A Week in New York(2)

“So, Daniel has this friend,” Leah said.

“Not interested.”

“He’s a really nice guy.”

I shook my head.

“But you always told me the way to get over a man is to get under another.”

“I would never say something like that.”

“You did and you know it.”

I grinned. I so would. “I’m not dating.”

“What? Ever?”

“Look, I just found out that my last boyfriend was mixed up in a whole lot of crazy. I’m not on the market. I need to give myself a timeout. I have shockingly bad taste in men.”

“You totally do not.”

“What about the guy that picked up the waitress while I popped to the loo.”

“Well, he was a douche. But you still need a bit of fun in your life.”

“She’s right,” a voice said from behind me. I turned to find the familiar stranger looking down at me

Leah popped off her stool, grinning. “I have to go to the restroom.”

“Restroom? Not loo?” I teased, and rolled my eyes. She was about as subtle as a brick.

The stranger lowered himself into Leah’s seat. I could feel him looking at me while I stared into my drink.

“I have rules,” I blurted.

He didn’t respond so I looked up to see if he was paying attention. He was looking straight at me with bright blue eyes. I stared back at my drink, unnerved. Ok, objectively he was handsome, the tall and dark variety, but no doubt a total shit because he was here talking to me and I was a shit magnet.

“Rules about fun?”

I nodded. “Rules if you want to get laid tonight.”

“I’m listening,” he said, without missing a beat.

Did I have rules? Well, now I had to think of some. “I don’t want to know your real name. Make something up.”

He shook his head. “No. No, that’s not going to work for me. You’re not going to be screaming another man’s name tonight. My name is Ethan.”

Our eyes locked and my breath caught in my throat.

“Look, I’m sick of being lied to. If I don’t expect anything from you I can’t possibly be disappointed.”

“I promise you won’t be disappointed.”

I took a beat and said, “I don’t want to know anything about you. And I won’t tell you my real name.”

“You British girls seem to have a certain charm about you.”

“If you don’t like it, feel free to leave me alone.” I really wasn’t in the mood to mess about.

“I’m not going anywhere. I’d like to see how this plays out.” He grinned at me and I felt the corners of my mouth twitch. I wanted to hate him. “So you know I’m Ethan. And I work in construction?” He asked instead of told me.

It was very clear from his Cayman Islands tan and the Rolex on his left wrist that he didn’t work in construction, but he’d lied at my request, so I had no room to complain. I felt a shiver down my spine. This might be fun.

“I’m Florence.”

He shook his head. “No. You’re not Florence.”

“I know, but I’m not going to tell you my real name. I told you, there are rules.”

“That’s fine, but your made-up name isn’t going to be Florence. It’s about as sexy as an old shoe and you’re a sexy girl. You need a sexy name.”

I raised my eyebrows at him. “Ok,” I said cautiously. “Kate?”

He shook he head again.

“Whatever. Choose something.”

I could see him thinking. I was interested to see what he’d come up with. How did he see me? “Anna,” he said finally.

What?? Did he know me? No. We lived 3,000 miles from each other. Did I look like an Anna? It must be just some kind of weird coincidence. What did it matter if he used my real name, anyway? I’d never see him again after tonight.

Leah came back from the restroom at that moment, interrupting any debate I might have with Ethan over his invented name for me.

Ethan reached out to shake Leah’s hand. “I’m Ethan. We were just leaving, but we’ll see you home.”

I giggled. He was pretty sure of himself, that was for certain. “I did not—”

“My boyfriend’s driver is outside. I can see myself home.” She grinned like an idiot.

“Ok, then we’ll walk you out,” Ethan said, as if we were a couple or something.

Daniel’s driver was chatting to a man who turned out to be Ethan’s driver when we got outside. I said goodbye to Leah, promising to call her in an hour to let her know where I was and that I was ok. Ethan opened the door to his car and gestured for me to get inside.

“Do you know Daniel?” I asked.