by Imani King
“Fuck it.” I strolled out of the bathroom with my head held high, the drinks working their magic on my confidence. With all the bravado of Kelly Hernandez, I waltzed up and pulled out the empty barstool next to the salt-and-pepper mystery man. I motioned to the bartender.
“I’ll get a gin and tonic, the one with the blackberries in it. And he’ll have another one of whatever he just finished.” Blue Eyes looked over at me, cocking a half grin. His stare… that grin. It sent a shock straight through me, making me crazier than the drinks or Kelly’s energy or the prospect of a brand new job changing the world. It was that moment of connection between a man and a woman that has been talked about since the damn dawn of time. Probably part of what got Eve kicked out of the garden in the first place. That taste… that thirst… that ache for more. More knowledge, more time, more need for fulfillment. And in those deep blue eyes, he promised the answers to it all. It was if for a moment that all the sense drained from my head. I was only a being of physical feeling, my eyes sweeping over the strong, handsome lines of his face, the loosened blue tie, the carelessly open shirt.
“Of all the gin joints in all the world…” he said. I laughed. I couldn’t help it. His impression of Bogart was spot on, given his sad eyes and his empty drink.
“I don’t think we’ve met before. I thought that line was only for old lost loves and 1940s movies with tragically sad endings.” The bartender slid two drinks in front of us. Kelly waved at me and blew a kiss, walking arm and arm with a man that I recognized as one of her old flings. How had 5:30 PM on a normal afternoon turned into this before the sun had even set over the city?
“Thought I’d give it a try. I noticed you the moment you walked in, even with all these thoughts swirling around in my head?”
“Oh, and what thoughts are those?”
“Just starting a new business venture and dealing with… well, an ex-wife. Now, beautiful women in bars don’t want to hear about that kind of thing, do they?”
“Well, you’d be surprised what a girl likes to hear when a man immediately calls her ‘beautiful.’” I swirled my drink and took another sip, teetering past tipsy and into a heavenly relaxation next to a handsome man I barely knew. He looked at me again with those midnight blue eyes, and I looked at him wholly, truly taking him in.
“It’s just true. As soon as I saw you, it took my mind off of everything in this blasted town.”
“Blasted? You really do sound like you’re straight out of a 1940s movie.” I looked over to Kelly again and saw that she had walked off to a corner with her guy. I knew she always partied hard the night before a big gig, and then she dove into the serious work. She had always made fun of me for not having a good time, for not letting off any steam when we were starting out at the grassroots level. We’d worked together during our graduate internships, two opposite peas in a pod. But now, I guess I was taking a cue from her. Kelly usually had a big fling before she took on a new client or worked on a new campaign. Maybe I could do the same thing. The broad, handsome man sitting before me leaned back and laughed, his voice throaty and rich. He must have been at least six foot three, maybe taller. Even a curvy girl like me could feel small in the presence of a man like this.
“I’m just that classy, baby. Really, I am. What’s a beautiful woman like you doing in a place like this?” He looked around, the gossip still drifting around us even as the sun began to set. “Picking up gossip about the big campaign? Think Hillary is in it to win it?”
“Oh I do. But I’m more interested in the senate race at the moment. I hear there’s an Independent candidate from Virginia popping in at the last second to defeat Janice Howell.” He laughed and took a long sip of his drink.
“Oh yeah? I heard something about that too.” The man’s eyes were sad and far away again, as if thinking back to a time long passed. “Well, he’s a nutter if I ever heard of one. That woman is impossible to defeat, and she’s not going to let him win, even if she brings the whole ship down along with her.”
“That’s not what I hear.” I took another sip of my drink, wondering exactly what this man knew about the candidate I’d be working for. Or what his beef with Janice Howell might be. Perhaps he was just another unhappy Democrat who lived on the Virginia side of the DMV. Janice had been doing plenty to screw up his state ever since she’d cut her teeth in the state Senate years ago. “I hear he’s got an unlimited well of funds, and he’s going to knock her socks off with his... bravado and charm.” I smiled. I hoped I was right. That was the kind of candidate I wanted to work for anyway. Maybe when I actually met him, he might rise to the occasion. But for right now, Blue Eyes was rocking my world just with one glance. And I could enjoy the moment. Admiration was good for a girl’s ego, and I needed my ego if I was going to make this campaign work.
“Bravado and charm, huh? Well, he’ll need plenty of that if he’s going to tango with Janice.” He sipped his drink again, looking over at me again. A jolt of excitement ran straight through to my core. He had called me beautiful, and he kept looking at me in that way, the way a man does when he wants you more than anything else he’s ever seen. Kelly was falling in and out of love all the time, but I never had much time for anything like that. The dating, the drama, all the crap... I could take it or leave it. And most of the time I left it. In my life, men hadn’t been worth the hassle. “What might be a more interesting topic of conversation? Maybe, tell me what you do. Or something that you love.”
“Well, until today, I worked at the Washington Foundation for Internships. Forming tomorrow’s leaders and all that.”
