cold and the company was good. No one came to McGuire’s to be seen—they came to unwind.
Which, if I was being honest, was exactly why I’d suggested it. I hadn’t been able to shake Hallie from my mind, and something told me if she hadn’t already called it a night, this could be where she’d end up.
So it wasn’t a surprise when I walked in and immediately spotted Hallie tucked into a corner booth with a man I didn’t recognize, but could tell just from his suit that he worked for another investment firm. Roxie sat opposite her, laughing at something a second guy was saying.
Hallie’s cheeks were flushed like they’d been the other night, which I now knew meant that she was a few drinks in.
Tonight, she wore a short, fitted dress under a tailored blazer, the hem riding high on her thigh above sleek, knee-high boots.
The dress was deep green—soft, silky-looking—and it clung in all the right places.
It made it impossible not to look twice.
She looked good. Really good.
Too good.
And though I didn’t want to admit it, not even to myself, there was something about the way she laughed at whatever the guy she was with had said, the way her eyes sparkled under the dim lighting, that made it hard to breathe for a second.
I heard a throat clear from behind me. “Are you going to continue into the bar there, James?”
“Yeah, was just scoping out an open spot,” I told him, despite half of the bar being completely open. To Sebastian’s credit, he said nothing.
“Can I get an Old Fashioned and can you send a glass of Riesling over to that woman in the corner?” I asked the bartender as soon as we settled into a pair of chairs.
“What’s gotten into you today?” Sebastian asked, his attention fixed on Hallie. “I didn’t think you had it in you to go after another man’s woman.”
“Who’s saying that’s her boyfriend?” I shot back, doing my best to keep from staring as she laughed at something her companion said. Especially after the twinkling sound of her laugh made my dick twitch.
I’ve got to get laid.
The bartender walked over and set the glass of wine on Hallie’s table. I watched as she scanned the bar, trying to find the culprit. Her mouth dropped open the minute her eyes landed on me.
I winked.
Hallie’s lips moved, and I was certain she was cussing me out under her breath. Without a second thought, I pushed back from the bar and sauntered over to them.
“Who’s that from?” I overheard Hallie’s date asking her.
“Oh it’s no one—”
“Harsh, Hal. I would think you’d place a little more importance on someone you dated for four years.” I placed a hand over my heart, feigning hurt.
Hallie’s jaw dropped, and those beautiful lips, painted in a dangerous shade of red, parted in disbelief.
“What are you talking ab—”
“You guys dated?” Hallie’s date for the night asked. He’d combed his auburn hair over to hide a growing bald spot, I suspected, and his teeth desperately needed whitening.
I slid into the open seat at their table with a grin. “Oh yeah. We met back in college when we both attended—”
“NYU,” Hallie grumbled, clearly playing along, which meant her evening must’ve been going worse than I initially thought.
“Yes, NYU! Hallie here was studying journalism, and I was studying finance.”
Her date’s interest piqued. “Finance? Where do you work now?”
“Just down the street at Berkley Williams.” I narrowed my eyes playfully. “Don’t you work at BAT?”
Hallie tracked the unfolding scene, her eyes darting between us.
“Excuse me, everyone,” Sebastian’s voice broke in as he placed a hand on my shoulder. “I figured I’d join the party since my friend here so rudely ditched me at the bar.”
Sebastian fell into the last empty spot next to Roxie and her date for the evening. Before throwing an arm across the back of Roxie’s seat, he shook her date’s hand. Seb’s accidental touch made Roxie tense up.
“Sebastian Whittaker.” Seb extended his free hand to her, flashing a smile that could disarm anyone.
I swear that man could charm a nun away from her lifelong commitment with just a smile.
What caught my attention, though, was seeing Roxie—who I’d watched so easily win people over at the Grangers’ dinner—become visibly flustered under Seb’s focus.
“Roxie King.” Roxie recovered after a few seconds of free fall and placed her hand in Sebastian’s.
“Well, now it’s a party.” Sebastian tossed a wink at Roxie and she immediately turned the color of a ripe tomato, clearly caught off guard, before he motioned for the bartender to bring the group another round of drinks.
He reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a sleeve of Cuban cigars—Seb’s favorite vice.
“We were kind of on a date,” Hallie cut in, motioning to the two men at the table.
Roxie’s date looked to be engrossed in whoever he was texting on his phone while Hallie’s date was far more interested in having a conversation about the market trends with me than asking her any stereotypical first-date questions.
So, what do you like to do in your free time?
What’s your favorite movie?
What’s your dream job?
I was certain Hallie hadn’t shared her hopes of becoming a restaurant critic for Sophisticate , because that would require admitting why exactly she was on this date in the first place.
“Are you sure about that?” I shot back, relishing the frustration that pinched her forehead as Seb and I made no effort to leave.
“You’ve got some explaining to do.” Sebastian leaned over to whisper in my ear once the bartender dropped off another round of what everyone was drinking.
