2 Big Apple Hunter (11 page)

When the lights went up for intermission, Rick turned to me and said, “Come with me, Susan. We’ll get something to drink, and I want you to meet my friend.”

I
glanced
at Bernardo and his companion. They were moving out of the aisle
,
and
they
weren’t looking my way.
“Ok,” I told Rick and proceede
d to follow him
in the opposite direction from
the two men
.

The lobby was crowded. Rick
held
my hand
to keep us from being
separated, and we made our way outside to the sidewalk. He
approached
an incredibly handsome
guy who was tall and well-built. His dark brown hair was falling in wavy strands onto his forehead. 
I was drawn to his face with its
sexy stubble of a beard and dark eyes
which
took in every inch of you with one long stare. He had on a white dress shirt with the sleeves rolled to just above the elbow, and it was unbuttoned
three buttons. It appeared
h
e had worn the shirt to work
then relaxed it for th
e evening.
His black dress slacks were impeccable and probably tailored for him. This guy’s looks were a force to be reckoned with.

Rick caugh
t his friend’s long stare
and burst out laughing. “Susan,” he said, “this is my friend, Chase Connor McLoughlin, the third.”

“Wow, you weren’t kidding,
”
Chase said
low,
under his breath. He
was talking to Rick, but still
staring
at me. I was starting to feel uncomfortable and could feel
a
blush coming
into my face
. Chase’s eyes settled down, and the gentlema
n in him showed up. “Susan, are you enjoying the show
?”
he asked.
Oh my gosh, even his voice was unbelievably sexy, not too deep, and with a rich, throaty tone.

“I love it,” I responded
with a smile
. “I’ve seen the show at home in local theater, so this is a treat to see it on the big stage.”

“Where’s home?” he asked.

I noticed
Rick was no longer beside me. “Northeast Ohio. Home for you?” I
asked returning
the question.

“Born and raised in New York City,” he said. “I’ve lived here all my life, and I never get tired of the city. Are you in town long?”

“No,” I told him. “I came up with a friend who has business here. We’re flying out tomorrow evening.”

“Have you had a chance to see much of the city so far?” he asked.

“Some
,” I said
.
“
I actually took a bus tour today, and it was fun.” I smiled at the recent memory.

Rick was back with
three glasses of white wine. The three of us
chatted for several
more
minutes. It seemed as though intermission had just started when it was time to move back inside
the theater
. I turned around and caught Bernardo and his companion staring at me. They were both frowning, and I couldn’t understand why they seemed so angry, even sinister. My feminine wiles obviously had no effect on those two.

Chase, Rick, and I started to move together with the crowd toward the theater doors. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Bernardo and the other man walk into the theater through the farthest set of doors. Chase stopped and said, “Wait a minute.” Rick and I held up. “Do you
really want to go back in
?” he asked us. “Let’s grab a cab and run down to Greenwich Village for some Mexican food.”

“T
hat sounds fantastic. I’m in,” said Rick. “Whaddaya say, Susan? Come with us. We’ll make sure you get back to your hotel later.”

I like to think I’m a good judge of character, and these two college buddies seemed like good guys. The thought of Bernardo and his creepy friend at the end of the night was much scarier than dinner with these two; besides, I was famished. I smiled at both of them and said, “Count me in.”

Chase hailed a cab. Rick hopped in on one side, and Chase opened the door for me on the other. As I was getting in, I felt Chase’s hand on my back as though he was guiding me into the cab. When he
climbed in after me, I gave
him a
what was that?
look. He laughed and said, “Susan,
you’re wearing
a beautiful dress
. I
couldn’t help
myself and had to see if it feels
as good as it looks. There’s nothing like cashmere is there?” He was still laughing, and it was hard not to laugh with him. Rick reached over and rubbed my arm, “If Chase gets to feel it, I get to, too. I’ve been wanting to all evening.”

“Ok, you guys,” I pretended to scold them. “Now that you’ve had your feels, everybody settle down.” Both guys laughed. I could see they were enjoying themselves, and so was I.

Chase and Rick were both doing some texting on the cab ride to the restaurant. I had to fight back
the little paranoia monster wanting
to bubble up. I was going to Greenwich Village with two complete strangers. It was crazy.

Twenty minutes later, we walked through the doors of a fabulous Spanish-Mexican restaurant. I loved the heavy Spanish influence and the large paintings on the wall. Chase held his elbow out for me to take his arm, and the three of us headed to the back of the restaurant. A chorus of “Chase!” greeted us from a group of ten people already seated around a large rectangular table. Chairs were moved, people scooted around the banquette seating on the wall, and we joined the group
.
Chase
sat
beside me
,
and Rick
took
a seat
across.

The group of friends was an eclectic group made up of musicians, artists, Wall Street brokers, and
a college buddy
who also knew Rick. It was fun to watch the group of friends interact, and they made me fe
el
welcome. When they
discovered
I played racquetball, one of the guys
grinned and
said, “When I saw your legs, I knew you were into sports, but I never would have guessed racquetball.” They asked questions and seemed genuinely happy along with me that I had won a tournament at the state level. We drank margaritas, ordered several plat
ters of food, and shared it
all
family style. The food was delicious. The easy conversation continued after dinner, and I was thoroughly enjoying myself.

