Page 11 of It Happened Duo
“Well, well. If it isn’t the woman from Heart Acres.” The corner of his mouth turned up.
“Rex. Oh. Wow.” Our eyes met for a second, and that was all the time we had before the lights dimmed.
Sophie squeezed my arm on the other side of me and whispered, “Isn’t this exciting?”
If exciting meant that my breath was taken away, seated next to the man I couldn’t stop thinking about since our speed date, then yes, it was. Our conversation from that night replayed often in my head, usually on the subway to and from work, when I finally had a minute to myself to sit and do nothing. I laughed sometimes, recalling Rex’s arrogant replies and wondered if deep down he differed from the bold guy he put on for show in public.
I’d heard from Brooks, who had texted and asked me out for a drink twice since then, but I’d put him off. Meanwhile, Archer and Maisy seemed to carry on a relationship strictly by texting back and forth regularly. But Rex hadn’t visited me again in the deli, and I certainly wasn’t going allthe way up to the fortieth floor if he wasn’t interested in me. And why the hell did he matter to me, anyway?
But here I was, during the symphony introduction, and I could hardly pay attention, fully aware of Rex’s body heat next to me. He leaned over our shared arm rest whispering, “First time?”
I sunk back a little. “Does it show? I wasn’t sure what to wear.”
A low chuckle came from his chest. “You look exquisite.” His minty breath played across my neck and vied for attention with his spicy cologne. In his tux, which probably cost more than I made all month, he was properly dapper.
“I heard you had some trouble at the deli today. Everything okay?” He asked.
I jerked my head to look him square in the face. “How did you know?”
He shrugged. “My assistant said she heard something.”
“Oh, yes. It was fine. Nothing I couldn’t handle.”
I crossed my legs and brushed his knee—big mistake. A fire ignited in my stomach, the likes of which I hadn’t felt around a man in a long time. I bit my lip and squeezed my thighs tighter together for relief the of aching need, convinced the man wore pheromone spritz. I shouldn’t be attracted to Mr. Corner Office on the Fortieth Floor. But oh, how I was.
When the opera singers began, they mesmerized me, only I wished I knew the story and regretted not grabbing a program when Sophie and I arrived at the very last minute.
I didn’t have to worry, though. Rex leaned mydirection and whispered like a narrator, sharing the story with me while the operatic singers performed.
“This is a story of love and loss. The woman is penniless but falls for a rich man. The man can’t acknowledge her though in public, despite his feelings for her. Tragically, the woman becomes ill and he could afford the medicine she needs, but he doesn’t provide it. Only in the end, beside her deathbed, does he regret not helping the love of his life.”
My body reacted to his whispers with goosebumps spreading up and down my flesh. How in the world would I survive an entire night of this next to him?
It turned out I didn’t have to. As soon as the curtains fell at the interval, he said something to the couple on his left about having an emergency and needing to leave. I stood from my seat to let him pass by, and as he did, I peered up into his eyes. He paused and looked down at me, with his mouth opened and about to say something, but instead nodded and continued on.
That was twice now he dashed away from me, which had to mean he wasn’t interested, and probably had a girlfriend. I therefore gave my body permission to stop reacting to the man every time I saw him.
“Come on, girl. Let’s get something to drink.” Sophie pulled at my arm, totally unaware of the physical wreck Rex had left me in.
Our time in the lobby over a glass of champagne consisted mainly of people watching and making comments about someone’s beautiful gown or another woman’s diamonds. “Look at some of these men in their tuxes. Theynot only look like money, but they smell of it. How I’d love to have an affair with one, even a married one.”
“Sophie!” I chuckled. Over the past month, Maisy and I had fun with her as our roommate. Living in the apartment with them was like a nonstop slumber party and we’d spent far too many nights up late gabbing about men and dreams.
“Seriously, though, like that man who sat next to you. Yummy. I’d love a billionaire bad boy treating me like a Pretty Woman, wouldn’t you? At least for a fling. Not sure I want to get tied down right now. What about you?”
“Me?” I raised a brow.
“Yes, you, old woman. We need to find you a real man, because you work way too hard.”
“I’m not really interested in dating or settling down right now. Not with the deli and all.”
“I’m not talking about forever, just a fling. I see you with someone older, classy, rich. Let me see who we could bump into…”
As her eyes wandered the lobby hopping from man to man for me, I could only think of one irritatingly rich, handsome man I’d even be remotely interested in for a fling. Rex. But that was silly. He’s clearly not interested in me, and I didn’t have time or energy to date, being solely focused on the deli right now. Besides, he was a big city guy too stuck on himself to see me.
8
THE TROUBLE WITH PEARL
