Irresistible You (22 page)

“Juliet,” he whispered.

She turned to him. “I need to be fair to you J.T. I don’t do the happily ever after love thing.”

He smiled and half snorted. “Perfect, neither do I. Love isn’t part of the deal.”

She nodded, turned to walk away then stopped and spoke without turning back. “Call me later.”

Chapter Twelve

The rush of cool air conditioning quickened her step as Juliet walked into the restaurant and looked around. She spotted her friend instantly. Patricia sat in a booth at the far end of the restaurant. She waved as soon as she looked up and saw Juliet enter.

Dressing in a tailored business suit, her signature single strand of pearls and a wedding band with a door knob diamond on her finger that could easily have paid the restaurants rent for the next three months, Patricia was the newly married bride of Pierce Franklin.

“You’re late,” Patricia said as she lowered the menu and glanced up at her friend as she quickly sat down.

“I know, sorry,” Juliet said as she took the offered menu from the waiter and placed a drink order, “I was unavoidably detained.” A sly smile eased across her face. Patricia watched it spread wider and shook her head knowingly.

She and Juliet had known each other and been best friends since Ida B. Wells Academy. They had seen good times and bad time and had always been there for each other through think and thin. So when Juliet arrived late, which she never did, and she smiled that particular smile, which she seldom did, it could only mean one thing, she was up to something.

The waiter returned and sat a glass of lemon flavored club soda in front of Juliet and refilled Patricia’s iced tea. He patiently waited, took their meal orders then hurried away.

Patricia observed her friend for a few minutes. A very familiar sparkle shinned across her face again. Patricia continued to shake her head slowly. “Oh-oh.”

Juliet looked across the table then around the dining room. “What, oh-oh?” She asked.

“Whatever it is I don’t think I want to know about it,” Patricia warned.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Juliet said innocently.

“Do you think I don’t recognize that mischievous glint in your eye? You’re up to something or you’re about to be. Either way I know something’s going on and whatever it is I don’t what to know.”

“Of course you want to know.” Juliet said decidedly. She smiled and waiting the few seconds it would take before Patricia surrendered to her curiosity. Seconds later she began laughing, and Juliet immediately joined in.

“Okay, alright, I give up, what is it? What happened?”

“Do you remember about ten months ago, when I was in New York?”

“You mean the black out?”

“Yes, I told you about the man I shared the hotel room with.”

“Yeah, I remember. Of course I remember. That had to be by far the dumbest and most senseless thing you’ve ever done. I still can’t believe you did it, blackout or not. He could have been a nut case or a crazed lunatic.”

“He wasn’t a nut case or a crazed lunatic.”

“You know what I mean.” Patricia said firmly.

“Yes, but the point is…”

“…The point is,” Patricia stopped to breath and relax, “don’t ever do that again. You nearly gave me a heart attack when you told me afterwards.”

Juliet shook her head sadly and rolled her eyes to the ceiling, “you have seriously turned into such a parent. You must drive poor Kimberly crazy with your constant nagging?”

“I do not nag,” Patricia stated firmly. “And Kimberly is doing just fine thank you very much. She, unlike some people, has better sense then to share a hotel room with a strange man.”

“Getting back to the story,” Juliet said quickly diverting her friend from another five minute lecture, “yes, I know it was stupid and dangerous, I admit it. I’ve learned my lesson and I’ll never do it again.”

“You could have gotten yourself killed on worse.”

“What’s worse than getting myself killed?”

“I’m serious Juliet, you hear about stuff like that on the news all the time.”

“I know, I know. Would you let me get back to the story please,” Patricia nodded and silenced. “Okay, it seems that the guy I shared the room with showed up and wants me to do him a small favor.”

“Oh God,” Patricia fretted. “What’s he want, money?”

“Actually just the opposite, he wants to pay me to pretend to be his love interest so that he can get his matchmaking grandmother off his back.”

The waiter appeared with their meals and placed it in front of them. He refilled their glasses then asked if there was anything else they needed. Both Juliet and Patricia said no, so he nodded smiled and moved on.

“And you believed him?” Patricia said continuing the conversation as if they had not been interrupted.

“Yes, of course I believed him. Look this guy, J.T., is actually some big shot in the computer business. Pierce probably even knows him. He works for E-Corp.” She said remembering his business card logo.

“Evans Corporation?”

“That’s right.”

“Over a million men in New York City and you meet up with J.T. Evans.”

“You obviously know him too?”

“Yes, and you’re right J.T. is huge in the industry. Pierce and I went the opening of the E-Corp complex a few months ago. I met him there and you’re right he’s definitely something else. He was there with some tall thin model type and even then, he had women falling all over him. I don’t get it, why you, why now?”

