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“No, I’m guessing to the bar, but I’m totally making my move.”
“You are?” I ask in surprise. Neither of us is a very good flirt, and neither of us usually makes the first move. Certainly not when we are sober.
“No, but hopefully the blond one makes…” She pauses and then sighs. “Actually, forget it, they’re with two women.”
“The good ones are always taken.” I turn to look back to see how cute they are. It doesn’t matter if they notice now as they’re taken. I immediately notice the tall, dark, blond guy with the blue eyes as he looks familiar. “That’s Ethan Rosser,” I hiss at Lila. “He was the most eligible bachelor in the city for the last umpteen years.” I grin at her. “We stood no chance.” I stare at the lady whose hand he’s holding and am surprised that she seems like an ordinary woman. She’s gorgeous but doesn’t look like a model or actress. Her friend, a cute blonde, is dancing and looking around. I watch her for a few seconds, and then my eyes move to the guy next to them. I gasp as I see the tall man with the unruly dark hair from earlier staring at me. There’s a cocky grin on his face, and he smirks. His green eyes sparkle like emeralds in the sunlight as a ceiling light reflects off his pupils. He, too, is tall, dark, and handsome, and I can’t help but notice that his dark suit clings to his body like a second skin.
Ethan Rosser says something to him, and I watch him laughing hardily. He throws his head back, but his eyes don’t leave mine. I know I should look away, but I can’t. He raises his hand and blows me a kiss, and my face burns with heat.
“Oh, yeah, I remember seeing him on the front page of the newspaper,” Lila says, and I turn to her in confusion.
“Seeing who on the front page of the paper?” I ask her, glancing back quickly to see if Mr. Greek god is still looking at me. He is. I blush and turn away again. Why is he staring at me like that?
“Ethan Rosser. You literally just said his name.”
“Oh, yeah, yeah. I forgot.” I peek back again and Zeus himself seems to be headed my way. Holy shit. I’ve never seen a man walk like that. He’s like Moses, with people stepping away to make room for him as he walks through the crowd. He’s not headed to me, is he?
“So, shall we do martinis tonight? Pretend we’re high-class call girls like Julia Roberts,” Lila says. Every time we go out, Lila wants us to pretend to be actresses from her favorite movies. And one of her favorites was Pretty Woman.
“She wasn’t very high-class, Lila. Wasn’t she working Sunset Boulevard? That’s hardly?—”
“Zara, what’s going on?” she asks me, leaning forward. “Your voice sounds weird.”
“I’m fine,” I squeak out as Zeus continues his casual saunter toward me. As he moves closer, I see he’s taller and more built than I initially thought. He has to be at least six foot three with a body that works out way more than I do. I swallow hard as I realize that he is headed over to me—I have no idea what I’m going to say when he reaches me. I wish I could check my face in the mirror. I did have some makeup on, but I’m sure it’s worn off some, and I’m not dressed sexy at all. I had undone the top two buttons of my shirt—well, Lila had undone them, but I certainly couldn’t compete with all the bombshells around me.
I wonder if I’m imagining it all. Has the stress of the last few months finally caught up with me? Is this man an apparition of my subconscious, wanting me to enjoy one last fantasy before the reality of the new day? I pinch myself and look to the right again. Zeus is definitely still there, and he’s looking at me. He looks even more gorgeous as he gets closer and I am starting to feel breathless.
“Oh, shit,” Lila says in a low tone as she looks over my shoulder.
“I know.” I nod.
“What’s he doing here?”
“You know Zeus?” I ask her in surprise.
“Who?” She touches my forehead. “Do you have a fever or something?”
“No, of course not. How do you know that Greek god?”
“You have a thing for Frankie?” Her jaw drops. “I know it’s been a while, Zara, but you can do better than Frankie.”
“Huh, no, I am not interested in Frankie. Why are you talking about the landlord?”
“Because he’s headed our way,” she says, and I turn around quickly. About forty-five feet away from Zeus is Frankie, our middle-aged landlord, who has been calling me for the last three weeks about our past-due rent. My heart is pounding as I grab her hand. I give Zeus a reluctant smile and pull Lila with me toward the dance floor. I cannot have a conversation with Frankie right now. I do not want him to proposition me again about doing him favors to stop him from evicting us. I would rather sleep in the street than play with his saggy balls. I’ll have to use my next paycheck to pay the rent and past due electricity bill and hope that I find a new job soon.
“Shall we look for Hank?” Lila asks as we stand next to a group of college girls who are acting like this is their first time at a cool bar with how they are jumping up and down. “Why did we run from Frankie, by the way?”
“Did you want to dance with him?” I ask. I don’t want to burst her dream by telling her that I’d spoken too soon about paying the rent and that we need an influx of money soon, or Lila and I might find ourselves as high-class escorts after all and not just as make-believe. And I doubt that we even qualify as high-class, either. And I don’t want to sell my body for fifty dollars or even five thousand dollars a night.
“Nope.” She shudders and makes a face. “I don’t want to feel his boner all up on me because you know that he’s the sort of guy that would definitely be dirty dancing. I’d rather work at a strip bar or one of those dance clubs. I heard you can make a grand a night.”
“Just for dancing or with extras?”
“The women that do the extras make five grand or more a night,” she says knowledgeably. “Don’t ask how I know.”
“Something you haven’t told me about?” I ask and look back to see if Zeus or Frankie have located us. I’m disappointed that Zeus is nowhere to be seen, but then again, neither is Frankie, and that matters more to me than a five-minute chat with a hunk that is way out of my league.
“Many things,” she says and pulls out her phone. “It’s vibrating.” She holds up the screen, and I see Hank’s name. “I’ll tell him to meet us on the dance floor.”
