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Drew grabbed a garbage bag and Stacey started filling it with cups and plates that people had left behind. Blake took down the decorations and Hunter and Chey folded up the tables.
Within a short time, the men were moving the furniture back into place, making Blake’s condo look like his home again.
Alana headed to the coat closet. Drew was on her heels and Stacey was on his. Alana figured that would allow her a clean break. She needed to put as much distance between her and Drew as possible.
“Bye, guys!” Alana hugged everyone. “It was nice meeting you, Stacey.”
“You too.” Stacey’s smile was unconvincing.
“Blake, don’t forget we have a board meeting next week,” Alana said, referring to The New York Association of Attorneys, a professional organization she, Hunter and Blake were members of.
“Oh yeah. I’ll be there. I’m still trying to get your friend here to join.” Blake pointed a thumb in Cadence’s direction. She rolled her eyes at him.
“That won’t happen! It’s just not her thing,” Alana teased. “Are you coming, Hunter?”
“I’ll be there,” he replied as he helped Chey into her coat.
“Great. Oh, Dr. Smell Good.” Drew began playfully calling Chey that when he first tried one of her fragrant skin-care products. “Don’t forget about my body scrub. I’ve already used up the last one you gave me. It was amazing.”
Chey chuckled. “I’ll send some with Hunter next week.”
“Thanks, girl. That will be perfect. I’ll send the money back with him.”
“Good night, all. I’m pooped and I need to get these boots off. The balls of my feet feel like I’ve been walking on hot coals.” Alana grimaced.
“That’s from all that sexy dancing,” Drew said, and winked.
Alana looked at Drew sideways and shook her head. Everyone laughed, except Stacey.
Blake and Cadence saw everyone to the door. Alana held her gloved hand over her pashmina to keep the frigid air from reaching her neck as she hastened to her car.
“Alana!” At first, Alana didn’t hear Drew calling her. By the time she turned to respond, he was already approaching. “Hey, Drew. What’s up?”
“I was going to walk you to your car.”
“What about your friend?”
“Stacey? She’s in her car.” He dismissed any notion that there was anything deeper. “She lives nearby. She’ll be fine.”
“Oh. Okay. You don’t have to walk me. I’m parked right across the street—see?” Alana pointed to her car. “It’s cold out here.”
“I know I don’t have to. I want to.”
That statement gave Alana pause. She swallowed hard but kept up her stride. “That’s nice.” Drew accompanied her across the street and waited for her to get in and start the car. Alana lowered the window. “Thanks again, Drew. You really didn’t have to do this.”
“Listen—” Drew said and Alana’s stomach tightened.
“Yeah?”
“I’m home for a few weeks. We should hang out.”
“Sure. I’ll tell Cadence to set something up. She’s become quite the planner since she and Blake got together.”
“I meant just you and me.”
“Us...together...without anyone else around?”
“Just you—” Drew pointed to Alana “—and me.” He pointed to himself.
Alana temporarily lost the ability to form a reasonable thought. She couldn’t say what was really on her mind, which was hell no! Buying a few moments, Alana took a deep breath.
“Listen, I know you just broke up with your dude.”
Alana promised to get on Cadence’s case for announcing her breakup to the world.
“I figured it would be good to hang out.”
Alana hated that Drew was so charming. His eyes and those plump lips beckoned her. She remembered her rules.
“Sure,” she said. “I’ll talk to you later.”
“Cool. Call me when you get home so I’ll know that you arrived safely.” Drew stepped back from her driver’s window.
Alana smiled and, as she drove off, she noticed Stacey still sitting in her car, watching their interaction. She’d only said yes to Drew to avoid an awkward situation, but she had no intentions of going out with him. He was the main person she wanted to avoid. If fact, he had had his chance when they dated before. He hadn’t taken it seriously. She’d had fun flirting with him over the past few years. Everyone assumed they would become an official item, but that never happened.
No sex and definitely no commitment-phobic players like Mr. Drew Barrington, she thought as she drove away. She already knew what Drew was like in bed and if any man had the ability to throw her off her game by way of incredible sex, Drew was certainly one of them. Also, Alana saw how Drew relished the attention Stacey lavished on him at the party and surmised that nothing had changed with him. “Good luck, Stacey. He’s a slippery one,” she said aloud. A player like him was hard to resist but could never be trusted.
Chapter 4 (#ulink_dd260b92-a4db-5d39-b745-8c91834d7ed6)
Drew reminisced about the way Alana had arrested his attention when she arrived at Blake’s house the other night as he danced with Stacey. He remembered how her lips curled when she smiled, and those long sexy legs hidden beneath smooth stockings. Then, he envisioned Alana driving away at the end of the night. He had wanted to go with her for a nightcap. She intrigued and scared him at the same time, challenging his player status by causing him to desire her. Admittedly, he’d worked hard to avoid being caught up when they had dated before, because he couldn’t imagine leaving her behind while he traipsed across the globe and he couldn’t expect Alana, as dedicated as she was, to walk away from her profession.