“Thanks for the vote of confidence.”

“You know what I mean.”

“So,” Juliet leaned over closer to Patricia, “what’s his story?”

“What’s his story? Are you kidding? You don’t know?”

Juliet shook her head and shrugged. “I know he’s handsome and sexy as hell. Sometimes I think that he’s wound a bit too tight and obviously emotionally closed, but other than that, not much.”

“You assume all men are emotionally closed.”

“And I’m usually right.”

“How can you spend the entire night and half the day with a man and not know a thing about him?”

“Those were the rules we went by, no last names and no major details on family and occupations. All I know is he has two sisters, one married and one not.”

“So what exactly did you two talk about all night?”

“Everything else, politics, television, sports, movies, travel, music,” Juliet smiled remembering the myriad of conversations they’d had while sitting at the hotel room window, fifteen stories up looking out on a blacked out city. “We even talked about having children and possibly what our children would look like.”

“Let me get this straight, you two talked about having children, together?”

“Yeah,” Juliet smiled brightly and said matter of fact as she nudged a green pepper to the side of her plate.

“And…” she prompted. Juliet fell uncharacteristically silent. “What else did you do?”

“We went back outside into the streets.”

“Wait a minute, after all that, you went back out into the dark streets?”

“Yeah, and surprisingly the people were pretty cool. I mean, I didn’t see any looting of major crime unless of course you want to count that front desk clerk who was charging people twenty dollars to sleep on the wing back chairs in the lobby.”

“So, you and J.T. just walked the streets?”

“Actually, we went in search of food. Neither one of us had eaten all day. We stopped by a restaurant that was having a
clearing out the kitchen
sale. We sat out on the curb and ate then took dessert back to the room.”

 “Juliet,” she paused a second to sip her tea, “did you two…?” Patricia asked not fully finishing the details of her question but letting her inquisitive expression suggest the rest.

Juliet blushed, smiled then nodded slowly, “repeatedly.” Patricia’s mouth dropped wide open in surprise as Juliet continued. “It’s a good thing we found condoms when we went out for food.”

“You didn’t tell me that before.” Juliet shrugged innocently, “I can’t believe it. You never told me any of this before.”

“Since I’m confessing my slight indiscretions, I might as well tell you the rest. I accidentally went over to the Ritz Carlton last night.”

“To do what,” Patricia asked innocently. Juliet answered with wink and knowing innocent smile leading Patricia’s imagination fast forwarded to the obvious outcome given their current topic of conversation. She opened her mouth and gasped. “No, you didn’t, you didn’t, you did…” Patricia squealed loud enough for the diners seated at the two nearest tables next to them to turn and looked in their direction. She and Juliet burst with laughter reminiscent of their teenage days. “You didn’t,” Patricia ended with a whisper.

Juliet nodded slowly each time.

“I can’t believe that you didn’t tell me this before.”

“Well it isn’t exactly a conversation starter. Besides the first time you were going too ballistic over the whole share a hotel room thing. How could I tell you the rest?”

“Okay, okay, wait a minute if you didn’t give last names, how did he find you here in DC all the way from New York?”

“I don’t know. It was probably a coincidence. He was at the
Carmen
fundraiser last night.”

“So, okay, now J.T. shows up again. What now?”

“That’s the interesting part, he wants a favor.”

“That’s right, the grandmother thing.”

“Yep, he wants to hire me.”

“Are you serious?”

“Yes,” she nodded, “and apparently so is he. The point is J.T. thinks I need the cash.”

“You told him you don’t, didn’t you?”

“Not exactly, he wants me to play the part, so I’ll play the part.”

“Are you actually considering doing this?”

“I told him I’d think about it.”

“But you’re gonna do it aren’t you?

She shrugged, “I don’t know yet, maybe.”

“It doesn’t take a psychic. I can see it in your face. Why even consider it?”

“Why not? Look, I’m over thirty, my career is over. I realize that. I need something, anything, a distraction to keep my mind off the inevitable. In a few weeks everything I’ve ever loved will be gone.”

“You can still dance. You can have the dance company you always dreamed about. You talked about opening a dance studio since we were kids. Do it, you’re great with kids.”

Juliet chuckled. “Temperamental, critical and outspoken aren’t exactly the best qualification for a children’s dance teacher.”

“True, you’re all those things plus, caring, patient and loving. So stop the pity party, get off your rump and do it. But first, getting back to the subject at hand, lying to J.T. isn’t the best idea.”

“I’m not lying, exactly. He assumed that since I was a dancer I didn’t have a lot of money. It’s not my fault that he assumed wrong. Besides how’s he going to figure out that I’m a trust fund baby? It’s not exactly common knowledge that my father’s grandfather had better sense than he did.”