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“Yowsa,” I said as I greeted her on the sidewalk with a long, slow kiss.
“You don’t look too badly yourself, Mr. Hotel.”
“Thanks, Miss Happy.”
We walked to my car, and she stopped, hands on hips. “No way. Are you actually driving? Like driving a car? With four wheels?”
I rolled my eyes. “Believe it or not, yes. The driver’s off for the weekend. Besides, I kind of miss being behind the wheel.” I helped her into the car, and we headed back toward the hotel.
She had her hand on my thigh as we worked our way over the Brooklyn Bridge and back to the city. Thanks to her, my hard-on raged the whole drive. That would need addressing later.
The Spinsters’ party was held every year in our biggest ballroom, and let me tell you, I always looked forward to this shindig, which was full of New York’s most beautiful women. I’m not sure why they called themselves The Spinsters since they were anything but. The only thing they had in common with old maids was that they were mostly unmarried. I said mostly, because the party was such a hot ticket that some women would lie about their marital status to get in. Couldn’t say I blamed them.
On top of providing some serious eye candy, this group hired the best party planners in town. This year’s setup did not disappoint. When Nara and I walked in we were left speechless, so blown away we were by the décor. It amazed me what people could do with a hotel ballroom, even when it was in my own hotel.
There were intimate seating areas set up all along the periphery of the room. White sofas, loveseats, and benches were clustered around coffee tables lit by flickering votive candles, buckets full of champagne bottles, and platters of hors d'oeuvres that looked damned good. It was like a dozen private little clubs.
And as if that weren’t enough, special lighting made glittery reflections across the floor, up the walls, and over the ceiling. The effect was like being under water.
“Wow.” Nara slowly took in the dramatic setting.
I put my arm around her waist and pulled her closer. Nuzzling her ear, I said, “Wow is right. You are the most gorgeous thing in this whole party.”
She dropped her head back and let out that laugh I loved, both elegant and down to Earth at the same time. And I was right. She was the most beautiful woman there.
“Brodie!” a voice shrieked in my ear. Before I knew it, I’d been pulled free of Nara and caught in the bear hug of a female whose face I’d not yet seen.
“Hi,” I said, trying to sound enthusiastic. Nara just looked shocked.
“Darling, you never called me,” the phantom hugger said, pulling away so I could finally see her face.
She was right. I hadn’t called her. I had fucked her, but not called her. She had been nice enough and even pretty, but the night I’d met her, she hadn’t stopped talking long enough for me to even learn her name. That had bugged me. Well, obviously it hadn’t bugged me enough to keep me from doing her, but I wasn’t going to hang out with her again.
Funny thing was, as much as I’d whored around and enjoyed it, my desire to continue doing so was suddenly tempered. What was that all about?
Nara extended her hand to the talker. “Hello,” she said, smiling.
The woman’s smile faltered as she looked Nara up and down. “Do we know each other?”
“No,” Nara said with the world’s sweetest smile and dropped her hand. “And I don’t think we will.” She hooked her arm through mine and led me away.
That’s my girl.
As we walked through the party, heads turned and nodded. I introduced Nara to those I thought she would enjoy meeting. Even so, more than one woman looked her up and down and turned to their friends for a quick debrief. I wished Nara wasn’t subject to this petty bitchiness and realized I probably wouldn’t be back for next year’s party. In fact, I didn’t think we’d even hang out at this one for very long.
“Brodie!” Joel said with Pam on his arm. Jesus, these people were indiscrete. Guess the cat was out of the bag.
“Hey, Joel. Pam.” I introduced them to Nara.
Pam placed a hand on Nara’s arm. “Nara, let’s run to the ladies’ for a sec while the guys talk business.”
“Okay.” Nara looked at me with raised eyebrows and turned to go with Pam.
Joel nudged me like the frat boy that he was. “Yo, Brodie. You done good there. She’s a looker. She another one of your trust fund babies?” He had no idea how annoying he was. And he seemed to be forgetting that I was the boss.
“She’s founder and CEO of a tech firm.” I nodded to the mayor as he passed by with his usual entourage of beautiful women.
“No shit? I don’t know any chicks who are tech anything, much less CEOs. Damn.”
I hadn’t known any, either. But I sure as hell was glad I did now.
