Twice Smitten (A Modern Fairy Tale) (8 page)

Leslie’s dimples winked. “I think I like you already.”

“Bribery,” Abigail threw at him, but her eyes gleamed from the challenge.

“She’ll be putting the product in the customers’ hands.” He crossed his arms. “But first we’ll go over what we have now. Paint me a clear picture. This will be a normal meeting, except afterward I’ll get in contact with my team to set up further sessions.” He nodded to Abigail. “Pick.”

She picked all the members of her core team without any hesitation. This time he said, “So sure of yourself?”

“It’s a team I already put together. I know they can do what the clients need. They have before and will again. No offense to the others.”

Drew checked the reaction of the other members, the ones she loaned from time to time. There wasn’t a flinch and not because they didn’t respect Abigail. He’d seen them with her. If he didn’t already have a thing for her, he would have now.

“You hear that?” Drew said to the room. “Can’t buy respect from your boss. All right. Michael and Nancy, tell me what you’ve got so far.” He leaned against the table and listened for the next hour. By the end of it, he was impressed by what they already had. It was damn close to what the client envisioned, but he saw the hole. He made sure to get his teams’ contact information before they filed out of the room.

Abigail stayed seated, tilted her head and frowned at him.

He moved to her, sure to keep a comfortable distance. “What are you thinking?”

“You’re smooth. You didn’t come across as aggressive. You didn’t state your way will be the only good way. Though, you’re cocky.”

“Some jobs you can’t come across as meek, but there’s also no need for me to beat my chest. The point is to get both teams thinking about a different way of doing things. When you become familiar with people, you get stuck in a cow path.”

Looking amused, she said, “And it helps when you pave the way with charm and money as a prize.”

“It’s effective, and it costs me nothing.” He shrugged. “The grand each is part of my fee. I get paid an outrageous fee and parting with some of it…” He shrugged again.

Abigail shook her head and chuckled. “Like I said, smooth.” She hesitated, “I’m impressed.”

“But not convinced I’m going to win?”

“I have to beat you, or I’ll lose my team.” She sighed. “Sit, because I hate that you’re looming.”

Drew pulled out the chair in front of Abigail. This setting felt better. There wasn’t a desk or antagonism to keep a wall between them.

“This is me calling a truce,” Abigail said.

He spread out his hands. “There’s no reason for one.”

“So you’d rather we keep butting heads? We want the same thing. For this consulting job of yours to work,” Abigail added. “My team looks good. I look good for working with you amicably. I keep my team. You get paid and ride off into the sunset.”

“True.” He kept his gaze locked with hers.

“But,” she said, “I feel one coming. You want more.”

He shrugged. “Friendship would be nice.”

“Friendship?” She looked and sounded skeptical.

“Yes, have nice things to say to each other.” He tapped his fingers on the chair’s arm. “Have inside jokes.”

“And I’m sure, go out too?”

He measured his words. The opportunity he wanted was knocking and he refused to screw it up. “I think if we ever met up somewhere, we’d have a good time.”

“Friendship…and that’s it?”

Her tone made him grin. “And I won’t even ask you to sign in blood or give me your first born.”

“Friends.” Again, she tilted her head and gazed at Drew as if seeing him for the first time. “How many other women do you have friendships with?”

He kept the laugh in check. “Let me break out my phone and I’ll check all the female contacts. This may take awhile.”

“Exactly what I thought.” She crossed her arms.

Drew leaned to the side and pulled his phone out of the slack’s pocket. He placed it on the table between them to let her see for herself. Taking up the challenge, she began to scroll through and, likely, not just his contacts. He waited patiently knowing what Abigail would find and knowing that she’d still have suspicion.

“One. Keri. I know the other name, Marilyn, is your oldest cousin. Also, you don’t delete text messages. Or media mail. Don’t you hate the ones ’if you love me you’ll send it back?’”

Her answer surprised him, and it fed the attraction to her. Abigail didn’t always say and do exactly as he expected. She was confident and passionate. She was a lot of things and what he didn’t know, he wanted to uncover. The only way to get her to put down her guard was to offer friendship.

“You say I don’t know you,” he said. “Let me get to know you and you can do the same. I think we could get along pretty well.”

