"You must be quite the performer," James remarked. "I like that."
Nicole froze. After a moment, she nodded and then glanced to Jennifer with a twitch in her eye. Jennifer only offered her a smile in response. What could she say? James was hella smooth and he knew it.
"Um," Nicole swallowed and cleared her throat, suddenly uneasy. She sat her cocktail glass down and turned to Jennifer. "It's pretty late. I gotta go."
"You're leaving?" Jennifer sat up with a start. Her friend couldn't leave. She didn't want to be left alone with James again. Or maybe she really did and was just afraid of what would happen.
"So soon?" James crooned. "You should stay a bit. We have rooms for the night so we don't have anywhere to be." For once, Jennifer agreed, but his comment made Nicole balk.
"You have rooms here? At the Kimberly?"
They both nodded.
"Their rooms run at least $400 a night, are you serious?" Nicole was incredulous. She looked to Jennifer for confirmation.
"You should have seen the way we came. On a jet charter to New Jersey and then a helicopter to 34th street," Jennifer reached for her cocktail and drank it straight.
"Don't forget the complimentary 1998 classic," James added, he winked at Jennifer. She didn't look away. She held his gaze and gulped back the last of the cocktail remaining in her mouth. James grinned. Sexy, sweet, and tempting. She needed a savior.
Jennifer took a deep breath and looked at Nicole. She had completely missed their exchange. Nicole studied her phone with thought and focus.
"Nicole, what's it gonna be?" Jennifer asked, a bit pressing. She needed Nicole to be the third wheel.
At the sound of Jennifer's voice, Nicole lifted her head and turned to Jennifer. Her eyes darted to James for a millisecond. It was a question. Jennifer nodded, and then mouthed the word please. She bit her lip when Nicole hesitated.
They had talked about her acting work and Jennifer's past, but Jennifer never asked about any love in Nicole's life. It appeared that she might have had someone after all, someone waiting for her, like Jennifer had Andrew waiting for her. The thought made her break Nicole's gaze. She wet her lips, her breathing suddenly difficult and labored. Her chest heaved. She couldn't keep her thoughts together.
One moment she was fawning over the thought of James's kiss and the next she was smiling and grinning at the thought of Andrew's caressing her body. She was not a two-timing type of woman-she didn't understand herself. She never thought it could be possible to feel this way for two different men.
"I'm sorry, Jenn," Nicole said softly. She leaned in to Jennifer and hugged her securely. "I'm kind of late to my own date. I told him you were in town so he totally gets it but," she frowned and gestured to her phone. "Don't worry though, I won't leave you hanging, okay?"
Jennifer frowned. Her eyes darted quickly to James. She couldn't tell if he were listening to her or not, but a waiter stopped by with yet another cocktail. She wondered how many that was for him. He had one with her before Nicole came and clearly had more while he had left them alone-in any case, how many had she had?
"Are you listening, Sweetie?" Nicole asked, drawing Jennifer's attention back to her. Jennifer nodded quickly, but wasn't sure what she was nodding to. Nicole sighed and frowned. "Maybe you should call it a night too," she muttered.
"Nonsense," James called from across the lounge. "She's never been to New York before."
Nicole forced a polite smile. "She just looks like she might have had a bit too much to drink."
Frowning, Jennifer scoffed. "Please, I'm fine." Nicole snapped her eyes to Jennifer's. After a moment, Jennifer coughed. "I mean, maybe I had one too many," she corrected.
James chuckled seductively and raised a brow. "Really, Jenn?"
Rolling her eyes, Nicole stood suddenly and stepped in front of Jennifer, blocking James from her sight. Jennifer leaned her head back to meet her friend's eyes and grinned sweetly.
"You know what I think you should do," her voice was barely audible, and Jennifer struggled to hear her words. "Make sure you can hear your phone and I'll call you in a bit. When I do, say goodbye and go to bed," she nodded firmly, "Do you understand? This is for your benefit," she stressed.
