Charade (Swept Away, #1.5)(9)

“What were you even doing in that building?” Rosie questioned me and I froze for a second as I tried to think of a good excuse.

“I walked in by mistake,” I improvised. “You know how I am with directions. I thought I was headed to an exhibit and entered the wrong building.”

“What exhibit?”

“Oh, a history thing.” I shrugged and gave her a smile. “About Mayor La Guardia and the city of New York.”

“I see.” As I’d hoped she would, Rosie dropped the subject. She had no interest in history and quickly got bored when I went off on one of my tangents. “Well, that was fortuitous.”

“You know how life goes.” I laughed lightly. “You always meet someone when you least expect it.”

“Yeah, it’s funny how that goes.” She nodded. “So when am I going to get to meet this David?”

“Soon,” I said reluctantly. I really didn’t want Rosie to meet David; she might reveal something that I didn’t want her to. I also didn’t want anything to come up about me being at a shareholders’ meeting as a stockholder. Rosie’s face alone would give the story away. However, I knew she’d be angry if I didn’t introduce her to him at some point.

“Look at you, Bianca London! You’ve gotten yourself a boyfriend, and a rich one at that.”

“I don’t know if he’s rich,” I lied. I knew exactly how many billions his family’s company was worth. “And he’s not my boyfriend. We only met a week ago, when we snuck out of the meeting and went for a drink. I haven’t spoken to him since.” Though he had called me twice. I smiled to myself. I knew that not answering his calls or calling him back right away was a dangerous game. However, men like David needed a chase. If I was too eager, he’d lose interest. And I couldn’t afford for him to lose interest.

“You said his name was David Bradley, right?” She gave me a smile. “Everyone in New York City knows how rich the Bradleys are.”

“I didn’t think I told you his last name.” I frowned. I’d had so many sleepless nights recently that I wasn’t sure which way was up.

“Of course you did, how else would I know?”

“Yeah, he’s a Bradley. Though I don’t know if he’s rich.” I shrugged. “That doesn’t matter to me.”

“Yeah, I know you don’t care about money.” She grabbed the menu and opened it. “Should I get the tacos or enchiladas?”

“Why don’t you try something else?” I said as I did every time we went out for Mexican food. I wasn’t sure why Rosie always wanted to go to Mexican restaurants when she wasn’t particularly fond of the food. Actually, that was a lie. Rosie loved the free chips and salsa. She was one of those people that would buy five products she didn’t want just to get one free.

“Maybe next time.” She put the menu back down on the table. “I’ll get the pulled pork tacos.”

“Carnitas?”

“Carnitas what?” She made a face.

“You want the carnitas tacos?”

“Yeah, sure, whatever.” She sat back. “So tell me everything. How did you meet David? What happened when you went out for drinks?”

“There’s not much to tell.” I nodded at the waiter to let him know we were ready to order. A part of me wondered if I should have kept quiet about meeting David. I’d been so excited that my plan had worked that I’d wanted to talk to someone about him. Rosie was my best friend, but she was extremely nosy. This was a new potential relationship I had to be extremely careful about. I didn’t need her ruining it.

“Is he as dreamy as he looks in the papers?” Her eyes studied my face. “Is he good in bed?”

“Rosie! I met him once! I haven’t slept with him yet.”

“I wouldn’t judge you if you had.”

“I don’t just sleep around like that, you know that.”

“Pity.” She grinned. “I don’t know that I’d be able to say no to a slip and tug.”

“A slip and tug, really?” I giggled.

“Or a rub, then.” She grinned. “A slip and rub.”

“Well, there were no slips and no tugs and no rubs. He did give me a kiss on the cheek, though.”

“Aw, he sounds like a *.”

“Rosie!” I exclaimed again. “Really?”

“What guy gives a girl a kiss on the cheek? Go for the lips, man.”

“He was being a gentleman.” I didn’t tell her about all the other instances that night when he’d tried his best to get me to go back to his place. He’d made it obvious that he wanted to sleep with me.

“Yeah, that’s it.” We paused as the waiter came over and took out orders. “I’ll have the pulled pork tacos, hold the barbeque sauce.” Rosie placed her order and I held back a smirk as the waiter stared at her in confusion.

“I’ll have the chicken mole please.”

“Aw man, you’re not getting the muddy chicken, are you?” Rosie made a face and I rolled my eyes at her.

“Anything else?” The waiter looked at us with a small frown.

“No, thanks, that’s all.”

“I’ll be having a tres leches later,” Rosie spoke up as the waiter walked away.