“Just friends?” She paused and then added, “No funny business?”

He glanced at her, attempting to appear full of innocence. “Are you asking me if I will keep your virtue intact?”

She narrowed her gaze. “I’m saying if, a big one, we do go out as friends, you won’t try to …” She rolled her hands in the air, likely, to indicate funny business.

The smile was slow coming, but it spread across his face. “I must write this down. Abigail Johnson is at a loss for words.”

“Not a loss,” she said slowly. “Confused about where this came from. I can get why you flirt. You’re good at it and you do it shamelessly. This is a different speed.”

“Flirting is a form of flattery. It’s harmless if done right. I flirted with you and your friends at the wedding and the reception.” He shrugged, unapologetic. “But, I take who I befriend seriously. You won’t lie to me about the important stuff and maybe if we knew each other better, you wouldn’t feel the need to lie about the little things either.”

She shifted in the chair. “Calling me a liar isn’t the way to go.”

Drew edged closer when he said, “Look me in the eye and tell me you don’t hold me, just a little bit, accountable for the break between you and Greg.”

“I don’t,” she said, but didn’t look at him. “Anyway, I’ll think about your offer.”

“Lunch?” He counter-offered to keep Abigail on her toes.

She laughed. “I said time to think. That was seconds.”

“Time is relative. Shouldn’t be hard to decide whether or not you want to go to lunch with me. If after that you don’t want friendship, fine. We’ll work together and that’s it.”

A long moment passed as she bit her lip and looked at him with a narrowed gaze, but she finally agreed. It took everything in him to fight back the grin.

Chapter Seven

They stepped out the office building to a cool, early autumn breeze. The air felt good against her bare arms. The sleeveless, green-silk blouse crossed the line for work, but while in the office the jacket covered it. Now, lunch—and so not a first date—with Drew foregoing the buttoned-up appearance seemed appropriate.

The noon hour had changed the pace of comers and goers, and people in their business wear hurried in and out of the offices lined up on both sides of the street.

“Where to?” Drew had also left his jacket in her office. He stood with his hands in his pockets, taking in the street in an unhurried manner.

“There’s this Mexican place. We can grab something quick.” She turned in the direction of the restaurant and waited for the argument.

“Ok.”

She gave him a sidelong glance, but he was still enamored with the scenery. “So, what do male-female friends talk about?”

“My other female friend, and even my cousin, confide in me about their relationships. What’s going in their life in general. You know, hash over our feelings unlike my male counterparts,” he said in a dry tone.

“No need to be sarcastic. I don’t have any so I don’t know the protocol.”

“Not one male friend?” He shortened his stride to match hers.

She frowned at the action, but answered his question. “Not a one. There’s Sasha and Emma. Trust me, they’re a handful in the friends’ department.”

“After ten years, they should be like family now, and family is not the same as friends.”

“Probably not, but I never really understood how you and Greg became buddies.”

“Forced at first, because we were the same age. You know how parents are. Get along or else. Then the mischief started. Nothing like getting into trouble together to secure bonds of friendship.”

Abigail thought of her friends and had to laugh. “Very true. I’m sure Greg told you about the break up dares my friends and I do for one another.”

“He did mention them.”

The tone was off, but she went ahead anyway, turning on the next block. He didn’t miss a step. “If we’re with a guy for six months—don’t ask, long story—and there’s a break up, straws are pulled, and the challenge is a dare. Emma was the one who started it, and as karma would have it, she’s the one who usually ends up with the short stick.”

He slid his gaze to hers. “What’s going to happen when all of you get married off?”

The question gave her pause. She’d never thought that far into the future. “Emma’s engaged now. She’s different, but I think real love changes you. There’s a security in it that deepens who you are and what you believe, but I don’t think it changes the core of who you are. So, I don’t think our friendship will end.”

He bobbed his head in agreement. “You do want to get married?”

“The thought of one man forever scares the beejesus out of me.” She stopped in front of a small building. “Here we are.”

It looked like an every-day restaurant with cloth-covered tables, but inside was already packed with people. Most of the warm bodies lined up at a take-out window.

