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He blinked his insanely blue eyes at me. “A night cap?”
“Your life coach will need to be debriefed after the meeting,” I said. “How else will I be able to tell you what to do next?”
Jude’s smile widened suddenly, like he had been trying to hold it back and had finally failed. “You’re kind of contradicting yourself right now.”
“What! How?”
“You told me to play hard-to-get,” he said sheepishly. “But this, what you’re doing right now, is the opposite of that.”
“That wasbusinessadvice,” I said, leaning closer. I had caught a whiff of his scent again and wanted to breathe it in deeply.
“What’s the difference?” he said softly. He was close enough that his breath tickled my cheeks. “It seems like the same as…this. Charming someone. Convincing them todo businesswith you.”
For once, I found myself at a loss for words. We were flirting. And it wasgoing well. The cheesy jokes and over-the-top advice was landing on both of us. I had never met someone whogotme like that. We had only been chatting for a few minutes, but it felt like we had a real connection.
Michelle is going to be so excited for me.
I glanced over at my sister. Now she was outright arguing with the bouncer, who was suddenly flanked by two more of his buddies. Everyone from my sister’s party was staring openly at them.
“Excuse me a second,” I said to Jude, but I doubted he heard me because I was already striding out of the bar and onto the rooftop deck, long strides that made my feet ache in my heels, until I was close enough to grab the bouncers arm.
“Is there a problem?” I demanded.
“You and your friends have to leave,” he said simply.
Michelle turned to me. “I thought you rented it until midnight!”
“I did.” I looked at the bouncer and repeated myself. “I did!”
The bouncer’s stare was as immovable as a brick wall. “Owner said you have to leave. We need the room.”
He gave a gesture like he expected to be obeyed. And that just pissed me off even more.
“I booked the rooftopmonthsago,” I said in a voice that dripped ice. “We paid in advance. Our entire night is planned around this. If you try making us leave now, I swear to God I’m going to Karen all over your ass.”
“Hey, everyone relax,” said a new guy.
Nowthisguy looked like your typical Silicon Valley tech-bro. He was tall and handsome, wearing designer jeans, Air Jordan sneakers, and a plain white T-shirt. His feathery hair swayed as he looked between the bouncer and me, and he flashed a smile like he was used to getting what he wanted.
“What’s all this yelling about?” he asked.
I jerked a thumb at the bouncer. “He’s trying to make us leave. Even though we rented the rooftop deck until midnight.”
“Oh, yeah.” The guy’s chiseled face became a mask of apology. “Real sorry about that. I need the space. Hate to do this, but it’s a last minute kind of thing. But it’s okay! There’s plenty of room for you in the bar downstairs. We’ll get all of you set up in a couple of booths. It’ll be nicer than it is up here. And if I finish up before midnight? You can come back up. Problem solved, right?”
I blinked at him. “Wait a minute.You’retaking my rooftop deck?”
“Myrooftop deck,” he said, with just a note of pompousness. “Again, I’m sorry for the trouble.” He gestured for me to leave.
My first impulse was to demand my money back. Renting this space was expensive, and I was doing it with money I really didn’t have. But then I saw my sister. She, and all her friends, were looking at me. Hoping I could fix the problem. It was her birthday, and I had promised something special.
I was all she had. There was nobody else in the world who could give her what she deserved. And I saw the disappointment on her face. Like I had somehow failed her.
“We’re not going anywhere,” I found myself saying. “I rented the rooftop deck until midnight. If you want us to leave before then, you’re going to have to drag us out.”
The guy’s eyes sparkled with surprise, and maybe even respect. But then he shook his head.
“Sucks it has to go this way.” He glanced at the beefy man next to him.
