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The expression on his face said it all: No, thanks. But manners prompted him to ask, “Where do you live?”
“West Village. You?”
“Upper East. Opposite directions, unfortunately.”
It was true. Their respective neighborhoods were completely inconvenient for cab sharing, but he didn’t have to look so damn pleased about it.
Outmaneuvered, she stomped toward the waiting taxi. “So. This was fun.” Sort of.
He wrinkled his nose ever so slightly, as though reading her thoughts. Was it?
“Lady, you comin’ or what?” the cabbie whined.
Julie shot him an annoyed look and looked expectantly at Mitchell. She let her lips curl up in her most appealing smile. The man might be rusty at dating, but it didn’t take a genius to see that the next move was his.
But he didn’t make it. He just cleared his throat awkwardly and glanced at the vacant backseat of the cab.
Oh, my God, Julie thought as realization sank in. This is not happening.
Too befuddled to do anything else, she let Mitchell take her arm and ease her into the back of the cab.
It was happening.
After six years with a flawless record, the queen of dating had just done the unthinkable.
She’d failed to land the second date.
Chapter Five
The next evening, M
itchell tipped the cabbie and stepped onto the sidewalk at the address Julie had given him.
He couldn’t resist the smile of satisfaction. There was no better feeling than having a risky gamble play out the way you wanted. And this one had played out perfectly. Julie Greene had done exactly as he’d hoped. Exactly as he’d expected.
It was particularly satisfying, because as good as Mitchell was at reading people in the workplace, he’d never been particularly adept at understanding the workings of the female mind. But last night he’d somehow known exactly how to play Julie Greene.
Putting her in that cab without so much as asking for her number had been a stroke of brilliance. It had surprised her, caught her off guard, and probably pissed her off. And, most important, it had ensured that she would seek him out.
Mitchell wasn’t even entirely sure what had made him do it. The object of this little game with Colin was simply to have a little fun with a girl who wasn’t the commitment kind. To that end, simply asking her on a second date would have been more efficient.
But that was exactly what Julie had expected him to do. If it had been up to her, the entire evening would have been manufactured, from the tilt of her head to her too-high laugh when he’d made a dud joke. That Julie hadn’t interested him.
But the Julie he’d seen when he’d ripped away her safety net and called her on her bullshit? That Julie he kind of liked.
Okay, really liked. Not in the way he’d liked Evelyn or Sarah, or even Christina back in college. Julie was the opposite of every woman he’d ever dated. She was too bright, too intense. She was the last person he’d seek out for long-term companionship—she was far too disruptive for that.
But disruptive could be rather refreshing.
At least for the short term.
Mitchell hadn’t been able to withhold a little fist pump when she’d called him at his office that afternoon, her voice all soft and husky and fake. She made some cooing noises about it being her turn to treat him to dinner, but he knew what it was really about. A woman who knew how to wrap men around her finger was bound to see last night’s abrupt ending as a failure. She simply wanted to repair her flawless record.
The nature of the invitation, however, had surprised him. He’d thought for sure she’d suggest drinks at a trendy hotel bar or dinner at some place with tiny portions and pretentious service. But a home-cooked meal? That didn’t seem like her. At least not what he knew of her.
Apparently he wasn’t the only one who had a sudden desire to be unpredictable.
Mitchell wasn’t embarrassed to admit that he’d Googled her. She’d come up nearly a dozen times in various articles on the New York social scene. Colin had been right: Julie Greene was no small-time journalist. Stiletto was more empire than magazine, and as far as he could tell, Julie, Grace, and their friend Riley were the princesses.
