Spinning (2 page)

Hank screwed up his face comically. “You wanna get married?”

Jim raised a finger. “Um, can I say something about that?”

I was getting irritated. “I didn’t say I wanted to get married. Let’s just change the subject.”

“Suit yourself. How about we change it to the subject of Billie, Amanda, and Mason’s new babe of an E.A.?” Hank nodded toward the magnificent redhead, her sternfaced friend, and the young blonde heading toward our table. The blonde peeled off before she got to us.

I wasn’t the only one who had my eye on the brass ring at the office. Billie Daniels was at least as ambitious as me. We had a lot in common. We started at the firm about a month apart, we were the same age, we each had an MBA - although hers came from Syracuse and we both had very definite career plans. If I breathed challenge like air, Billie made me hyperventilate. I was confident that a VP spot would eventually go to each of us, and so was she. We kidded about it and engaged in playful competition over who was going to get the office with the best view.

At the beginning of our tenures at Mason Brand, we had even more in common for six days and ten hours, the best portion of which we spent with our clothes off.

“Hello, boys,” Billie said, putting her arms around Jim and me. Although we weren’t like that and hadn’t been since we decided that a romantic entanglement was too complicated, her warm breath on my neck sent a tingle along my spine. “Congratulations on the Crystal Creek deal, Dylan.”

“Thanks, Billie. You remember Hank and Jim.”

“Of course.”

A thin woman with pale skin and little makeup slipped in between Billie and Jim. “Come on, Billie. If you stand too close to these Neanderthals, you’ll lose I.Q. points.”

Jim began to make chimp noises and Hank quickly joined the chorus.

“See what I mean?” She rolled her eyes with a smile. “Hi, Jimbo.”

Jim kept his response to the simian.

“Hi, Amanda,” I said. Amanda was a true Monet from a distance, and when she was up close, I never knew where to focus. She’d rarely make eye contact with me,
although I attributed it to her being an attorney; always looking for a back door. We faux cheek kissed. “It’s good to see you again.”

“Pleasure as ever, Dylan,” she said.

“As ever. This is Hank and, apparently, you remember Jimbo the Monkeyman. He’s out on work release from the City Zoo.”

Jim made another monkey sound. The dating advice from his kids couldn’t come fast enough.

Amanda offered Jimbo a patient grin and then tugged on Billie’s arm. “There’s an open table,” she said, nodding across the dance floor and attempting to pull Billie along with her. When Billie didn’t move right away, Amanda headed off to stake out the table for the three of them.

Billie shrugged and offered us one of those heart-melting smiles she could call up on command. “Bye, boys,” she said, heading to their table. The three of us watched her until she disappeared in the crowd.

“Did you see that?”

“What, Hank?”

“Did you see that smile she gave you? She wants you.”

“Who?” I said.

“Billie.”

I shook my head. “Nah, that’s not what that meant. I think it’s almost like a reflex with her.”

“Well, that smile definitely got the attention of my reflexes.”

“You have a great imagination.”

“I like Billie,” Jim said. “She has a good soul.”

Hank twisted his expression again. “You saw her soul? I couldn’t get past her thighs.”

I smirked at Hank. “Billie’s the best.”

Hank cocked an eyebrow. “So I’ve heard.” I think he knew that this annoyed me because he immediately launched into our signature toast. He knew that no matter how peeved I might be, I was obligated to participate. “To babes!”

Jim raised his glass. “Booze!”

I lifted my drink, as well. “And season tickets!” We all drank.

“I gotta go,” Jim said, wiping his mouth with his coat sleeve. “It’s either that, or sell what’s left of my investment portfolio to pay a sitter.”

Hank stood with him. “I’ll share a cab with you.”

I looked at Hank. “You, too?”

“Yeah, the wife’s flight lands in a couple of hours and I have to go home, chill the champagne and limber up. We’re up to position number 116 in the Kama Sutra. Number 104 almost blew out my back, but if you tell anyone, I’ll deny it. Hasta la vista.”

