Page 62 of I'm Looking for a Man in Finance
“Then it’s settled,” I declared. “We’ll drink far too much and dance the night away.”
“Now that’s my kind of party,” Sebastian exclaimed. “I can cheers to that.”
The four of us clinked our glasses over the middle of the table, relishing what had been a perfect weekend thus far. There was only one thing that would make this weekend better than it was, and that was getting another chance to kiss Hallie.
“Are you going to actually tell Hallie how you feel about her or are you going to just continue on with this charadethe two of you have going?” Sebastian asked me from the bathroom where he was getting ready for the evening.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about, Seb,” I replied as I stared at the two shirts I’d spent far too long agonizing over.
Sebastian poked his head out of the bathroom, shaving cream still on half of his face. “It’s cute that you think you can fake ignorance on this one. You’ve spent the entire weekend staring at Hallie with hearts in your eyes. If you wanted some semblance of plausible deniability, you should’ve tried a little harder to pretend you’re not completely whipped for her.”
I’ll pick the dark green one. That feels like a safe option.
“Of course I like Hallie. How can anyone not? She’s fun to be around.”
Sebastian rolled his eyes hard enough I thought they’d get stuck in the back of his head. I had thought if I said the words out loud, it would convince not only Sebastian, but myself, that my feelings for Hallie were merely platonic. But who was I kidding? I was staring at two shirts, wondering which one would bring out the color of my eyes more. And it was all for her.
“Should I ask again?” Sebastian leveled me with a look.
“Come on, hurry up!” I tossed Sebastian’s shirt into the bathroom. “The girls will never let us live it down if they beat us downstairs.”
“It takes time to look this good.” Sebastian Whittaker was one of the vainest people I knew, but there was no doubt he was one of the best-looking men in New York City.
“I’ll meet you down there.”
Hallie was the only one in the living room when I rounded the corner. She lay stretched out on one of my mother’s prized sofas, balancing her laptop on her stomach as she typed. She reminded me of my mother on weekend mornings when we would come to stay here—the society persona she normally held in the city nowhere to be found.
“Working on the article?” Hallie jumped, a shriek sounding from her mouth as she grabbed for her laptop, stopping it at the last minute from smashing into the ground.
“Have you ever heard of announcing yourself?” Hallie asked me, clutching her chest.
“I just did.”
She narrowed her eyes at me as she slid her laptop onto the coffee table. “I think you need to work on your idea of making yourself known.”
I lifted Hallie’s legs off the couch and replaced them on my lap as I sat down next to her. The article was still pulled up on her laptop and I reached for it.
Hallie smacked my hand before it could scoop up the computer. “Hey! No peeking.”
“What do you mean, no peeking? The article is about me and what we’ve done this weekend. I think that makes it okay for me to proofread it before it’s published.”
She gave a firm shake of her head. “No. You can read it when it comes out.”
“Are you afraid Mr. Old Fashioned will disapprove of what you’re writing?”
“You’re not Mr. Old Fashioned. Mr. Old Fashioned is a fictional character that I’ve based on you.”
“Well, that’s a disappointment,” I drew out. “You really boosted my ego when you said that Mr. Old Fashioned made you feel seen after organizing a private cooking class with your favorite chef in last week’s article.”
Scarlet colored Hallie’s cheeks. She diverted her eyes, which gave me the perfect opportunity to steal a long look at her beautiful face. Making Hallie blush was like watching the sun rise on a perfect morning without a cloud in the sky. She fumbled for some sort of excuse, but I cut her off before she could continue.
“It was a perfect article, Hallie. Just like I know this article will be perfect.”
The barest hint of a smile spread across her lips and I knew one bat of an eyelash would be the end to my resolve. If it were up to me, I’d pick her up off this couch and wrap her legs around my waist. The bonfire would be an afterthought.
Footsteps pounded down the stairs, and I mustered all my willpower to gently remove Hallie’s feet from my lap and stand. “Are you ready?” I offered her my hand.
She closed her laptop, shutting Mr. Old Fashioned away for the night before placing her hand in mine. “Here, let me help you up.” With a little more force than I intended, I sent Hallie careening into my chest.