He opened the door for her and didn’t go in until she did. “Don’t look so shocked. I have manners.”

“It’s a ploy,” she said with a smile.

“Let me guess: Crafty is my middle name?”

“No. Charm.” She grabbed a menu from an empty table and handed it to him. “So, do you want to get married?”

He scanned the menu. “Yes.”

She jerked away from the line to look at him. No coy smile with the announcement. He wasn’t joking. “Wow. I’m trying to imagine you all…married.”

“Facets,” he said, and put the menu back down at the empty table, right when a couple sat down.

She tried to imagine the type of woman who would steal his heart. Abigail simply couldn’t. “Who? What kind of woman?”

Hands back in pockets, he shrugged. “I don’t know. Someone who can surprise me. In and out of bed. Someone who makes me laugh, and I do the same for her. Sexy, considerate and honest. Challenges me.”

“Sexy?”

“That would be the word you latch on to.” He scratched at the scruff along his jawline. “I would ask what you think I believe sexy is, but I know the answer.”

She couldn’t argue, but Abigail did anyway. “We’re being friends. I was going to be nice. What do you think sexy is?”

“Depends.” His gaze clashed with hers. “A woman’s wrist. It can be delicate or sturdy, but I could be attracted to the way a bracelet or watch dangles. Or, I could imagine kissing her skin, right at the wrist, and feeling her pulse spike. Or, that she can break down an incredibly difficult math equation. The curve of her lips when she smiles. It’s whatever makes me feel like I’ve been punched in the gut with want.”

He stepped forward with the line and Abigail had to force herself to move. She cleared her throat. “I see.”

“Facets, Abby.” He held her gaze.

For one wild moment she wanted to discover all of them. How delightful and satisfying to uncover another one. Her heartbeat thumped and it was thrilling to imagine the prospect. Insane to fantasize about it, because this was probably his long game. Get her intrigued until she opened up. And what would he find? Abigail’s palms dampened at the thought. Suddenly, what he discovered mattered.

She gave herself a mental shake and broke eye contact with him. “I can admit you may have some parts of your personality that are surprising and unexpected.”

“But?” he said.

“Nothing. We’re trying to be friends remember?”

Someone bumped into her and the action tossed Abigail into Drew’s space. His hands caressed the bare skin of her arm when he caught her. Another thrill zapped down her spine at the soft touch as he steadied her. The brief moment stretched when he smiled down at her. The same smile at the wedding, full of secrets and promises. Despite her better intentions, Abigail wanted to know them.

His hands traveled down her arms and stopped at the tops of her palms. A bracelet filled with charms dangled from her left wrist. Since her friends often picked up one on a whim, it bordered on gaudy and she didn’t wear it often. On her right wrist she wore a simple gold watch. A gift from her father when Adtivity first hired her. The only gift from him she cherished. Had Drew been talking about her wrists being sexy? Abigail pulled herself free.

He cleared his throat. “Do you ever want to get married?” he asked again and again stuffed his hands in his pockets.

Abigail frowned at the gesture, because it wasn’t a long game type of move. Drew caught her, literally and figuratively, at a weak moment, and he hadn’t tried to use it to his advantage. She swallowed.

To be honest, she hadn’t minded his hands on her. If he had decided to pull her closer, bend his head and kiss her, Abigail wouldn’t have been piqued. She might have allowed herself to fall into the kiss, because even if his reputation held a fourth of truth, Abigail would have been in for a treat.

The simple gesture spoke of trying to respect her boundaries and the agreement to be friends. She searched her brain for another possible reason and found none. His reaction baffled her, and intrigued her. It made her want him.

Abigail narrowed her gaze. “I don’t think marriage’s in my cards. First, I’d have to find a man who could put up with me.”

“I don’t know.” He stepped forward with the line. “I think marriage is more about finding a person you can put up with until the day you die.”

“So romantic,” she said more to put them back on an even keel than anything else. “Be still my heart.”

“You said it,” he argued. “Plus, my idea of ’put up with’ would be someone who you’d rather wake up to than not. I have a very, very short list of people in my life I’d rather have in it than to live without them.” He scowled. “If I could have said that a little more confusing, I don’t know how.”