“Hasta.”

After a few drinks, the Magenta Martini had begun to swirl with possibility. On the near end of the dance floor, next to a table and an arm’s length from a pair of orange martinis, two women danced close to the slow jazz beat of an acoustic guitar.

The attitude of the Martini was on full display, except at one dimly lit table sitting off to the side. Along the rustic brick façade, a man and woman seemed oblivious to the chaos around them. He held her hand and smiled. She smiled back beneath the pink lights and ran her fingers through her hair. A laugh. Another touch. A candlelit glimmer. While the Magenta Martini shouted mating season, they whispered of romance. I had no idea why they’d come here.

Whether it was the promise of romance or the pulse of the dance beat that had replaced Stevie Ray, I wanted to catch up with Billie and Amanda and meet the friend they’d hooked up with. Tufts of red hair just outside of the softly tinted table light called to me like a beacon. Billie wore a black gabardine and Lycra mini with a dark, sleeveless top pressed against her ivory skin and muscular arms. I couldn’t see her legs in the shadows of the table, but ever since our six days and ten hours, I knew them from memory.

Camouflaged in drab layered fabric, Amanda sat next to Billie. She really was striking in her own way, though not in any way that struck me as particularly appealing. Amanda was way too serious to find sexy. And it wasn’t exactly a turn-on that she spoke to me as though I was a bathtub ring.

Then there was the third woman, the blonde. She was Laurel, Mason’s new executive assistant. I definitely found her attractive and figured that for at least one night I wouldn’t mind how she talked to me.

“The most beautiful ladies in New York,” I said, as I moved closer to the table and positioned myself next to Billie, trying to get a better view of Laurel.

Amanda offered a mock yawn. “We’ve heard that three times already. Aren’t you supposed to be good with words?”

I smiled. “For a gorilla, I’m not that smart.” I didn’t find Amanda physically appealing, but I did like the way she kept me on edge.

Billie gestured toward me. “Laurel, this is the guy who stole the Crystal Creek deal from Waverly.”

Laurel glanced at me coyly. “Hello.” My finely tuned super-hearing detected a purring intonation in her voice.

I studied Laurel while I responded to Billie’s comment. “I wouldn’t say stole.” Laurel was wearing a black, button-down V-neck accented in cleavage, and if Billie hadn’t been around, she would have had the best legs in the room. “They just knew when the competition overpowered them. Like that bouncer you met at Antonio’s, right Amanda?”

Laurel laughed. It was a courtesy laugh, but it meant that I could proceed to the next round.

Amanda flashed half of a smile and punched me in the arm. It actually hurt a little. “Play fair. What happened to Jimbo and the other gorilla? Time for their hourly feeding?”

“Nah, Hank had to head back to the tree house to limber up for Jane and Jimbo had to leave to nurture his monkeys.”

“Shouldn’t that be
spank his monkeys
?” Billie said, laughing.

“Maybe that, too.” I looked at Amanda, who had lost her narrow-lipped smile. “What’s the matter? Maybe he can come out to play another time.”

“I’ll get over it.”

Laurel’s eyes kept drifting my way and a subtle smile emerged, as if she were thinking something naughty. At least I hoped it was something naughty. After catching her first glance, she had my curiosity. After catching it a second and third time, I could feel my pulse quicken and my imagination kick into gear. With Billie and Amanda around, I would have to be careful. I could never be sure
what Amanda was going to say, and flirting when Billie was nearby made me nervous.

“Dylan,” Laurel said, “how were you able to
steal
the Waverly account?”

Amanda tipped her head. “She learns fast.”

This was my cue to impress; to appear humble, while still scoring points. “It’s not as bad as it sounds. It wasn’t just me. It was our whole team. We were able to offer the client specialized product services that Waverly couldn’t.”

I paused to assess my spin. It was a little awkward and I didn’t actually say anything.
Pretty much exactly what I was going for.

