Lush (4 page)

When Julia first
started her firm she had been all about being friendly with her
staff. She would host parties and dinners during which she would
allow her professional and social circles to converge. It had been
a winning combination at first, but then Kirsten started seeing her
project manager; the man she had trusted to guide and care for her
designers while she focussed her attention on the clients. When
things went south between Kirst and Robert he up and left, taking
InVision’s best designer with him. Julia had been shattered by the
betrayal, but she had learned a valuable lesson: Keep your friends
and employees separate, and never forget that the people under your
employ are not your buddies.

For just a second she
wanted to head over to Kirsten’s table and remind her to keep her
claws out of Finch, but it wasn’t really necessary. Kirst knew that
Finch worked at InVision. She had recommended him to Julia at her
aunt’s request, and she knew there would be hell to pay if she got
involved with him after all the effort Julia had put into moulding
him into the rising star he now was.

Summarily dismissing
both Finch and Kirsten from her mind, she sipped on her drink and
tried do the same to Michael, but it was no use. Her eyes followed
him as he spoke to his people and graciously laughed at some or
other remark that one of his waitresses made.

Her skin tingled when
he spotted her eyeing him and gave her a warm smile rather than a
conceited smirk. The tingles got more intense when a minute later
he took his position behind the bar and winked at her while tapping
a microphone to get everyone’s attention.

Good Lord! He was hot!
The years had only made him more perfect to behold than the boy she
had once imagined herself marrying. Those drown-in-me blues were
more piercing. His hair had deepened to the colour of slightly
scorched toffee and now sported a few sun-bleached highlights, as
deliciously displayed when a loose lock fell carelessly over his
forehead. His lips had somehow managed to grow harder and yet
remain full almost to the point of holding a permanent pout. His
nose was a sharp straight edge and his strong jawline was even
sharper. And oh glory, his body! He was damned tall. At least five
inches taller than he had been at eighteen. To make matters worse
that tall body sported some of her favourite features; wide in the
shoulders, narrow in the hips, and even though he was wearing a
suit it was clear that underneath it he was all solid muscle.

His presence seemed to
captivate not just her, but everyone in the lounge. Even the staff
stopped to gaze at him worshipfully when he spoke into the
microphone.

“Good evening ladies
and gents. Welcome to this, our first ever Rapid-Fire Date Night
here at —” he looked directly at her as he said, “—
Lush
.”
His mouth rolling over the word seductively. Enticingly.

Her thighs clenched in
response and her nipples hardened as though he’d physically
caressed them. It was all she could do not to lick her lips when a
chorus of cheers and whistles followed his announcement.

Feeling totally shaken
up by her visceral response she listened mutely to a few
speculative questions regarding what the club’s name actually
meant. Did it mean luxurious and sumptuous, or was it a play on the
fact that some women could be made to give it up real easy after a
few drinks?

Hell, she was willing
to give it up to Michael right here, right now. No drink
required.

The realisation made
her bristle. What on Earth was she thinking? She was not that easy,
and she was not here to be seduced into reviving fantasies that had
died a painful death too long ago to matter. She was completely
over the bastard who had left her so wounded that she’d cried
herself to sleep for far too many nights. This was just her body
reminding her that it hadn’t seen action in months. Nothing more,
nothing less.

Taking a deep breath
she steeled herself against the man and the crazy impulses he’d
re-awoken in her.

When Michael now
scanned the crowd, his smile pure temptation, she gritted her
teeth. He was playing the room the way he’d once played her, but
she had wised up since then and would not melt into a puddle so
easily. Not this time. Na-ah!

She tried to watch with
iron-willed detachment as he shrugged and said, “I’ll let you
deicide. But gents, be aware that our bouncers will have no problem
kicking you to the curb if you read the signals wrong and choose to
act on the miscommunication. Ladies, that does not mean you can
push the boundaries either. This night is designed to facilitate
you in making new, and potentially lasting, romantic connections.
It’s not a free pass to harass some hapless guy who’s too polite to
tell you when you are getting too...
lush
.”

