Page 24 of I'm Looking for a Man in Finance
I was certain Hallie hadn’t shared her hopes of becoming a restaurant critic forSophisticate, 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. Becausewhatwould 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 inThe 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, becauseThe Parent Trapis 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 someant 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 askedwhy.
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 acrossa 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.
