The Allure of Dean Harper (The Allure #2)(9)

“And Dean,” Julian cut in. “What the hell has gotten into you?”

We both grunted in annoyance, so in sync that I would have laughed had I not despised him so much. Jo turned to Julian and they exchanged a worried glance.

“Why don’t we go to our separate corners for a bit,” Julian suggested.

Jo nodded. “I was thinking the exact same thing.”

I hated being patronized. Dean and I didn’t need mediators. He and I could work out our problems on our own, but Julian had already turned and directed Dean back to the trail. I watched his back, waiting for him to turn around and throw me one last death stare, but he never turned back and Josephine pulled me away before I could think to hurl one last obscenity his way.

I kicked up dirt on the path, still reeling from the skirmish. Josephine squeezed my shoulder as we walked toward 5th Avenue.

“Wow. So that was—”

I glanced up at her. “Horrific.”

She narrowed her eyes. “Colorful.”

“You should have seen the way he treated me last night.”

She rolled her lips together and slid her green gaze my way. “Well, I can guess that it wasn’t very good.”

“He pretended to be a shitty customer and then fired me on the spot. Right in front of the other bartenders.”

She stopped dead in her tracks. “Seriously?”

I nodded.

“Do you want to go back? I’ll hold him down and let you kick his shins.”

I smirked. The idea of attacking Dean with Josephine as an accomplice sounded tempting, but there had to be a better way to get under his skin. I just had to think.

“No, it’s fine. Let’s just go to the apartment. I need to get back to my job search anyway.”

I caught her frown out of the corner of my eye. “I’m so sorry Lil, but I can’t. Julian and I have breakfast plans with his sister and then she wants to show me some of the designs from her upcoming collection.”

I’d been in New York for two days and already I felt like Josephine was too busy for me.

“Will you be back in time for dinner?”

“Vogue bloggers are meeting up for a work happy hour,” she recited, eyeing her phone’s calendar.

I nodded. Perfect. I had very important plans too. They included: emailing my resume to every restaurant within a one hundred mile radius while streaming a Pretty Little Liars marathon for background noise to fool me into thinking I wasn’t alone.





Chapter Seven


Dean





“Dean, you have to hire Lily back.”

I glared at Julian and he arched his brows for emphasis. “I’m dead serious.”

I’d walked with him through the park, explaining my side of the story from the night before. I knew I wasn’t one hundred percent in the right, but Lily definitely wasn’t an angel. Her attitude? Her personality? She was like a cat backed into a corner: claws out, ready to strike.

“Look, I know she’s your friend, and I don’t doubt that she’s probably a delight to be around most days, but those hotheaded employees never last long. Why do you think I have to work for myself?”

Julian shook his head.

“She just moved from Texas two days ago. She moved in with Jo and needs work. She isn’t going to make or break you or your restaurants. This is about helping out a friend.”

“Well, you’re asking too much of me, man. Josephine? She’s like a sweet southern peach. If she needed a job, I’d give her one in a second.”

He laughed. “I don’t think she’d ditch Vogue to go roll silverware for you.”

I clapped my hands. “Well there you have it. The job fair is closed.”

“You’re being a dick.”

I whirled around to face him. “Did you not just listen to me? I-do-not-like-Lily. I’m not going to hire her in my restaurant. Not now. Not ever.”

He crossed his arms and studied me. What he was looking for? I had no f*cking clue.

“Wipe the slate clean and give her one more chance. You two didn’t meet in the best circumstances. Let’s go to dinner so that you can both bury the hatchet. If it still doesn’t work out after that, fine, but at least you can explain to Josephine that you tried not once, but twice to help Lily out.”

I hated being told what to do. Always had. I liked to listen to my own instincts, especially when it came to my companies. Unfortunately, I knew that banishing Lily from my professional life wouldn’t matter if she had already spilled over into my personal life. I considered Julian and Josephine to be my closest friends. For that reason—and that reason alone—I nodded and agreed to dinner.

“7 PM Monday. You pick a neutral territory and I want her patted down before I arrive.”





Chapter Eight


Lily





Nights I’d been in New York: three.

Nights Josephine had stayed at Julian’s apartment: three.

When I’d pictured my move to New York City, it was Josephine and I taking on the world. I’d had dreams of exploring the city with her. Y’know, experiencing our first mugging together, paying ten bucks in Chinatown to get our hair dyed, and then laughing days later as it all fell out. See? Fun! Unfortunately, it looked like I would be exploring the city solo. Sadly, I had the feeling that going bald by myself wouldn’t be nearly as amusing.