“I know them. They do good work. And I bet they love you.”
“Oh yeah? How do you figure?”
“Well, I already like you, and you just sat down next to me. I can tell. You’re smart. Probably work too hard for too little money. And you probably have too much education to even consider doing the job you do. Am I close?” I looked into my drink. Dead on.
“What are you, a psychologist or something?”
“I’m good at reading people. Now, what’s your name? I guess we should have done that first, but here we are.”
“Here we are,” I echoed. I paused for a moment. “Desiree. I’m Desiree.”
“John.” He held out a hand and gripped mine, sending a pulse through my body. My skin turned to gooseflesh, like a lightning storm was on its way through. That electricity... it was something I hadn’t felt in years, maybe ever. Now, if some of my dates from Match had that kind of thing going for them, I might not have taken my romantic life so lightly.
“Just John?”
“Yeah, for tonight. Just John. For a beautiful lady that I’m sure I’ll never see again.”
“Well now, how do you know that?”
“Just a hunch,” he said. “I’m heading back to my hometown to get my new business venture started after this week, and I probably won’t be around to take you out on a date like I ought to. Or, well, if you have a boyfriend...” I laughed, a hot flush rising to my cheeks. This dude was laying it on thick.
“No boyfriend. But what makes you think I’d go on a date with you?”
“Something about the way you’re looking at me, even something about the way you kept glancing at me when you first walked in. Yes, I saw.” The chatter inside Rye had moved into a roar.
I hear that Reynolds has his campaign team already assembled, and they’re...
Janice Howell is furious because...
John rolled his eyes, smiling that crooked smile at me again. I nearly melted in the spot where I was sitting.
It’s only this once, I thought. It’s only tonight, and tomorrow my whole career begins anew. He’s right. We’ll never see each other again, and maybe a little flirtation is just what I need. Or... even something more.
“Say, it’s getting a little bit crowded in here, Desiree. I’m staying up at the Four Seasons. We can go to the bar there, and I’ll buy you a drink. Or an expensive appetizer. Nothing untoward. I promise. I just w
ant to spend time with a lovely, interesting woman the night before my whole life changes.” My breath hitched in my throat. Had he really just asked me to go back to his hotel with him?
“Oh, I don’t think I can. I mean, you’re great. And very handsome. Very.” I picked up my drink, trying my best to look sexy, but some of it jumped out of the glass and spilled onto my hand. “Oh shit. I just don’t do this kind of thing very well.”
“There’s no ‘this kind of thing’ at all. Just a man asking a beautiful woman to chat with him for the evening. And then I can walk you home, or help you grab a taxi. No expectations.” He held his hands up as a gesture of honesty. Again, he caught my eye, and I found myself wishing for certain expectations. I had a brief flash of his body, what it might look like. Older than my 28 years on this earth, but cut as hell I would bet. And that broad, firm body. I gasped. I hadn’t thought about any man like this in years. What would it hurt to go along with him for just a moment? A few minutes in time...
“Yeah okay.”
“Is that a ‘Yeah, okay, buddy, nice try?’ or an ‘Okay, let’s ditch this joint and head back to a quieter, classier place?’”
“The latter, I guess. I mean, we can’t go wrong with just one drink, can we?” He shook his head.
“Of course not. We’re well-behaved adults. Very attractive, very well-behaved adults.” I slid off of the bar stool, and John followed, taking my arm in his and leading me out of the bar. Kelly’s back was turned to us as we walked to the door. John walked ahead of me, already out through the doors as I waved to get Kelly’s attention. She rushed over to me and pulled me into a hug.
“Are you leaving... with a guy? How very chic of you! Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do my darling.” I laughed.
“That doesn’t leave much out, Kelly. Text me the address of headquarters, and I’ll be there with you tomorrow morning. I promise I won’t be out too late tonight.”
“I know you won’t be, my responsible darling. But if this guy is cute, you should bag him. The campaign trail isn’t fantastic for romantic relationships, you know. Doomed for failure and all that. I encourage one-night stands with handsome strangers as a sweet little remedy before each campaign begins.”
“Sure, Kell. I’ll take your words of wisdom into consideration.” She drew me into another hug and kissed me on the cheek. I walked out of Rye and back onto the arm of the handsomest man I’d seen in years. I leaned into him, taking in his rich, clean scent of expensive cologne. Again, that jolt rang to my core.
“Let’s walk. There’s a hint of autumn in the air, and autumn always makes me feel like new beginnings,” John said, putting his arm around my waist. I sighed, leaning against a gorgeous man on the very first night of my new career.
“Then let’s walk. We’ll be two strangers, having a drink in a bar. And we’ll never see each other again.”
“Exactly,” he said, leading me down the street to the Four Seasons. If I’d paused to think for a moment, I might have realized that this was all a terrible idea.
But I had no idea what I was getting myself into. And let’s be honest—neither did he.
CHAPTER TWO
When we walked into the bar at the Four Seasons, it was blissfully empty, unlike the political bustle of Rye. We sat down, and the bartender came up to us, placing two glasses of sparkling water in front of us.