Drew picked up his cell phone to call her and paused as his finger hovered over her name. Tossing the phone aside, Drew shook his head. What was he doing? Barrington men didn’t chase women. Picking the phone back up, he called Hunter instead.
“What’s up, Drew?” Hunter answered.
“Not much. Got any plans? I keep hearing about this new restaurant and lounge downtown on Atlantic. Let’s go check it out. I’ll have you home at a decent time so you can get your rest. I know you and Blake have a busy week coming up with this new case.”
“That sounds good, but let me check with Chey first. I think she had something planned.”
“Oh.” Blake mentioning Chey made Drew think of Alana. He wondered what she was doing. “Hey, don’t let me impose on your plans. You’ll just have to take me there before I leave in a few weeks. It will be your treat for making me wait. Ha!”
“It’s always my treat when I hang out with you.”
“Well. You are the oldest.”
“Yeah. Whatever, lil brother.”
“Alright, Hunt. I’ll catch up with you later. Tell Chey I said hello.”
“Cool.”
Drew put his phone aside and sat back in his black leather recliner. He looked around the four-story brownstone and noticed for the first time how barren that space felt. He’d purchased the home right after he had signed his first multimillion-dollar racing contract but only stayed there during the off-season. He spent most of the year at his homes in England and France, where he resided from March through November. Europe offered him a number of conveniences. Most of his races took place there. His time spent in the States was split between Brooklyn and his parents’ sprawling home on the north shore of Long Island. He had inherited his proclivity to acquire interesting homes from his parents, who enjoyed dabbling in real estate as well.
Drew thought about calling Blake but figured he would also be spending this cold afternoon cozied up with his bride-to-be. Suddenly, he felt like the odd man out. He reached out to his cousin Lance, but the call went to voicemail. His other friends were scattered across the States and abroad, leaving him no more local options. The thought of calling Stacey came and went so fast it could have been a figment of his imagination. Drew looked at his phone, huffed and dialed Alana’s number once again.
“Hello, Drew. How are you?”
“Well. Weren’t you supposed to call me and let me know you got home safely?”
“That was two days ago.”
“Well, you didn’t call.”
“You’re too much. So what’s up?”
“Nothing. Are you busy today?”
“I’m in for the afternoon. Why?”
“How about dinner?” he asked. Alana didn’t respond right away. “Hello?” Drew looked at his phone to make sure that the call hadn’t dropped and that she was still there. “Did you hear me?”
“Thanks for asking, but I don’t think that would be a good idea.”
It was Drew’s turn to be silent. He couldn’t think of any reason why going to dinner with him would be unwise. “Why not?” His confusion splayed across in his tone.
Alana sighed. “I just... It’s not a good time.”
“Since when has that made a difference?” Drew tried to keep his disappointment out of his voice.
Alana waited a beat before responding. “I’m sorry, Drew. I just can’t go. I hope you understand.”
“Sure,” he said, even though he didn’t.
“Take care, Drew.” Alana hung up before he could answer.
“What the hell just happened?” Drew asked aloud.
Unaccustomed to rejection, he was puzzled by her snub. Women didn’t turn him down. Even after their rendezvous, Alana had never refused to hang out with him. He tried to come up with a sensible explanation, but after tossing several scenarios across his mind, he still couldn’t figure out why she’d brushed him off. Then he thought back to Friday night at the party. Had he done or said something to Alana to offend her? He couldn’t recall and he hadn’t been intoxicated enough to forget.
Drew got up from his recliner, grabbed his coat and the key to his newest SUV. Casually, he rode through residential streets of his coveted Clinton Hill neighborhood until he hit DeKalb. After driving a few blocks, he pulled up near the entrance of a crowded sports bar. Preferring not to be alone, Drew went inside, ordered a beer and settled right into the midst of the rambunctious crowd taking in the football game playing on several flat screens throughout the bar, which resembled a sports fanatic’s recreational haven. NFL and college team paraphernalia covered the walls to the point where you could hardly see the wood panels. Sturdy tables stood erect in the center of the restaurant, flanked by green leather stools.
The Panthers rise to the playoffs had both excited and pissed off the hard-core New York fans that frequented the place. Collectively they weren’t happy about the fact that neither their Jets nor the Giants made it to this point in the playoffs. The spectators cheered, cursed and joked about the plays being made. Drew joined in the fare, making fast friends. The camaraderie helped him forget about his earlier rejection. However, when the game was over and the chicken-wings-and-fries-eating crowd thinned out, it all came crashing back to him.
Drew wasn’t quite ready to go home to all that quiet. Instead, he maneuvered down Atlantic Avenue to the Conduit, hit the Belt Parkway and found himself sitting in front of Alana’s condominium in Long Island. Drew could tell she was surprised from the look on her face when she opened the door.