“Mr. Mason was talking about it all day. Saying how he loves to beat Waverly and how it didn’t happen very often. Apparently, they go way back… to some war or something?” She made penetrating eye contact. “He gave you all the credit.”

Amanda rolled her eyes and sipped her red martini.

“Mr. Mason is very generous.” I said. From the way Laurel smiled, I knew I’d responded properly.

I allowed our eyes to touch again. At this point, I was relatively sure that I wasn’t imagining her interest. “You started working for Mason last Monday, right?”

“Last Monday, yes.”

“Well, I hope you like it there as much as Billie and I do.”

“Speak for yourself, D-Man,” Billie said, tugging at her martini-colored martini.

“You don’t like working there?” This surprised me. Mason adored her and he couldn’t have treated her better, if she was his daughter.

“I love working for Mason, don’t get me wrong. But if the money’s good somewhere else….”

“Well, yeah, of course,” I said, acknowledging what we all understood to be the rules of the game.

“Waverly’s got a VP spot opening up when one of his toadies retires,” Billie said, prolonging the suspense with a dramatic sip. “I heard Toady is opting for early retirement to spend some time with Mrs. Toady at a Table Mesa retirement pond, no doubt.”

“Where did you hear that?”

“Around.”

“Around where?”

“Just around.” She smiled. “That’s all I know.”

I knew her too well to believe her. When she tipped her head toward her drink, I knew she was withholding information. Of course, I wasn’t letting on what I knew about the situation at Waverly. She probably knew that, though.

“I’ve never been to the Magenta Martini before,” Laurel said, inserting herself. “I’ve been reading the articles, but I’ve never been here.”

“It’s a great place to unwind after work. They have a great sound system and they play a lot of really good music. They were playing
Little Wing
by Stevie Ray Vaughn before you got here.”

“Hendrix,” Amanda said, abruptly.

“Been there…” I said.

Amanda looked at me, confused. I just smiled at her. “This is a great place if you like lions and tigers and bears…”

“Oh, my!” Billie said, taking the cue. “I prefer tigers.”

“Apparently, the bears are partial to me,” Amanda added.

Laurel had the bluest eyes I’d seen since my last shot of tequila.

“I guess that leaves you with the lions, Laurel,” Amanda said.

“I’ve never played with a lion before.” She threw me a glance that absolutely could not be misinterpreted.

Billie clearly caught it as well. She grabbed my shoulder and whispered, “Careful D, she’s from one of those I-states you’re afraid of. And besides…” she moved closer “… you’d kill her.”

“No whispering,” Amanda said in singsong fashion.

“Billie just told me how much she loves and respects me. I love you, too, darling,” I said, kissing her cheek. “Speaking of I-states, whatever happened to Indiana Jones?”

Amanda laughed. “He barely made Billie’s two-week mark.”

“Better than most,” I said.

“Please, you two. My average is three.”

“Three?” we both said at the same time.

Billie drew herself up in her seat. “Three.”

Amanda thought for a moment. “What about Montana Mike?”

I pointed a finger in Billie’s direction. “Or Danny Detroit?”

“Singapore Steve?”

“… or Berwyn Bob?”

“Berwyn?”

Billie laughed loudly and, in my mind, a little uncomfortably. “Shut up, both of you. Well, Laurel, now you know the caliber of my friends. Pathetic.”

“These two,” I said to Laurel, gesturing toward Billie and Amanda, “are terrible to men.”

Laurel patted Billie’s hand in sympathy, while casting knowing glances in the direction of me and Amanda. I
liked her which probably had something to do with her taste in hemlines.

My gaze drifted to Laurel’s legs again. Billie must have seen me looking. When I looked up, she rolled her eyes. I couldn’t help but laugh which, in turn, made Billie laugh.

“You two seem to know each other pretty well,” Laurel said, glancing from Billie to me. “Have you ever dated? Or are you related? Wait… that didn’t come out right.”