Once again the crowd
let rip with cheers and whistles, but he silenced them with a
raised hand and continued. “If you and the person you find yourself
interested in are both on the same page, an email containing their
contact details will be sent to you early next week and you can
take it from there. If any of you totally bomb out you still come
out winners, because you’ll get a voucher for a free drink of your
choice to be redeemed next time you visit Lush.”

Yet another chorus of
cheers followed that, and this time Julia briefly succumbed to mob
mentality and cheered with them. She had to hand it to him, he knew
how to charm a crowd. He was incontestably smooth. Hell, if he ever
entered the political arena he’d probably end up running the whole
damned country.

As soon as everyone
settled down he announced, “Guys, your numbers will let you know
which table you will start at. Just in case you’re unsure of what I
mean, gentleman number one is to start at table one, gent number
two at table two, and so on. You will have five minutes to
socialise with the lady before you and hopefully impress her with a
little information about yourself while asking pertinent questions
about her. Remember, this is not all about you. If you turn to the
second page of the evaluation booklet that we provided you with,
you’ll find a list of possible questions that you are encouraged to
use in the event that you draw a blank. Don’t feel bad if you need
to. These goddesses are gorgeous enough to strike even the smartest
of you stupid.”

This won him another
round of cheers from the women and whistles from the men.

He got back to his
speech with a good-humoured laugh. “As soon as the bell sounds you
are to end the conversation and move on to table number two. The
guy starting at table sixteen will move to table one at the sound
of the bell. We all clear?”

Julia groaned. Everyone
else signalled their agreement with resounding applause, and the
dating officially commenced.

She was just about to
flag down a nearby waiter for another drink when Michael leaned
over the counter and, staring at her chest, whispered, “Oh, Ms
Breaker, try not to live up to your moniker. Those All-Star tickets
are yours only if you behave yourself. Do we understand each
other?”

She gave him a
saccharine smile. “Oh don’t worry, Mr Smooth. I left my
sledgehammer at home tonight.”

He chuckled under his
breath and started wiping down the counter as Number Seven, her
first date of the night, ambled towards her with a cocky swagger
that was quite funny when coupled with his too tight European-cut
dress pants. One thing that did count in his favour was that he was
over six feet tall. Quite an important asset for a man to possess
considering that she was five-feet-ten, barefoot.

“Hi beautiful,” he
drawled, coming to a stop right in front of her so that his bulging
package was displayed at eye level. Holding out his hand he looked
at her cleavage rather than her face and said, “My name’s Bruce
Evens.”

She smiled blandly,
indicating for him to sit rather than shaking his hand. “I’m Bree,
like the cheese.”

Michael stopped wiping
the counter and now leaned against it. Clearly eavesdropping.

“Seriously?” Bruce
asked enthusiastically, finally making eye contact with her as he
slowly lowered himself into his seat opposite her. No doubt his
family jewels were getting strangled in those silly pants.

“Yep, seriously.”

“I’m crazy about
cheese.” Then he spent the next three minutes telling her all about
his love of dairy and a trip he’d taken to Europe for the sole
purpose of sampling various cheeses in their counties of
origin.

“I’m lactose
intolerant.” She delivered the lie without a whisper of remorse the
second he gave her an opening to speak. “Every now and then I give
into temptation and have some ice-cream, but believe me, the
stomach cramps and explosive shits are hardly worth the
trouble.”

Needless to say the
rest of their five-minute date was awkward at best.

As soon as Bruce
cleared off Michael leaned over the counter and hissed, “Those
tickets are slipping out of your grasp,
Bree
. I suggest you
make an effort.”

She muttered a string
of curses under her breath but did in fact make an effort through
the next six dates.

By the time the last
candidate before the forty-minute intermission showed up she was
way over speed dating. She was also over Mike and his constant
scrutiny.

