Warren nodded his head in agreement. "Okay, you make some excellent good points. But can we continue this over lunch? You can't maintain a physique like this one unless you feed it regularly," he remarked, giving his barrel chest a rub. "I can shoot holes in your argument quite nicely over a big Greek salad and a gyro."
Donnie agreed that lunch was in order. While he was getting his topcoat out of the closet, Warren stood up and stretched. "I gotta ask you, though, how do you manage to get all these fine women in one place? Every time I come in this building I see one beautiful face after another. One of them ran smack into me when I was walking across the lobby, now she was a knockout!"
Donnie put on his coat and picked up his leather gloves in anticipation of the harsh cold. "Nothing changes with you, Warren. You were on your way to this serious interview about neurolinguistics and the latest advances in the field, and you're trying to pick up women in the lobby."
"Not true, Cochran. I was so busy thinking about the interview that I didn't try to pick her up, but I wish I'd gotten her name or number or something. She was gorgeous, friendly, smelled like a million bucks and had dimples you could swim in. Just beautiful." He sighed.
"Warren, I think you need to start getting out more, you're sounding desperate, man. She couldn't have looked all that good."
"You're just jaded, my friend. You're so caught up in finding Superwoman that you don't know how to appreciate God's bounty when you witness it. Beauty like that is a gift in itself, Cochran."
The two men continued to banter as they descended in the brass-fixtured elevator to the marble-floored lobby. The doors opened and Warren's eyes lit up.
"Cochran, get ready to eat your words. There's the beauty right there. And this time, I'm getting a name," he said gleefully.
Donnie's head dropped and he stifled a groan. "Don't bother to get it; I can give it to you. Her name is Angelique and she's more trouble than you want to deal with, now or ever."
Chapter Six
Warren ignored Donnie's words and approached Angelique, who was exchanging a few words with Fanchon, the attractive, friendly concierge. "We meet again," he said with a smile.
Angelique turned to face him and her charming smile again allowed him a glimpse of her dimples. "So it would seem," she replied. "Have you rescued any more maidens who weren't watching where they were going?"
"Not in the last hour or so. I must be overdue." He laughed. "By the way, I'm Warren Alexander."
Angelique extended her right hand to shake his. "I'm Angelique Deveraux. It's very nice to meet you, Warren."
By now, Donnie had joined the twosome and was looking less than thrilled. Warren turned to Donnie and said, "I understand you know this man, so he can vouch for me. I'm God-fearing, clean, wholesome and healthy and I would consider it a true pleasure if you would accompany us to lunch." He bowed slightly.
Angelique hadn't retrieved her hand; it was still enveloped in his warm, strong grasp. She smiled again because there was something truly sweet about this big guy. "As nice as that invitation was, I'm going to have to say no," she said softly. "I was just out for lunch and I have to get back to my studio. I have some appointments this afternoon."
Warren sighed deeply. "I can't leave here without knowing I'm going to see you again. I just can't do it. Do you like art?"
Angelique's interest showed on her face at once. "Why, yes I do. Very much, in fact."
"Would you consider going to a gallery with me? There's going to be a showing at a small gallery and I think you might enjoy it," he said persuasively.
"I'd love to go, thank you for asking me," she said, giving him another glimpse of those amazing dimples. "If you give me my hand back, I'll give you a number where you can reach me."
Instead of looking embarrassed, Warren smiled. "I was hoping you wouldn't notice that I hadn't let you go. But since you did … " He lowered his head and kissed the fingers he was still holding.
Angelique giggled like a schoolgirl and promptly went into her purse to extract a card case. Taking one out, she handed him her business card and told him he could reach her on her cell number. "It was a pleasure meeting you, Warren. I'm looking forward to hearing from you. And I'm looking forward to the showing."
With a last brilliant smile, she turned, leaving Warren and Donnie staring after her slender figure as she walked away. Warren gave a low whistle as he watched her sexy walk. "Cochran, now that's what I call a woman. You see how things just work themselves out? I was in the right place at the right time and I may have just met my dream girl," he said gleefully.
"Oh, no, you haven't, Warren. What you just met was your worst nightmare."
***
The two men faced each other across the table while waiting for their lunch orders. They had opted to eat in a small diner near the office known for good food, large portions and swift service. Warren looked amused, while Donnie's face had a look of intensity that to Warren seemed all out of proportion with the situation. His words to his friend reflected this. "Well, now, Cochran, I met a nice young woman and asked her to go to an art gallery with me. You're acting like I'm selling arms to Al-Qaeda or something. What's the problem?"
Donnie took out his frustration on the ice in his glass of water, crunching it noisily and violently before answering. He was also buying time, because he wasn't sure why he'd reacted so strongly to the scene in the lobby. Warren standing there, dripping his legendary charm all over the place, and Angelique acting like a debutante at a social had irritated him mightily and unexpectedly. He shook his head before speaking.
"Warren, if you knew Evilene like I knew her, you wouldn't be asking me that question. You know how she is; you've heard me talk about her before. She's Bennie's sister-in-law, the little piece of work I've been telling you about. The woman is evil, I'm telling you. She's nothing but trouble."
Warren raised his brows at the passion in Donnie's voice. "So that's the woman you call Evilene? You never told me she was that fine, Cochran!"
Donnie ignored the heat that gathered in his face. "Yeah, well, if you think she's fine, good for you. But it's like I've been telling you, Warren, she's mean as a black snake. She's hot-tempered, she's spoiled rotten, she's … Man, if you were to look up the phrase ‘high-maintenance' in a dictionary, there'd be a picture of her sharpening her claws."
Warren laughed out loud at that one. "Aww, come on, Cochran! So you two don't get along, that doesn't put her on America's Most Wanted list, does it? There're lots of people I don't get along with, and some of them are female. Take my cousin Charice, for example. We can't be in the same room for ten minutes without getting into it about something and we're both adults, both physicians, both had home training and we can't stand the sight of each other. So Angelique's high-spirited and a little spoiled. If I was that good-looking, I'd probably be spoiled, too."
Warren stopped talking because the waitress had arrived with their food. He said a quick grace, and then took a mouthful of the piping-hot gyro that had been placed before him. After chewing it thoroughly with a look of total enjoyment, he resumed his interrogation of Donnie.
"I've never known you to get this bent out of shape about anybody, Cochran, especially not a woman. Why do you let her get to you like this?"
Donnie stared morosely at the Reuben sandwich that lay before him. For some reason he seemed to have lost his appetite, even though the food looked delicious. "Because she's not only a spoiled little princess, she's a player," he said finally. "She's dating this other guy but that didn't stop her from making a date with you, now, did it?" He picked up half his sandwich and took a huge bite. "And it didn't stop her from kissing me on New Year's Eve, either."
Warren finished the bite he was consuming before picking up his glass of iced tea. He looked long and hard at his old friend before pointing out that this disclosure put a new spin on the situation. "Well, now, seems to me like there's a little more interest on your part than you're letting on, my brother. Do I detect a little bit of jealousy in there somewhere? Could it be that you're more involved with Miss Angelique than you're willing to admit?"
Donnie sputtered and almost choked on his Boston Cooler. "Man, what are you trying to do, kill me? Jealous? Of Evilene? Me? Not now, not ever will I be jealous of anything she does and anyone she does it with. It's not like that, Warren, not at all. I just know her for the deceitful little wench she is and I'm telling you as a friend to stay away from her."