Jennifer nodded, and then smiled. That seemed like a great plan. She'd spend a few more minutes with James and leave when Nicole called her back. She was such a great wing woman and it was a foolproof plan.
With a wide grin, Jennifer stood and wrapped her arms around Nicole's thin frame. It was so good to see and catch up. It was a stark reminder that she needed to keep in touch more. She planned to do that. No more working late on presentations and speeches. Nope. Those days were over. Gone. Done. Finito. She'd Skype her friends, she'd learned to surf or something. Wait, there wasn't surfing in Chicago. Well, maybe she'd visit Brittany in Hollywood.
Her thoughts slowed when she found herself staring into the eyes of James. He watched her with an expression she had never seen before. Pulling back from Nicole, Jennifer struggled to look her friend in the eye.
"Call me more," Nicole said finally. "I miss your voice."
Jennifer nodded and smiled. "I promise," she threw in a captain's salute for emphasis.
"Don't make promises you don't intend to keep," Nicole retorted quickly. Jennifer took a moment before she nodded firmly.
"I intend to keep this one, Nicole."
A wide smile broke onto Nicole's face. She leaned towards Jennifer and squeezed again. As she turned, she wiggled her fingers at James.
"Take care of my friend. I'm pretty sure she's had one too many."
James stood tall and extended a hand to Nicole. She looked down at it, but didn't shake it. Instead, she pursed her lips and crossed her arms. James chuckled.
"I'll take care of her," he leaned forward, "I promise," he winked.
Nicole turned to Jennifer and pointed a finger. "Don't forget your phone," she called with a warning. Jennifer nodded. She watched Nicole turn on the balls of her feet and move towards the double doors that led inside. In the time that her eyes trailed behind Nicole, James moved from his armchair into the loveseat. He leaned forward to block Jennifer's line of sight and meet her eyes.
"Did you enjoy that?" He asked merrily. Jennifer chuckled.
"You're such a jerk," she said with a pout.
James frowned. "A jerk? What'd I do?"
"I'm only worth millions. I have like $250,000 in my bank accounts," Jennifer mocked him with a faux deep voice. James laughed again.
"Do I sound like that?"
Jennifer shoved him in his arm playfully and met his eyes with determination. "You're missing the point. She's one of my best friends and now she's just going to think you're a jerk guy with a lot of money. You could have at least helped her to like you a bit."
James scoffed. "Well, she wasn't very nice to me either. She didn't even shake my hand and I gave her a compliment," he paused. "She's beautiful though."
Jennifer shook her head with disbelief, but whatever displeasure she felt in the moment faded in the next second. Her lips curled into a smile. Her phone was still on her lap from when she had shown Nicole the picture of Andrew. She put it into her purse and sat the bag down in between her thigh and James's knee. He stared down at it.
"What is this? Why are you setting that there?" He questioned, nudging it with his hand. Jennifer beamed before she answered.
"It's a magical barrier," she teased.
"Really?" James raised a brow, and nudged it again. "Doesn't seem to be working. What's it guard?"
"Me," Jennifer grinned.
"From?"
"You."
James pursed his lips. He held Jennifer's gaze with a blank stare. After a moment, a smile crept onto his face. He placed a hand on the back of the loveseat and walked his fingers along the bound leather back until he reached her shoulders, but he didn't touch her. His eyes danced and toyed with Jennifer's stare.
Somewhere, she tried to remember if this was something she should avoid; but, when she met James's baby blues, her heart and mind melted from reason. James moved his hand towards Jennifer's face. He touched her cheek and then stroked her skin with his thumb. She didn't want him to stop, but he did. He moved his hand down and trailed to her shoulder where he gently took hold of her. A ravenous smile emerged.
"Do you really want to keep me back?"
Breath caught in Jennifer's throat. She didn't want to answer that question; James didn't wait for an answer. His fingers danced teasingly along the back of Jennifer's shoulders. She arched her back, and pushed her chest out. James simply followed the curved of her spine, dropping his fingers in between her shoulder blades. Jennifer shrugged and raised her shoulders high. The movement caused him to stop, but the tempting grin never left.