Number Sixteen
immediately took his place and held out his hand. He looked good
with his dark hair and golden skin. She even liked the fact that he
hadn’t waited for an invitation to sit. It spoke of confidence.

“Hi, I’m Steve Garcia.
Very pleased to meet you —” he glanced at her cleavage and gulped.
His brown eyes unquestionably focussed on her nametag and nothing
else.“— Ms Breaker?”

“Please, call me
Bella.” She was happy to note that despite his apprehension he had
a firm handshake but still, it didn’t ease her irritation. The
damned intermission couldn’t come soon enough.

A smile transformed his
face and the charming dimples in his cheeks caught her attention.
She had to admit that under different circumstances she might well
have been interested, but right now all she felt was a rising sense
of frustration. It wasn’t his fault. She was just sick and tired of
smiling and pretending that she wanted to be here when all she
really wanted was to get the hell away from the madness that was
speed dating.

Steve gave her hand one
last squeeze before letting go and once again glancing at her
chest. This time it was obvious that he was looking past her
nametag.

Typical.

“Wow, that’s a
beautiful name. Is it just Bella, or Isabella?”

She caught Michael
silently chuckling from the corner or her eye but kept her
expression deadpan. So the fucker thought this was funny, did he?
She’d show him funny. “Actually it’s Belladonna. My mother was a
botanist. She specialised in lethally toxic plants. To tell you the
truth she was fascinated by all toxins.”

Steve had the good
grace to pull his eyes back to her face. “And your father?”

“He was a professional
wrestler back in... New Zealand, hence my unfortunate surname. They
called him the Ball Breaker. If you know anything about hard-core
wrestling I’m sure you’ll be able to figure out how he earned the
name. Sadly he was sent to prison after he accidentally killed a
lifeguard for trying to give my mum mouth-to-mouth. You see she
drowned after getting stung by a box jellyfish off the coast of
Australia. Really quite tragic. Not to mention ironic.”

Michael choked on
whatever it was that he was drinking and darling-dear-Steve bumbled
over expressing his condolences.

Deciding to milk the
situation for all it was worth, Julia worked up a few crocodile
tears and blew her nose loudly into a paper serviette. “Thank you,
you have no idea how much that means to me. What with my dad
finally coming up for his parole hearing and all. Please excuse me,
Stan– I mean, Steve. I need to go to the restroom. My colostomy bag
is full.” Without waiting for a response she grabbed her purse and
headed for the elevator that would take her down to the foyer, and
hopefully a waiting taxi.

Unfortunately Mike
grabbed her arm before she could hit the Down button and spun her
around. “What the fuck was that about? I thought you have a degree
in marketing, not a PhD in bullshitting!” He looked absolutely
livid.

“Same thing. Now just
let me leave. I detest speed dating and I want to go home. I can’t
believe I let Kirsten talk me into this. It’s a damned meat market!
You can keep your tickets. I’ll buy one outside the stadium or
something.”

His expression turned
from furious, to stunned, to incredulous, and finally something
resembling admiration. “How about we go together?”

“What?” Now it was her
turn to run the gauntlet of expressions.

He hit the Up button
and ushered her into the waiting elevator as soon as the doors
opened. “You heard me. Why don’t we go together? The only reason I
was willing to give up the tickets was because I had no one I
wanted to go with. Since you pretty much made it through half the
night, I figure you deserve half the reward. Plus I know you’re a
genuine baseball fan and I won’t have to spend the entire match
explaining the plays and rules to you.”

The elevator doors
opened on the roof of the building and he led her out onto a
beautiful deck adorned with potted plants and various types of
loungers and furniture that was designed purely for relaxation. If
there had been a swimming pool too she might have thought that she
had travelled back in time.

“So what do you say?”
he prompted, ushering her to a chaise lounge that was big enough to
seat both of them comfortably. Thankfully he made sure to place at
least two feet of distance between their bodies. Still, it was far
too reminiscent of that long ago night.