“Classy. Just like you.”
“We’ll have two GNTs. That’s what you were drinking, right? Doesn’t much suit my taste, but I guess it works for the late summer in the city. Doesn’t it?”
“Yeah, and another one will have me falling all over you,” I blurted. “Oh, I’m sorry, did I say that out loud? I don’t normally drink and flirt. It leads to dangerous situations since I have no idea what I’m doing. I laughed, and John smiled. It was nice to see the sadness leaving his eyes, if only for a moment. And even nicer to feel that I was the reason for his momentary happiness.
“That’s the plan. Bartender, hurry up with those drinks.” The bartender looked at us, clearly not as amused as we were. But he cracked several pieces of ice and poured Tanqueray into each glass, swirling each drink with tonic and lime. Under the bar, John reached out and pulled my hand into his, tentatively at first, but then more firmly. He traced circles into my palm with his long, strong fingers, sending vibrations of desire through each cell in my body. I moaned gently. Even just this touch from him had my head swimming with need, an aching, primal longing that I’d long ignored. If it were any other man, well, I wouldn’t be here. And if it were any other day, I wouldn’t have even met him. But this was George Clooney with midnight blue eyes, and a look that told me he knew exactly what he was doing bringing me here. The bartender placed the GNTs in front of us, and I sipped mine again, my bravery and recklessness increasing with each sip. I kept my hand under the bar as John’s skilled fingers moved in my hand.
“No expectations, huh?” I turned to him, watching as his bright blue eyes wandered over my body.
“None at all. Hopes, not expectations. A woman like you is probably far too intelligent to fall for this old bachelor’s tricks. So, no tricks. I’d like to sit next to you in this bar and finish this drink. And then I’d like to take you upstairs.” His voice dropped to a hushed whisper at the last sentence.
“And do what, exactly?”
“Well, I think we’d find out when we get there. But first, I’d like to see more of your beautiful, flawless skin. See if there’s anything I need to check out. I have a theory that it’s probably all perfectly flawless. But I should check to make sure.”
“How would you check?” I gulped, and he gripped my hand tighter.
“First with my hands, and then with my lips. And after that,” he whispered, “I’d check to see if you taste as delicious as you look. But two proper adults... well we wouldn’t do anything like that.”
“We wouldn’t, of course,” I said, sipping my drink again. “Would you believe me if I said I never do anything like this?”
“Yes. That’s precisely why I want you. Because I can see how much you want me. And just looking at you, well, I can tell that’s a pretty special thing. For you to want someone.”
“I see how it is. You’re using your best lines on me, aren’t you?”
“Well of course.” He sipped his gin and tonic, holding my hand tight in his. “Is it working?” I laughed.
“For once in my life, I think so.”
“I don’t either, though you might have a harder time believing me.”
“Why would I have a hard time believing that?”
“I’m an older bachelor, you know, and I did just pick you up in a bar. Not so classy of me. But for a girl like you, well, I thought I’d risk it.” I sipped at my drink, wondering if I’d actually go through with this when I was finished. Yes, yes I probably would. Today was full of all the things I never did, never had done before. And if that was the case, then why shouldn’t I join this handsome stranger?
“You’re not some kind of psycho, right? I’m feeling a very normal vibe. Tell me I’m not wrong.”
“You’re not wrong.” He traced his fingers over my palm again, sending a jolt of desire to my sex.
To want, and to be wanted on a night before everything begins. Well, hell, it couldn’t be beat. I finished the last of my drink and nodded to John. As the bartender looked away, John leaned into me, pressing his lips briefly to mine. He tasted of mint and lime, and all the promises of late summer and campaign season. He pulled me off of my chair and into his arms, twirling me around and leading me to the elevators.
“Room 405. Put it on my tab,” he shouted at the bartender. The man looked at us in confusion and then rolled his eyes again, turning away to keep cleaning the glasses he was working on. John ran towards the elevators, pressing the up button and pulling me inside of the doors when they opened. Pushing me against the wall, he crushed his lips to mine, strong, firm, and searching. I moaned and arched my back, meeting his desire with my own. He g
rabbed me by the waist and kissed me hard, fueling the flames that already burned in my body as we rose the few floors to his room. The flush over my body grew, my nipples growing hard and a slickness starting in my sex. We tumbled out of the elevator doors, running down the hall like two naughty children and falling into his room as he tapped his key card against the door.
“You’re sure you want to do this?” he asked as the door rang shut behind us. “You’re sure—”
“Mmm,” I sighed, interrupting his question with a kiss and pulling his hands back to my body. I shrugged my way out of the summer suit jacket, letting it fall in a soft heap on the floor. Immediately, John’s hands moved to my shirt, his fingers deftly unhooking the buttons. He struggled with the very last one, and growling, he tugged at my shirt. The button popped off and skittered across the floor, and I laughed.
“No one sees that last button. Doesn’t matter anyway.”
