Push & Pull(2)

“I’m a redhead.”

“And I’m no gentleman,” he replied. His hand met softly with the small of my back as he flexed his palm inward, breaking the physical barrier. Clever.

I turned to him, met by fiery emerald green eyes and a solid, square jaw. Each side of his face smeared with charcoal stubble that opposed the neatly kept locks resting upon his head. He was handsome. And if I needed further proof a faint scar adorned the upper left part of his lip. It was only noticeable when he opened his mouth to speak again.

"Brandy?" He gestured towards my glass. Instead, I glanced down at his shoes. Slate colored Armani boots. Hot. But this wasn't my mark.

"I'm not interested."

"Why? Do you prefer blondes?" He flashed a winning smirk before signaling to the bartender to get me another drink.

“I prefer manners. You didn’t ask if you could touch me.” I gave a curt smile and turned to leave when he caught my arm.

“What’s your name, Red?” Red. Yeah, I’d never heard that before. Couldn’t this guy take a hint? I searched the room again for the shoes but it was useless. I could have sworn it was getting darker as the night carried on. I needed to shake this guy and soon or he might ruin any chance I had at Lucca…if I ever found him.

“Claire. My name is Claire. Now, will you let go of me?” I snapped, yanking my arm away from him. His features softened and he withdrew his hands in an apologetic manner.

“Usually any woman showing that much skin wants the attention. I just wanted you to join me and my colleague for a drink.” He gestured toward a booth on the back wall of the restaurant. Another man sat slouched towards the end of the booth, holding a drink and impatiently tapping his foot. He was wearing mustard colored dress shoes.

“Sure!” I blurted out before he could say another word. My eagerness didn’t seem to surprise him as he placed a hand on me again and guided me toward the back of the room.

“My name is Liam,” he said, allowing me to scoot into the booth first. A few more sentences tumbled out of his mouth but I had a hard time catching them. As the amount of patrons rose so had the noise level. I politely shook hands with the other man, Lucca, and he proceeded to pound his drink. Perfect, I thought. Let’s get this show on the road.

The three of us made small talk while I attempted to engage Lucca. Nothing. He muttered some nonsense about work and seemed alarmed when I placed my hand on his knee. Maybe he wasn’t an easy mark after all. Maybe Jill had found someone she could truly dominate. He certainly wasn’t anything to write home about. Sure, he was handsome in a safe kind of way. Pristine black hair, clean shaven, with a dimple pressed into his chin. But his skin seemed sallow under the muted lighting and the suit he wore sagged around his shoulders. He had poor posture or needed a new tailor. Either way, his inability to sustain my attention made me listen more closely to Liam whom, to my surprise, wasn’t a complete douche.

When the waiter came by Liam was polite, bought another round, and kept his hands to himself. He even managed to get Lucca to talk more, or maybe that was the alcohol. I attempted once more to break the physical barrier with Lucca as I casually placed my hand on his leg. This time he didn’t jump and his eyes drew up to meet mine. Bingo. All I had to do was isolate him. Nothing would happen with Liam in our company and I didn’t want to drag this night out any longer than necessary.

“Excuse me,” I said, “I need to use the ladies room.” My eyes zeroed in on Lucca and I gave a slight wink. He seemed to get the clue. I slid across the seat towards him as he clambered out quickly, but not before I could graze my body against his. Winding my way through the restaurant, I found the restrooms sequestered by the kitchen. It was a long empty hallway that mimicked the claustrophobic design of the dining room. On any other night the weak lighting would have been off putting, but for this…it was perfect.

It would likely take a few minutes before he mustered up the courage to follow me. He seemed like the nervous type. I took out my phone and messaged Jill:

Nothing yet. Night is winding down. Will call soon.

I noticed the hall was littered with random pieces of art. Examining a cluster of Picasso-like canvases, I squinted my eyes to get a better look. Shapes. And more shapes. I never really understood the draw of Picasso. To the right, perched prominently at the very end of the hallway was a ceiling to floor waterfall feature with speckled river rock. This was definitely more my style. The water cascaded to the floor, leaving small puddles before the sun-shaped drain absorbed them. Occasionally the drain would be slow to drink its relentless load causing the liquid to pool near the hallway tile. It was enthralling.