Hooked 2 (Hooked #2)(6)

“That, my darling, is a great surprise.”

“You’re just full of surprises, aren’t you?” I said sarcastically as we bounded down the steps. I noted how different this interaction was than the previous week, when we had floated to the top of the Four Seasons in such style and grandeur.

At the front of our apartment building, a shining white Porsche was parked, its lights on. A crowd of a few different men, all moaning with envy, was stationed before it. Drew parted the sea of men with ease and opened the door for me on the passenger side. “My lady,” he said.

Trying to make a game of it, I waved my hair at the men who looked on at us with such need. I sat in the Porsche’s front seat, looking at them with lazy, bedroom eyes. I had never been anyone other men had swooned at. I assumed it was the backdrop of the Porsche that created the lasting effect. I nearly laughed with glee.

Drew sat in the seat next to me and swooped sunglasses over his eyes. He knew the way he looked. He turned on the radio, loudly, and cranked into gear. We were off. My heart was nearly in my throat as we passed the sagging apartment building we both shared. My life, in that moment, was different than I could have ever dreamed.

And yet, I had a million questions.

“Quite a performance back there,” I began.

“Yes, well. The Porsche brings out the crowd. She does all the work.”

“It really is beautiful. You collect cars?”

“I just have this one and the Jag. I also have a Jeep for off-roading, if I feel up to it. You like off-roading?”

“Can’t say I’ve ever been a part of it, no,” I murmured. Who was this guy?

“Anyway. The Porsche is my favorite. The other two are still back in New York. I haven’t moved everything back yet.” He paused. “You know. It’s pretty bizarre that we’re stationed in the same apartment building.”

“I wouldn’t say I’m stationed there. I’d say I’m more—living there. That’s my home.” I turned, blinking at him. “And you told me your home was in the Four Seasons.” I was challenging him. If we were going to go on this date, I wanted to know all his secrets. I wanted to know who this guy thought he was.


Drew gave me a brief wolf smile as we turned. “I figured you’d be confused by that. You know. I spent the first week or so in the Four Seasons. But then my friend Marty and I got this place, just for now. He’s helping me open the business here, you see. He’s going to be a manager. We’ve been friends for a long time—“

“But why in this dank apartment building?” I asked him. I wasn’t ready to give up the fight.

His voice was easy, unmatched with my combative tone. I sat upright, in a feminine way, looking at him like a tiger.

“You know. We actually bought an entire apartment building, really close to the new bookstore. But it isn’t ready for us yet. We’re remodeling; we’re creating our exact specifications. When it’s done, it’ll be so much more than the f*cking Four Seasons.” His eyes flashed. “You’ll have to see it when it’s done.”

I crossed my arms over my breasts. “So. You didn’t rent that hotel room just to impress me.”

“God, no,” Drew said, shaking his head.

“And you didn’t rent it to impress any other girl?”

Drew raised his eyebrow. “I didn’t know a jealous side of you existed.”

My face burned. He was calling me out. I cleared my throat, hoping to find a better topic of conversation. “So. Where is it you’re taking me?” I noted that we were exiting the city, north and west, more toward the airport. What was going on?

“Still a surprise, so sorry,” Drew slurred, laughing briefly. “Say. What have you been up to the past several days, anyway? You didn’t answer my calls, even when you didn’t know I was living in your apartment building. I thought you’d dropped off the face of the earth.”

I thought about it; about everything that had happened. About saying goodbye to my beautiful dance studio, to my dreams. I pictured myself there, in the front seat of the Porsche, telling this dastardly beautiful man about everything that had happened. And I realized, in that moment, I couldn’t. I couldn’t come clean. “You know. I’ve been working really hard to find a PR job. I wanted to be centered this week, during my interviews. I couldn’t date or anything.”

“And now, that’s over?” Drew asked me.

I nodded. “At least for now.”

“When do you hear back?”

I paused before answered. “My assistant will let me know. She takes care of everything for me.” Suddenly, I grabbed my knees, shocked. I knew where we were.

The Porsche turned into the Bungee Birds parking lot. Bungee Birds was a company that took you into the woods, about an hour away from Chicago, and allowed you to bungee jump in a clearing, with the entire beauty of the earth below you. I grabbed my heart as we entered, already in a sort of panic mode. Bungee jumping? What kind of a date was this? My sense of adventure was escalating; all memory of the past dismal week was falling away. Bungee jumping. Yes.

“Have you ever done this before?” Drew asked me as he parked the car. He grinned at me.

“You know. I haven’t.” Drew waited for my response as I turned toward him in the car, my chest heaving with excitement. I wanted to grab his face right then, to kiss him passionately. “I haven’t. But I’ve always wanted to try.”