Tangled(22)

She talks like nothing ever happened. Like she wasn’t quivering in my arms and setting me on fire with her hands in this very office just a few short hours ago. She’s all business. Completely unaffected. And it pisses me off.

Badly.

Indifference is not exactly a reaction I’m used to from women. Frankly, it’s a little hard to take.

I feel my jaw clench as I tell her, “Good. That’s the best way to go.”

Now, if you haven’t guessed, I’m not the touchy-feely type. I’m not one to talk my feelings to death like some New Age, meditating freak of nature. But I expected something from her. Some acknowledgement of what happened last night—of the attraction that’s still pulling at both of us. I thought she would be the one to bring it up.

She’s a woman, after all.

When all I get is silence, I can’t help but push. “Kate, about last night—”

She cuts me off. “Last night was a mistake. It will not happen again.”

Do you know anything about child psychology? No? Well here’s a lesson for you. If you tell a kid they can’t do something, guess what’s the first thing they’re going to try and do the minute you’re not looking? Exactly.

Men are the same way. It’s so going to happen again. But she doesn’t need to know that at the moment.

“Okay.”

“Good.”

“Great.”

She whispers, “Fine.”

Fine’s a funny word, don’t you think? I don’t think there’s another like it in the English language that says so much while actually saying so little. How many wives have told their husbands, “I’m fine,” when they really mean, “I want to cut your balls off with a butcher knife”? How many men have told their girlfriends, “You look fine,” when they really mean, “You need to go back to the gym and work out—a lot.” It’s the universal way of saying we’re just peachy—when we’re really anything but.

“Fine,” I repeat, looking down at the papers on my desk.

And then she’s out the door, and I spend the next ten minutes staring after her, replaying last night over and over in my mind.

Hey, you know another word that can mean the opposite of what it’s supposed to?

Fucked.

Which is exactly what I’m going to be if I don’t get my head out of my ass and back in the game by seven o’clock tonight.





Our dinner meeting is well under way. Although I’ve done a lot of the talking, it’s Kate that has Saul Anderson completely charmed. If I wasn’t in such a pissy mood, I’d admit that she’s working this meeting like a pro. But I am, so I’m not telling anyone but you.

She laughs at some story Anderson just finished telling before he excuses himself to go to the john. I take a drink of my wine, wishing it was whiskey.

Kate turns to me, freshman excitement dancing in her eyes. “So this is going really well, isn’t it? I mean, I definitely think he’s interested, don’t you?”

I shrug. “Depends on what you’re trying to sell him.”

“What are you talking about? I’m selling us—our proposal, our investment firm.”

I’m being a prick—yes, I know.

“Really? ’Cause it seems like you’re offering him something else entirely.”

“What are you trying to say?”

“Come on, Kate. You went to Wharton. I think you can figure out exactly what I’m saying.”

“I have been completely professional…”

“You’d be more subtle if you ripped open your blouse and shoved your tits in his face.”

Okay, that was uncalled for. And I actually consider apologizing.

But before I can form the words, ice-cold liquid seeps through my pants and into my crotch. From the glass of water Kate just poured into my lap.

“Are you fucking crazy?” I whisper harshly, trying not to make a scene as I jump up and wipe at the stain with a napkin.

“Everything all right here?”

It’s Anderson. He’s back and looking from me to Kate. I shrug awkwardly as Kate smiles and tells him, “Everything’s fine.”

There’s that word again. See what I mean?

“Drew just had a little mishap with his water glass. You know boys—can’t take them anywhere.”

Anderson laughs and sits back down, while I weigh my chances for an acquittal. The one I’ll need after I strangle Kate Brooks.





An hour later, we’re waiting for coffee and dessert. Kate has left the table. I’m thinking her bladder must have been seconds from rupturing for her to actually leave me alone with Anderson.

He observes me for a moment and then says, “I like what I’ve seen here tonight, Drew. Very impressive.”