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I followed his gaze, and I felt a nervous numbness in my hands and a cold flush across my face at the sight—in the seats off to the side of the dance floor, secluded under the cover of the mezzanine and tucked away where it was darkest, was a woman with long, dark hair and glasses with blood-red rims. And even from here, I could see the way she was looking at me—a gaze that was completely deconstructing, analyzing.
No… more like undressing. I gulped, a nervous lump forming in the pit of my stomach. She matched the description too well. What were the odds of the assistant not only finding me first, but looking at me with that expression?
The bartender turned back to the next customer, and it felt like he’d cut a tether, leaving me to drift—and drift I did, towards the woman, like an invisible cable was pulling me in. I tried to reason that this was just a big lucky win, that this whole thing was right in my reach if the assistant might have been attracted to me and that I couldn’t let it go, but… I’d be lying if I said that was all.
The woman was gorgeous, wearing a black wrap dress and heels, sitting far back in the seat with one leg kicked up over the other. More than that, though, there was something magnetic about the way she looked at me—the intensity of that stare, and the heat of it when our eyes locked, made it feel like the rest of the club didn’t exist.
So I stood up, and I walked towards her, my heart in my mouth. And I’d barely gotten within earshot before she gestured me to the seat next to her.
She seemed to have booked a table for herself. That couldn’t have come cheap in this kind of club. Cameron must have paid nicely.
“Cosmo?” she said, looking at my drink. “Well, aren’t we adventurous?”
I felt her eyes on me, sizing me up, and I was suddenly hyperaware of my posture, of my gestures, everything. I’d dressed nicely, a muted gold form-fitting dress and sleek heels, more classic than her risqué chic look, but I suddenly wasn’t sure if I’d put in enough effort.
But I knew the game. I met her eyes and raised my eyebrows, nonthreateningly, a relaxed smile, and I sat down where she’d gestured me to. “If we’re being honest?” I said. “Coming here tonight was the adventure. I couldn’t handle an adventurous drink on top of it.”
“Don’t tell me it’s your first time here.” A smile played wider over her lips, but there was something to it—something that was just so blatantly hungry, taking me in. I’d gotten less naked checking-out from drunk guys in dive bars. I liked it a little too much right now.
“Well,” I said. “I guess I’ll keep it a secret, then?”
“No need for secrets,” she laughed, and she shifted her posture, leaning in towards me. “Amelie.”
I flushed with a sudden self-consciousness. She had to know Cameron and I had a meeting on Tuesday. If I gave her my actual name, would it end this—whatever this was?
I knew it was a disaster waiting to happen if I lied—if we saw each other on Tuesday and she realized I’d hidden it. But something in my stomach drew so tight it wouldn’t let me break the moment. Horny decisions never got anyone far in business. But Amelie’s red lipstick, that look in her crisp blue eyes, the gentle point of her chin and the swoop of her collar—it was making it hard to think.
“Cara,” I said. “Pleasure to meet you, Amelie.”
She swiped her tongue over her lower lip, and a weight dropped in my stomach as she did. “Pleasure. And an honor to be the first one to make a move on you in this club.”
I could keep my cool in a million situations, but this? This was a lot. My dating life had been long quiet, nothing for years except a two-year relationship that had carried all the heat and passion of a dusty old moon rock. Nothing had prepared me for the heat through my body right now.
I gestured back towards the bar. “Sure you’re not the second? I think you were watching close enough to see the guy there.”
She smirked, sliding a little closer to me. “Trust me, Cara, I was watching close enough to see that didn’t count.”
I got a rush when I said, “You’ve been watching intently, huh?”
She laughed. “Is it a surprise? I didn’t think I was being subtle.”
“Well. Maybe not.”
She picked up her drink, a Manhattan—not the most adventurous choice herself, but it suited her—and she swirled it in one hand. “So, why tonight, Cara? Why the adventure?”
I was looking for you so I could butter you up to make a deal with your boss. That would be a mood-kill. I wouldn’t normally share too much, but… the moment got away from me. “Someone stole the credit for a big win I pulled off at work. Made me wonder why I’m putting so much of myself into my work. Why I’m being so…”
A smile tugged at one corner of her lips. “Such a good girl?”
My body flushed, hard. Was I really this simple? I mean—anyone would be with someone like her saying that. “I thought this place seemed like a good one to stop… being a good girl.”
“Tell me about it, Cara.” Her voice was a warm, husky thing that felt like it vibrated through my body, as she took a sip of her drink and set it down on the table. “You and I have a lot in common, I think. Being so dutiful and proper at work. But it’s not who I am. And it’s not who you are, either, is it?”
“It’s…” I’d never questioned it. I’d just been saying that. And maybe it was just that I wanted to agree to everything she was saying, but I had to wonder how much it was me. Honesty won out—more than I’d known I had in me. “You know? I’m not sure.”
“But you like to explore.”
“Oh.” I set down my drink, tenting my hands. “And how would you know that?”