I gladly took the cigar he offered me, needing something to calm my nerves.
For some reason, Hallie flirting with this guy was making me edgy.
Between this week’s encounter at Whiskey Locker and tonight, I was more tense than Wall Street on the morning of a market crash.
“There’s nothing to explain,” I told him. Because what would I even say?
I met this girl at the Grangers’ last Friday night. She hates everything about men in finance and is writing a piece for work on what it’s like to date us. So now I’ve made it my personal mission to make sure she has the least amount of material to work with.
I’d sound like a raging lunatic, and even Seb would start to worry about me.
“What are you doing?” Hallie’s voice cut through the haze of cigar smoke, tinged with disapproval.
“I’m enjoying a drink with good company, Hal.”
“Don’t call me Hal,” she hissed.
“Why not? I think it’s a rather cute nickname.” The twitch in her left eye said otherwise, but I didn’t let up.
“It reminds me of Dennis Quaid in The Parent Trap .” Hallie crossed her arms over her chest, her date now completely forgotten. But I wasn’t sure he minded because he was now chatting happily with Roxie’s date.
“And that’s a bad thing?” I asked.
“Yes, because The Parent Trap is one of my favorite comfort movies and you don’t get to ruin that for me.”
A lazy smile spread across my face. I wasn’t about to feel bad for messing with her. Especially when doing so meant she had those big, beautiful brown eyes locked on me, giving me more of a challenge than I had bargained for.
“Maybe we both just have great taste in movies.”
Hallie rolled her eyes and turned her body toward me. Her leg brushed mine under the table, and I forced myself to ignore the way my stomach flipped.
She’s an attractive woman. It’s not your fault your body responds like that to her.
“Don’t flatter yourself. It’s not cute.” She tossed her hair over her shoulder, and the floral scent of her perfume washed over me.
This Hallie was a far cry from the woman I’d met at the Grangers’. When I first saw her walk into their kitchen she’d been a little shy, reserved, and waited for Roxie to take the lead. Now? She was giving as good as she got.
“You didn’t mention at dinner on Friday that you have a food blog,” I said, and Hallie lit up, only for a moment.
She had her guard back up, but I’d seen that brief glimmer at the question about her blog and I liked it.
“How do you know about that?”
Logic told me I couldn’t possibly admit that I’d spent far too many hours since we’d first met searching for as much information as I could find about her on the internet. Because if I did, I wasn’t sure I had an answer if she asked why .
So instead, I listened to my good sense and lied my ass off.
“I was looking at reviews for this new bagel place in the West Village I’d heard about, and I stumbled across a post that featured someone I recognized.” The lie felt clumsy, but I was rewarded with a small smile on Hallie’s face.
“You should go. Those bagels changed my life.” But her smile disappeared as fast as it came, as if Hallie remembered that the two of us were squaring off like two cowboys in the Wild West.
“Eli?” Hallie directed her attention back to her date. I’d forgotten he had even been there. “Do you want to go grab a quick bite?”
The sweet smile she gave him would have probably brought me to my knees.
But just as she flashed it to him, Eli’s phone buzzed on the table.
He glanced at the screen, his face falling slightly.
“I’m sorry, I’ve got to head back into the office.
This was a great time, though. I’ve enjoyed chatting with you all.
” He shot a half-hearted smile before standing up and quickly making an exit.
And then he was gone.
Hallie took a deep breath. When she finally spoke, she looked squarely at me. And, if I’m being honest, maybe it was a little fucked up that I found it hot.
“This isn’t some game, James. You can’t keep trying to sabotage my article. It’s going to get written, no matter how hard you try to stop it.” Hallie stood up suddenly from the table, her frustration crackling in the air.
“You’re 0–3, Hal.” I couldn’t resist throwing in one more jab, reminding her of every conversation that I’d interrupted.
“0–4,” she muttered under her breath.
“What was that?”
Hallie swallowed, and I couldn’t help but follow the movement. “I’m 0–4 on getting asked out. Struck out last night, even without your interference.”
A smug grin crept onto my face. “So, if this were an actual game we were playing, I’d be winning?”
I had more important things to focus on—my family’s restaurant, my dream of opening my own investment firm—but, honestly, nothing seemed as entertaining as messing with Hallie Woods.
Hallie grabbed her purse. “Roxie, I’m out of here.”
Roxie quickly jumped from her seat next to Seb, looking like she wanted to put as much space between the two of them as possible.
She and Hallie disappeared out of the pub and into the night, leaving Seb and me with Roxie’s date, who was still sitting at the table, casually scrolling through his phone, blissfully unaware that his date had just left.
“How did we both strike out tonight?” Seb asked, staring at the door where the women had just exited, looking genuinely perplexed. “That doesn’t even seem possible.”
“I didn’t strike out tonight, Seb,” I said, settling back into my seat and sipping my Old Fashioned. “I hit a home run.”