Page 16 of Lessons in Love
I pour a whiskey—neat—and say, “Come on. There’s a table over there. We can talk.” When I come out from behind the bar, I follow her to the table. Even in that damn suit her jacket is justshort enough to show off that great ass. She takes a seat and I sit across from her. “To Katie O’Dowd.” I tap my glass to the wood top once, then take a long drink of my whiskey while taking a good look at her. When I set it down, I see how bundled and uptight she seems. She offered, so I’m going to ask the questions. “What’s your last name, Virginia?” The name is starting to fit the woman in front of me, feeling more natural to say.
“Ryan. My last name is Ryan.”
Virginia Ryan.I like her name, almost as much as I like her. Sure I’m still a little mad at her, but that’s just my stubborn side keeping me from a good time. “It’s funny we have two first names as our last names.”
That keeps that smile, though unsure, hanging on her face long enough for me to memorize her features and see the beauty in her uncertainty. “That is funny. And if we ever got married, I wouldn’t have to change my initials.”
Normally the reins would be pulled way back at the mere mention of marriage, but when she says it, I find her too cute. “Yep, because stuff like that is important,” I tease. As the amusement fades, I get to what I can tell she’s anticipating, maybe dreading. “Why did you leave with that asshole?”
She sighs. Shame covers her when she looks down as if that is the last question she wanted to answer. When her gaze lifts, she takes a deep breath and then exhales. “I don’t want to lie to you.”
“Then don’t.”
“I’ve not told anyone about this, except Katie who called me out on it.” I wait, seeing how hard this is for her. I don’t want to interrupt since I’m more curious than before. “It may sound naïve . . . I may sound naïve, but I’ve had a crush on him since the day I started working at the company. He’s one of the lawyers there. And I’m completely invisible to him.”
“Because he’s an asshole.”
She laughs. “I guess I’m attracted to assholes.”I’m not an asshole.“But it is what it is.”
“Did you have sex with him?”
A gasp comes out and her eyes are wide. “What? No. Of course not. Why would you think that?”
“Isn’t it obvious?” I don’t know if my relief can be seen, but I feel it in every cell of my body. Annihilation of rule number one while reloading to take out rule two. Shit. Back up a bit. I need to slow this roll down. “You were wearing the same clothes this morning in the cab that you wore last night and you said you live in Manhattan, but you were driving in from Brooklyn.” My replay of her morning appears to entertain her, so much that her laughter echoes around us. The beautiful sound captures an audience from a few nearby tables. “What’s so funny?”
“You.” Though she’s still laughing, she moves in closer, and says, “If I didn’t know better, I would say you were jealous.”
“Me?” This time I scoff. “To get jealous you have to care and last night was just another night at The Hideaway.”
“Wow, way to make a girl feel special.”
“You were feeling special. Now that, I will never forget.”
“Well my answer is not exciting. I stayed at Katie’s. The, as you call him, asshole, was meeting friends in the area. I told him I would be in Brooklyn too and that we should get a drink. I never expected him to come. As I said, he’s stood me up before.”
“You said you were invisible to him. He wouldn’t have walked into this bar if he didn’t see how beautiful you are.”
“He looks at me like I’m one of the guys. I want him to look at me like I’m one of the girls.”
“Sex and emotions don’t always have to go hand in hand. I’ve hooked up with plenty of women and we both walked away satisfied and didn’t need to exchange numbers and talk about it afterwards.” Her eyes are set on mine, hanging on every word. “Look, Virginia. If he showed up, he has some interest, but Iknow his type. It’s not to have a conversation and romantic walks with you on the beach.”
Absorbing what I’m saying, she ponders a moment, and then asks, “You’re saying that just because he talks to me doesn’t mean he wants more than sex with me?”
“Exactly.”
“I might be okay with this.” Her eyes widen, the light at the end of the tunnel coming into full few. “What you said. I need to do sex things without worry and just have fun. Then he’ll see me as more than the numbers girl. If I keep it light and then make my move and seduce him, he won’t be able to resist.”
“That’s not really what I was say?—”
“This is perfect. Hardy, you’re amazing.” She sets her sights on me now. “I need your help since you’re so good at separating sex from emotion.” I should be upset that she sees me this way, but her train of thought intrigues me. “I have a proposition for you.”
The only problem I see is that my emotions are so entangled in her that I’m not sure if they’re hers or mine anymore. I need separation from her to get proper perspective on what she’s really saying. There might be an insult hidden in there, but Katie’s advice is not the greatest. She clearly needs my help. I finish my drink and set the glass down. “Go on.”
Fidgeting, she says, “I want you to look at something.”
“Shoot.”
She reaches into her purse and pulls out a photo, then sets it on the table and pushes it toward me. “Look at this.”
