Page 48 of Purchase Power
Chapter 14
The restaurant wasn’t anything like Lucy had ever seen before that night. Noah led her in with her hand wrapped around his arm and her clutch bouncing against her hip.
From the outside, it looked normal enough. A downtown restaurant with a well-lit sign that advertised its haughty airs. A valet stood on the sidewalk, not that Noah needed his limousine parked for him. The valet was more than happy to open the door, however, which allowed the driver to take off as soon as Noah and Lucy were out of the backseat.Act like everything’s normal, girl.Lucy readjusted herself the moment she stepped onto the sidewalk. After brushing something off her jacket, she moved her hair over her shoulders and implored Noah to lead the way. Thankfully, nothing happened to embarrass either one of them by advertising to the whole city that they had fucked in the limo.
They passed a maître d’s booth. They were led past a small, cozy gallery of tables spaced far enough apart to give diners proper privacy. Few looked up at them as they sped by, taking the long route around the gallery as they dove into the backrooms that were reserved for only the most astounding of clientele.
That was the last time anything felt normal to Lucy Craig.
“How about this bastard, huh?” David Hayes, with his boyish smile, tousled hair, and slightly askew tie, was the true foil to Noah Gabriel, who ate with a napkin against his lips and his perfectly groomed face free from all debris. Every time David slapped him on the shoulder, Lucy was convinced Noah would silently pick her up and leave.He says they’ve been friends forever. How can I be sure I believe it, when Noah is… Noah?And David was David. A total cad. A suave debonair with boyish good looks and the ability to charm the sensible underwear off any girl’s mother. Although his manners and his way of speaking startled Lucy at first, she had to admit that, by the end of the salad course, she was enchanted with his smile and already laughing at his bawdy jokes. “Only comes into the city when another man has him by the balls. Why, I don’t think he’s even made the trip for a woman he fancied. Can you believe it? He always makes them come to him! I can’t tell if he’s lazy, or a genius. Maybe a lazy genius.”
David continued to shovel salad into his mouth. It was a damn good thing they were in a private room at the back of the restaurant. Surrounded by replicas of tasteful paintings and awash in the subdued light of a chandelier, Lucy attempted to remember which was the salad fork, and which was for cutting into steaks. Like the ones they were guaranteed for their main course.Steak and a dollop of garlic and herb mashed potatoes, made fresh on the premises.The menu had said so. A menu that only contained five main courses, including a vegan protein option for the discerning guest.Steak, chicken, salmon, duck, and quinoa-based protein.Lucy had almost gotten that one simply for the experience. Then Noah, of all people, beat her to it.
“This is the guy who spent his whole holiday on a houseboat in Lake Erie. Told us he was going ‘off the grid,’ and nobody was allowed to contact him for the whole two weeks of our winter break.” David shook his dirty fork in Lucy’s direction. She continued to eat her salad with proper decorum, but every time David played up his story, she chuckled on her food. “A houseboat. Ahouseboat,Lucy.” He turned to his date, sitting to his left and poking at her food. “Look at this guy. Does this look like a houseboat guy to you?”
Kelsey slowly shook her head. Silky chestnut brown hair framed her long face and doused her bare shoulders with a tender caress. Lucy didn’t get the impression that the woman with dark makeup and soft, fluid movements detested her date – but there was a definite lack of intimacy that made her keep an invisible wall erected between them.You’d honestly think they were siblings, and not temporary lovers.That wasn’t to say Kelsey and David looked a lot alike. They both had shades of brown hair and a thirst for red wine, but Kelsey was as interested in his tales as she was the lint beneath her skirt.
“Lucy.” David caught her attention before she was completely lost in Kelsey’s dour demeanor. “Tell me – does this seem like a houseboat guy to you?” He clamped another hand on his friend’s shoulder. Noah continued to eat his appetizer as if nothing were said about him. “He gets seasick from the mere sight of the ocean. I don’t know how he did it.”
“Sounds legit,” Lucy said. “Have you been to his house? Out in the middle of nowhere. Mr. Gabriel likes his solitude.”
“Thank you.” Noah didn’t address the fact Lucy was openly talking about him at dinner. “David here doesn’t understand the power of a good deactivation. From society, that is.”
David scoffed. “Deactivation? You sound like a robot, man. That’s why I love you, though. I always loved those old sci-fi films when I was a kid.”
Lucy caught a look of mild derision in Noah’s eyes. “I don’t think he’s a robot,” she said. “If you ask me, Mr. Gabriel simply prefers his peace and quiet. There’s enough stimulation out there, and it isn’t difficult to find.”
This time when Noah looked up, it was his gaze settled firmly on Lucy. Any other man would have quipped about the sexual implications of what he said. Except he wasn’t any other man. He was Noah Gabriel, and he barely used those words in the privacy of his own bedroom.
Or Lucy’s guest suite, for that matter.
“She’s right,” Noah said to David. “There’s enough chaos in the world. I don’t see why I should go looking for it.”
Lucy turned to Kelsey on her right. She picked her food like one might pick their teeth, but so far, she hadn’t eaten enough to have anything to clean out of her teeth. “Which do you prefer? Going out, or staying in?”
“Yeah, Kels.” David snatched a piece of lettuce off his fork. “Introverts vs. extroverts. Which side are you on? Don’t cop out and say you’re an ambivert, either. We’re picking sides.”
Kelsey looked between the three of them like they were the hunters and she were the prey. A mousey deer minding her own business in the woods. A hare about to spring into a trap. Her big gray eyes almost made Lucy feel sorry for her.
“I truly don’t have a preference,” she said, “but if you held a gun to my head…”
“Jesus, Kels, no need to get that dramatic.”
Kelsey ignored David. “I prefer to stay in. Too much excitement gives me the wrong kind of goosebumps.”
Were Noah and Lucy the only ones who caught the ulterior meaning to her words? Or was David merely hiding the fact that he knew why his date was so closed off and reticent to reply to their silly games?
The awkward silence was broken by the arrival of their main courses and a refilling of their wineglasses. Lucy commented on how delicious her sizzling steak smelled, and David cut into his filet of salmon to ensure it was cooked to his specifications. Kelsey poked her chicken. Noah was about to start eating his vegan entrée when David snatched the stem of his wineglass and called for a toast.
“To a lovely night with new friends and old,” he said, catching everyone’s gazes at least once. “Even if the four of us never meet up again, we can still say we had some fun, huh?”
Lucy could drink to that.
“You haven’t answered the question yet.” Noah caught her off guard as she sipped her wine, waiting for her steak to cool a bit more before eating. “Do you prefer to sit inside or go out for the night, Ms. Craig?”
Lucy took another sip from her glass. “I’ve never really thought about it. I’m from New York, so often don’t get much of a choice… I mean, other people tend to make that decision for you. Like my sister.” Kelsey perked up at the mention of a sibling in Lucy’s life. “She’s the type to barge into my apartment on Friday night and announce we’re going out. I might already be showered and in my PJs, but when Lacey shows up, it’s time to put on an easy dress and go get some drinks.”
She directed her chuckles to her glass and ended with a satisfied sigh. David joined her in subdued laughter, but exchanged a look with Noah. Kelsey remained fixated on her food.
