Love the One You're With(17)
“What’s with the Catwoman outfit?” he asked, turning back to the stunning brunette.
“I thought we just established I have a date.”
“With who, Batman?”
She ignored him as she ordered something called a sidecar. She was apparently in no hurry to leave, and Jake felt the first prickle of nervousness. She might not care about being seen with him, but he really didn’t need Ms. Stiletto seeing him with another woman. Not exactly the first impression he was going for.
“Is this your usual after work haunt?” she asked, turning toward him slightly.
Jake shrugged. “Not sure I have any usual places. I tend to let my date or the people I’m interviewing do the picking.”
“Interviewing?”
“I’m a journalist. Which you would know, if you hadn’t been so determined to have the last word upon exiting the cab that day.”
She took a small sip of her drink. “Explain.”
He gave her a slow smile. “Well, see, had you turned around, you would have seen me climbing out of the cab behind you. I work at Ravenna headquarters too.”
Her eyes narrowed. “I want my twenty bucks back.”
Jake gave a small laugh. “How about I use it to buy your drink?” Shit. Where had that come from?
“This is the Lambs Club. I’m not sure twenty bucks will cover the drink, but have at it.”
Jake looked at her curiously. “On second thought, maybe you should let your date pay. Guys like that sort of thing. Particularly when the woman’s wearing a dress that’s too tight to allow for underwear.”
“I believe it’s too soon to give out details on panty status,” she said, running a finger along the stem of her glass. “You work at Oxford, yes?”
“I do,” he said, unsurprised by her assessment. “And you work at Swank.”
She lifted one eyebrow. “Do I?”
Jake’s hand faltered as he lifted his drink to his lips. Didn’t she?
“There are about twenty magazines under the Ravenna brand,” she said. “What made you assume I was with the snotty interior design one?”
“Uh …”
“Care to make another guess?” she said, glancing at him over the rim of her cocktail. “Maybe another female-targeted magazine that I could possibly work for?”
Oh shit.
Jake gave a last panicked glance around the bar. No newly arrived female. Just her.
“You’re a Stiletto woman.” The woman.
“Grace Brighton,” she said, rotating her bar stool to face him completely as she extended her hand. “A pleasure.”
“Such a pleasure,” he grumbled, atypically foolish and off balance. Why had it not occurred to him what was going on when she’d walked into the bar?
He wasn’t usually so dense.
Nor was he often so intrigued.
She gave him a saucy little wink. “Well, this should make a nice start for our article.”
It took his brain a second to catch up. Damn. Too late, he realized that the stupid article had been the last thing on his mind ever since she walked in the door.
He’d been thinking about her, and her legs, and that damned dress. Taking the damned dress off her …
Pull it together, Malone. It was show time.
Chapter Five
It was going even better than she’d imagined.
The dress had been genius. Grace had initially determined to avoid black since she had about a dozen LBDs in her closet already, but in the end, she’d gone with Riley’s judgment.
And this black dress was nothing like any of the conservative sheath-style dresses she had at home. Somehow the dress managed to be subtle and provocative at the same time. The draped cowl neck gave the impression of being demure at first, but the second glance revealed a rather dramatic drop. One that showed off the twins quite nicely, if she did say so herself.
Sure, the poor girls were maybe just a little uncomfortable being shoved up to her collarbone this way, thanks to a push-up bra that had cost almost as much as the dress itself. But it had been worth it for the flash of admiration in Jake Malone’s brown eyes.
And he hadn’t even seen the back of the dress yet.
She felt a bit scandalous. And just the tiiiiiiniest bit slutty.
She was loving it. This was a 2.0 dress.
“So you’re Grace Brighton,” he said, mostly to himself.
Grace pretended to jot her story notes on her hand. “First impression of Jake Malone—super quick on the uptake.”
He leaned back in his chair and breathed out a long breath. “I’m going to need another drink.”
“Have at it. We’ve got all night,” she said in a sultry voice.
His eyes snapped to hers, and Grace felt her belly tighten. What the hell was she doing? Where was this come-hither version of herself coming from?