The mood of the place is loud and jovial, and music is piped throughout the space.
We’ve had dinner, and I haven’t laughed this much since I don’t know when.
Claire Anderson is fucking hilarious.
She’s tipsy and relaxing more and more by the minute. I like her like this. I mean, I like her anyway, but she is at her best when her defenses are down.
She’s wearing a fitted black dress with spaghetti straps and stilettoes. Her thick shoulder-length dark hair is down, and she’s wearing minimal makeup.
She has no idea how fucking sexy she is.
It’s the weirdest thing—she’s everything that I’ve never found attractive before.
And I don’t even know what it is about her, but I find myself hanging on her every word.
“Tell me.” She smiles as she takes my hand in hers. “How are you still single?”
I smile and pick up our hands and bring them to my mouth. I kiss hers and then shrug.
“How old are you?” She frowns.
“How old do you want me to be?”
“You only say that if you’re a prostitute.”
I widen my eyes. “How do you know I’m not? How do you know that Marley hasn’t paid me to seduce you?”
Her lips twist as she fights a smile. “How much is she paying you?”
“There isn’t enough money in the world.” I smirk into my glass as I take a sip. “Keeping you satisfied is a dirty job. I bit off more than I can chew. I’m demanding a pay raise.”
The woman at the bar beside us looks at me and then turns to the bar, as if revolted.
My eyes widen. She heard me. Claire tips her head back and laughs out loud.
I tap the woman on the arm. “She’s not paying me,” I whisper. “I’m seducing her for free.” I cross my fingers on my chest. “And I’m not chewing. It’s all licking.”
Claire really loses it and laughs hard, and I find myself laughing too.
I fall serious and watch her laugh for a moment, because what I told the woman is not even true.
Claire Anderson is seducing me.
“Answer my question,” she says.
“I’m thirty-four.”
“And you’re still single?” She frowns as she contemplates my age. “How is that possible?”
I sip my drink. “I don’t know.” I shrug. “I’ve had four serious relationships over the course of time.”
“And they didn’t work out?”
“Nope.”
“Why not?”
“You’re very nosy, Anderson.”