Chase leaned back in his chair and put his arm on the back of my chair. Occasionally, I could feel his fingers ever so slightly rub my shoulder, and I didn’t know if he was making a pass or simply enjoying the cashmere. One of the girls at the table smiled at me but addressed Chase
and said
, “Ok, Chase, how is it
you always find the pretty girls?”

“I didn’t find her
, he said. “
Rick did.” He laughed and smiled at Rick. “I just took her away from him.”

I wasn’t sure if I should even address the comments, and I could feel a blush coming on. I hated blushing, and no matter how hard I tried, I had no control over it.

Chase
checked the time on his watch, glanced toward
Rick
,
and said, “Time to go.” He looked at me and asked, “Ready?”

“Sure,” I said.

We all said our good-byes, with Chase doing a lot of hand shaking
, hugging,
and
kissing
. We left the restaurant, and Rick hailed a cab for us.

It was after midnight
. I assumed the guys would drop me
at the hotel. I was wrong.

“Susan, do you like to dance?” Chase asked.

“I love to dance,” I told him with a smile. It would feel good to dance off some of the meal we had just consumed.

Chase gave an address to the cab driver, and th
e next thing I knew we were in the meatpacking district getting out at a dance club. There was a long line of people waiting to get in, but Chase gra
sped
my hand and
led
me along to the front of the line
.
Rick followed close behind
. People
heckled us for bucking the
line, but Chase ignored them. He greeted the guys at the door by name, handed off what I assumed to be a fair amount of cash, and we were ushered in.

The club was fantastic from top to bottom. It was an upscale club, and the crowd was preppie. The neon lighting around the room ranged from amber on the walls to a pink hue behind the bar. The dance floor, lit with neon red, was small, but not terribly crowded. High-energy Electro music blared from the sound system.
I loved the atmosphere, and felt a wave of excitement rush over me. I was experiencing New York City nightlife by myself
…
well, with two nearly complete strangers. I couldn’t help
the
giggle that escaped my lips.

Chase and Rick took turns dancing with me between
drinks
, and we had a blast. Both guys were protective and cut off any advances toward me from other guys in the club. Rick commented a couple of times that Chase and I made
a great looking couple, and
people were definitely watching us when we danced together. Neither of the guys asked me if I was dating anyone, and neither of them m
ade overt passes at me. We simply
clicked and had a good time together. We finally left the club around 3:00 A.M.

Once again in a cab, it was the moment of truth. Would these guys really see me safely back to my hotel? The little paranoia monster started to rise up again, but I pushed it aside and tried to relax.

Chase broke the silence, “Susan, you really added
to our evening tonight. I’m
glad you joined us.”

“I had a good time, too, guys,” I said smiling at one and
then the other. “Thank you both
for showing me more
of New York
.”

Chase reached into his shirt pocket. “Here’s my card. I wrote m
y cell on the back. The next time you come to town
, give me a call. I’ll show you a lot more of the city.” It was obviously the line of the day.

We pulled up in front of the St. Regis. Chase and Rick both leaned forward at the same time
and kissed me on my cheeks – one guy on each side. I laughed out loud. It was a funny ending to a fun night. Chase stepped out and reached for my hand to
assist
me out of the cab. I
gave them a last
goodnight
,
walked up the steps
, and
into the hotel.

No one was in the elev
ator. I leaned against the
wall and let out a satisfied sigh. It had been a wonderful day. I yawned. I couldn’t wait to get into bed. I didn’t even know what time we need
ed to be up in the morning.
I hoped I could sleep in.

I
slowly
opened the door to our room and tried not to make any noise so as not to disturb Darby. I saw right aw
ay
he was sitting in the living room
. H
is head
was
dropped down onto his chest
, and
he was asleep. I walked over to him, gave him a little shake, and whispered, “Darby.”

His hea
d jerked up, and he
yelled at me, “Susan! Where have you been? I’ve been worried sick about you.”

I was completely taken aback by his words. This was not like Darby at all. “I met some people at the
theater
. We went out to dinner and then dancing. Why are you so worked up?”

He put his head in his hands. “I thought something terrible had happened to you. I honestly didn’t know if I would ever see you again, and I feel responsible for you.”

I still did
n’t understand why he cared
I had an evening out, and I started to get defensive. “Darby, you aren’t really babysitting me for Mick. I can go out if I want to.”

He stood up and faced me, his voice still raised, “Susan! Armand called. He told me Bernardo was with you at the theater, but you were talking to a couple of strange men at intermission, and then you disappeared. You never came back into the theater. Bernardo wanted to call the police because he
was sure
you had been abducted.”

“Oh my gosh! That horrible Bernardo!” I blurted out.

Darby’s mouth dropped open in disbelief. I was, after all, speaking about his new employer. I tried to defend m
yself. “Listen, Darby, he wasn’t
a nice man. He was rude to me. The man with him did nothing but stare at my chest, and the man from the store with the Indiana Jones hat was
there, and there were two thugs in suits in the corner of the lobby.” I paused to take a breath. “He scared me, and I didn’t want to have to rely on him to help me after the show.”