Cruel Fortune (Cruel #2)(25)

A piece of my heart shriveled at the news. I hadn’t kissed anyone in a year. My first kiss in all that time had happened only two days ago. But Penn? Penn hadn’t pined for me. He hadn’t even cared. He’d given up that shred of morality he’d claimed to have and dived headfirst back into the pool.

I shouldn’t have been surprised. He’d been writing a book on why casual sex was philosophically moral. That the standard view that said relationships were safer and all-around better wasn’t accurate any longer. Of course he’d taken his own advice.

“Well, that’s interesting,” I finally managed to get out. “Here I was, feeling bad that I’d kissed Lewis. And maybe that was just stupid. Why would Penn care?”

“You kissed!” Jane gasped in delight.

“Yeah. I mean, I pushed him away because I thought it was wrong.”

“But it felt oh-so right?” Jane waggled her eyebrows.

I laughed despite my pain. “Oh-so right,” I agreed.

“I’ve got the best idea,” Jane said. “You should invite Lewis out for a martini.”

“Jane…”

“It’ll be fun. You can decide then if you really like him without all that guilt weighing you down. Or you can have a damn good martini from Kendrick here with the most eligible bachelor in Manhattan and moi, of course.”

“He might not even show up,” I argued.

Jane’s smile was electric. “Don’t know until you try.”

What did I have to lose really? I’d done the right thing over and over. Always the right thing. Always the smart and good thing. Where had that gotten me? Maybe I’d just forget about that and take Jane’s advice. Nothing was holding me back any longer.

“All right. But, if this turns out to be a bad idea, I’m blaming you.”

She clapped her hands. “I take full responsibility.”

I withdrew my phone and wrote a text I never thought I would compose.

Hey, I’m at Tilted Glass with Jane. Any interest in meeting us out for a drink?





My stomach was in knots as I hit the Send button. My brain going through all the reasons I shouldn’t have sent that. But then a text came in almost instantaneously, and all the nerves dissolved.

I’d love that. See you soon.





Natalie





11





I had just finished my second martini when I noticed Lewis walking into the bar. Eyes turned to him. He attracted attention by his very presence in that dark gray suit. His black button-up opened at the neck. His eyes found me across the room. A slow smile spread across his face as he sauntered toward me, ignoring the looks that he drew from all sides.

“This was a nice surprise,” he said by way of greeting.

I tipped my martini at him. “You can thank Jane.”

He turned toward Jane and grinned. “I don’t know what you did, but I feel as if I’m going to owe you a favor.”

Jane laughed. “Favors are my favorite currency.”

“I bet,” he said with a grin as he slipped into the seat next to me. “What are we drinking?”

“Dirty martinis,” I informed him.

“As dirty as they come,” Jane said. “I’m trying to convince Kendrick to bartend at my new place, Trinity.”

“I haven’t heard that it’s been green-lighted,” Lewis observed.

Jane shrugged. “Minor kinks. It’ll come through. You’ll be at the opening, yeah?”

“Wouldn’t miss it. Maybe we can convince Natalie here to go with me.”

“When is it?” I asked, a flush tingeing my cheeks.

“December thirteenth. Friday the thirteenth felt lucky,” Jane said with a chuckle.

Kendrick slipped me my third martini and passed one to Lewis, too. I was feeling the side effects pretty strong from the first two. I must have been to even consider going.

“I’ll be back in Charleston.”

“You could fly up for it,” Jane said.

“Or,” Lewis said, “you could just move here.”

I laughed unexpectedly. “I can’t move here.”

“Oh my god, yes!” Jane said. “That would be a fabulous idea. Move to the city, Natalie.”

“I can’t just move to New York,” I told them.

“Why not?” Lewis asked. “You’re working as an author and making decent money, and you write better here. You told me yourself.”

“I…I mean…yeah, but,” I ventured.

Jane’s grin widened. “You write better in the city? Well then, you have to move here. We could hang out all the time. Get coffee while I work on my business and you write. Shop at Bergdorf and Barneys and go to all the best parties. It would be fabulous.”

Except…that wasn’t the life I wanted or even could live. Just because I’d published my first book didn’t mean I could suddenly shop at Bergdorf. God, I couldn’t even imagine what it would cost to move to the city and get my own apartment. It was unreasonable.

“It’s my first book. I don’t even have the next contract.”

Lewis brushed that aside. “You’re a superstar at Warren. They’ll buy anything you put forth now.”