Page 38 of I'm Looking for a Man in Finance
I smiled, trying to cover my nervousness. Somehow, I felt like I was being transported back to high school and this was my first time on a date with an attractive woman. “That was only our first date. Just wait until you see what I have planned for the second one.”
She looked at me with a playful glint in her eyes. “So, I’ll see you next week?”
“Of course,” I said, my voice a little firmer now. “We have a deal, remember?”
“I’m just making sure you haven’t changed your mind.”
“Think what you want about finance bros, Hallie, butin my line of work, we take deals very seriously. I never go back on my word.”
She chuckled softly, then extended her hand toward me, her expression playful. “A handshake to seal the deal, then.”
I looked at her hand for a moment, my disappointment blooming quietly inside me. A handshake. After the connection we’d shared over dinner, after all that chemistry crackling between us, this was how she chose to end the evening? Maybe she really did just want to keep this professional. Stick to the agreement.
I took her hand, and she gave it a firm shake. The touch of her skin against mine only made me want her more.
“Good night, Mr. Old Fashioned,” she said with a teasing smile, her voice light, but there was a hesitation there. One that made me wonder if she felt the same pull I did and part of her wished for something more.
“Good night, Hallie,” I replied, watching as she stepped inside, leaving me standing there with a heavy, bittersweet feeling. I hadn’t expected any of this. I figured once a week, the two of us would meet up, try our best not to kill each other, and that would be it.
So why did it feel impossible to walk away from her apartment?
“What are you reading?” Seb asked, finishing the laces on his tennis shoes with a firm tug. Sunday morning had arrived, and with it, Hallie’s article—published a day sooner than usual. I’d just changed in the locker room at the country club when the notification popped up on my phone. I couldn’t resist opening it right away.
“Just give me a minute,” I murmured, turning slightly away as Sebastian grabbed his tennis racket and started bouncing a ball against the ground in that annoyingly steady rhythm of his.
“First you bail on drinks Friday night, and now you’re cutting into our court time?” he said. “What gives?” He stepped closer, trying to peek over my shoulder. “Wait … is thatSophisticate? Dude, why the hell are you reading a women’s magazine?”
I swatted his hand away, but it was too late—his interest was piqued.
“There’s a woman, isn’t there?” he said, his tone sharpening with suspicion. “Has to be. That’s the only reason you’d be reading that.”
Before I could stop him, he lunged and snatched the phone out of my hand.
“Seb—come on. I wasn’t done!”
But he was already skimming the screen, backing away as I chased him onto the court. I vaulted the net after him, but he stayed just out of reach, holding the phone like a trophy.
“Why are you reading some article about dating men in finance?” Seb continued to scroll on the phone. “Wait …” Seb trailed off as his eyes quickly raced over the screen, going wide. “Didn’t you tell me that you got in atCrepitioon Friday?”
I stopped mid-chase, heart pounding, watching the realization already dawning on his face. Seb stopped running and finally looked at me. He’d known me for almost ten years. To my frustration, it was nearly impossible to hide anything from him. “Is this article about you?”
Day in and day out I could play the corporate game and spin a reality to be something it wasn’t, but with my best friend glancing between me and an article that Hallie had just written, calling me “charming” and “a true gentleman”, there wasn’t a chance I was getting myself out of this one.
Mr. Old Fashioned truly is old-fashioned. He walked me to my door and bid me farewell, promising a second date that I’m actually looking forward to. Maybe on this one we’ll see if Mr. Old Fashioned can turn up the heat.
I read the final paragraph again, slower this time, letting the words settle into me.
She’s looking forward to a second date.
She wants me to turn up the heat.
Did she mean that? Or was it just good copy? A clever line to wrap the piece, to keep readers invested in the next installment of whatever this was between us?
I kept circling back to that moment outside her apartment. The way her hand lingered in mine after the handshake. The pause before she turned the key. The way her lips parted like she was about to say something else instead of good night.
I’d convinced myself I imagined the flicker of disappointment in her eyes when we didn’t kiss, but now I wasn’t so sure. Maybe it was real. Maybe she wanted it as much as I did.
“You didn’t even kiss her?” Seb exclaimed after he finished reading Hallie’s closing line. “Why didn’t you tell me about her? I tell you about every girl I’m with.”
