“What?” he protested. “I just saved you a boring day negotiating a mind-numbing boring contract.”
“That happens to be my job.”
“I thought your job was getting your client the best deal you could. You did that.”
“By sleeping with you? Thanks. That says a lot for my legal abilities.”
“Oh, don’t be such a tight-ass. Two seconds of you against Bob and it was clear who was the better lawyer.”
I was slightly placated by his compliment, but there was still the little matter of conflict of interest. We were at the lobby now, and it was time to put it on the table. “I can’t go to brunch with you.”
“Good, because I didn’t really want to go to brunch anyway. I only said that for the room. I want to take you back to bed.”
“I’m surprised you didn’t share that with the room.”
He laughed, and when we were out on the busy Manhattan sidewalk, I looked around for the hulking black town car every rich guy or rich-guy-wannabe had waiting for him after a meeting. But I didn’t see one, and he started walking me back in the direction of the hotel.
“You walked here?”
“Sure. It was only a few blocks.”
Long New York blocks. I was impressed.
But I walked beside him not because I was going back to his hotel room but because I was going back to mine. I had to check out now that the deal was done.
“What were you doing in a hotel anyway?” I gave in to my curiosity. “Don’t you live in New York?”
“Here? Hell no. I hate this town. I come here to do business and that’s it.”
That was an unusual sentiment among the very rich. From what I could tell, they seemed to congregate on this packed island as if it were some huge watering hole, or maybe pig’s trough. I didn’t much like New York either, but of course I was poor, relatively speaking. And okay, I admit it. My stepfather lives in New York, and though I love my mother, I can’t stand him and his whole fucking city. I even call it the devil city sometimes for fun. So I’m a bit prejudiced.
It was easier to walk through the stifling crowds with Jed Worth by my side, though. They seemed to part for his tall, expensively tailored figure.
“I’m from Colorado,” he offered, instantly reminding me that I had read that Worth Industries was located in Denver. There had been a picture of the headquarters in the file my assistant made up. The photo showed a sprawling campus on the outskirts of the city with funky modern buildings and granola-eating happy-camper employees strolling about, looking as if they could take off at any minute to ski in the majestic mountains behind them. But there was no CEO in a thousand-dollar suit hanging around in that picture.
“I can’t quite see you out West.”
“You’d be surprised.”
“Don’t tell me. Let me guess. You’re only a hard-charging executive on your off-hours.”
“Actually, I’m Fred in my off-hours,” he quipped. “Remember?”
But I so wasn’t going there, my feet firmly planted in reality on the dirty sidewalks of New York. And speaking of dirty sidewalks, “I’m from Detroit.”
“Yeah. I heard.” His tone was neutral enough that I didn’t judge it necessary to immediately leap to the defense of my hometown. “I understand it’s getting very cool there,” he added, clinching it.
And because it was rude not to make conversation, not because I wanted to know or anything, I said as we walked, “You grew up in Colorado? I mean, your family’s from there?”
“What there is of it. My mother. That’s about it.”
Well, we had that in common then. I’d always wanted siblings, but I guess my mother thought it was enough to lose her figure once for the sake of bringing another human being into the world. When she made it back to size zero, she probably didn’t think it was smart to risk it another time. Especially after my father died, something that was so long ago I couldn’t say it traumatized me since I couldn’t even remember it. I’d always gotten the sense that a baby was my long-lost Dad’s idea anyway.
I wondered why Mr. CEO was an only child too.
He didn’t elaborate, and I wasn’t about to act interested. I didn’t want to look too into him. I half wished I could ask him about the “rehab” he mentioned on the phone and whether it had anything to do with the kid he’d worried about last night.
“What about you?” he asked.
“What about me?” I automatically responded and he laughed.
“Never mind, I guess.”
About to remember my manners—I was from the Midwest after all—I caught him blatantly checking me out and decided against it. Like he really wanted to hear about my family or “what there was of it.” Right. When his eyes made it back to mine, they were unapologetic, even a little cocky. We’d gotten back to the hotel, anyway.