“Work mostly.” She folded her pizza like a true New Yorker before taking another bite.
“Mostly?”
Chloe sucked sauce from her finger, and he almost groaned out loud. “My clients are mainly in the States. A lot of them weren’t comfortable doing things solely over the phone and via email and video chat. Flying back and forth to New York and LA was killing my social life,” she explained, nibbling on her slice. “Oh my God, this is the best pepperoni pizza I’ve ever eaten.”
There were better places to order pizza. Much, much better. The greasy slice probably tasted good because she still wasn’t sober.
“You want a better social life? Is that why you went on a blind date?”
She screwed her nose up with disgust. “What was I thinking? Two dates, and they both sucked. Well, the second didn’t even show up, so technically I can’t call it a date.” Wiping her hands on the napkin, she threw it on the empty paper plate.
“Instead of blind dates, why don’t you join some kind of gym or activity where you can meet new friends?”
She laughed, but her eyes didn’t match her smile. “You make me sound like a sad and lonely person.”
“Are you?”
“What? Sad and lonely?”
He nodded.
Instead of answering the question, she reached over to his plate and picked up his uneaten slice of pizza. “Are you going to eat that?” She bit into it before he could answer.
He chuckled. “Help yourself.”
“This is so good,” she mumbled.
Was she changing the subject on purpose, or was she really that hungry? He had a feeling there was more to why she’d moved to New York than she was saying. But it wasn’t his place to pry. He was here to watch out for her and report back to Ethan that everything was okay.
As she chewed her food, she stared at Theo with narrowed eyes and pointed a finger in his direction. “Why are you here?”
He leaned back in his chair. “I’m feeding you.”
“No, you were outside of the bar where I got stood up. Why?”
So she’d noticed his fortuitous arrival, he’d hoped she was too drunk to question it. “I was having a drink at a bar nearby and happened to see you when you stumbled out. I was checking if you were okay.”
“I didnotstumble,” she huffed.
He raised an eyebrow.
“These heels are too high.” She shrugged a shoulder, then asked, “Who were you at the bar with?”
“No one.”
“You were drinking alone?” Her eyes narrowed. “Why?”
“Can’t a man have a scotch alone in peace every now and again?”
She pulled her lips to the side for a second as she stared at him. “You came to my apartment, offered me a lift, and conveniently showed up as I was leaving the bar. Were you stalking me?”
He noticed a spot of red sauce next to her mouth, distracting him for a second. He wanted to lick it off and had to pull his attention back to what she was saying. “Don’t be ridiculous.”
Again, she pursed her lips. “So if you’re not stalking me, did you come to my apartment to pick up where we’d left off in your penthouse? Because you made it clear you don’t want me.”
Don’t want her?Christ, if she wasn’t Ethan’s sister, he would have had her naked before they’d even left her apartment. “No, like I said, I wanted to make sure we were okay about the night at the club. It was a coincidence I was having a drink nearby.” He rubbed his hands over his thighs. God, he hated lying.
“I don’t believe you.” She pointed a finger at him. “You’ve changed your mind, haven’t you? You don’t care that I’m Ethan’s sister, and now you want to jump my bones. Well, you missed your chance, buddy! I’m not interested.” She leaned back in her chair and folded her arms.