Drew stood before her, ignoring her perplexed expression while taking in the curves behind that tank top and sweatpants she wore. As casually as she was dressed, she still looked sexy enough to Drew to elicit a slight response from his groin area. Distancing himself from her allure, he refocused. He needed to understand what happened on the phone earlier.
Drew tilted his head to the side. “Did you actually say no to me?”
Chapter 5 (#ulink_b1cda1af-3477-53e3-8d9e-fe03742427ee)
A horn blew and Alana looked at her watch. Cadence and Blake were right on time. Ever since Cadence had told her about the evening’s plans, Alana had been overcome with giddy merriment. She had stopped by her favorite boutique on the way home from the office to pick up the perfect outfit. Tilting left and then right, she now assessed her attire in her dressing-room mirror. Satisfied, she trotted down the steps in her spacious townhome, grabbed a full-length mink from the front closet and threw it across her arm as she headed out the door. She was so excited she barely felt the cold. It was as if her strapless jumpsuit were enough to shield her from the frigid air.
Alana could hardly believe she was on her way to a movie premiere and exclusive after-party. The lead was played by Christian Jacobs, her all-time-favorite actor, whom she thoroughly enjoyed fawning over. She knew he was married but wondered if his wife would allow her to give him a kiss if she got close enough. Alana laughed aloud at herself as she headed up the walk.
Alana whistled as the driver walked around and opened the door for her.
“We’re traveling fancy tonight,” she said as she ducked her head inside.
Her next words caught in her throat when her eyes landed on Drew reaching a hand in her direction to help her in. She hadn’t thought to ask if Drew would be joining them when Cadence had invited her to the premiere. Nervous bursts of energy erupted in her stomach.
Alana cleared her throat and fixed a smile on her face. “Hey, Drew. How are you, Blake?” Her smile faded. “Cadence.” She greeted her friend stiffly, upset that she hadn’t given her prior notice—even a text—about Drew. Alana gave Cadence the eye, a look that was code for we’ll talk about this later.
Cadence sunk into her shoulders just a little and smiled guiltily.
Drew. Alana took a breath and feigned another smile in his direction as the driver took off. Wasting no time, Drew slid over next to Alana.
“I know you received my many messages.” He stressed the word many. She’d left all his calls and texts unanswered since the day he showed up at her door.
“I’ve been really busy.” Though the interior of the car was already dim, Alana averted her eyes as she spoke.
“All lies!” Drew exclaimed.
Alana whipped her head in his direction. She couldn’t believe he called her a liar—even if she did just tell a blatant untruth. Drew sported a wide Cheshire grin. Alana shook her head, glad that he was teasing.
“What’s wrong? Do my good looks and charming personality make you uncomfortable?”
“Oh please!” She rolled her eyes. Both Blake and Cadence snickered.
“So why are you avoiding me?”
“I’m not avoiding you, Drew,” she lied again. “I’m a busy girl.” Another excuse. The night he showed up at her door, she’d told him that she wasn’t feeling well in order to get him to leave. It worked. When he left, she’d laughed, tickled by how baffled he was at her refusal to go out with him. Drew was so unaccustomed to rejection that he couldn’t comprehend the reality of that situation. He had still looked confused as he walked away that night.
“Okay. I’ll accept that...this time.”
Alana took a deep breath and turned to Blake. “Thanks so much for inviting me. This is so exciting. I don’t think I’ve actually been in the midst of celebrities before.”
Before Blake could respond, Drew jumped in. “You’re welcome, but you’ve been around me thousands of times so what would be different about tonight?”
“Wait! This wasn’t Blake’s doing?”
Donning a proud smile, Drew shook his head. “I invited all of you. This is what I called you for, but you wouldn’t answer.”
“Well, then, thank you, Drew.” Alana stopped there. She didn’t want to make a big deal about her excitement now that she knew that this was Drew’s doing. His ego was big enough without her efforts.
“Is anyone else joining us tonight?” Alana asked. She felt like she’d been duped into a double date. She noticed how unusually quiet Blake was. It was obvious that she was the last to know all the details about the evening’s festivities and she was more than a little annoyed.
When the car pulled up in front of the theater on Broadway in the heart of the theater district, Alana was the first to get out. She didn’t even wait for the driver to open the door. She stood to the side until all the others climbed out of the car and then hung back to walk behind them at a distance. Alana was determined not to look like she was on a date with Drew. But, gentleman that he was, Drew gestured for her to walk ahead of him. Taking quick steps, she was on Blake’s heels, creating as much space as possible between her and Drew. Excited spectators stood behind stanchions, screaming and snapping pictures with everything from high-quality cameras to cell phones. Alana was too busy focusing on how far she was from Drew to enjoy the celebrity treatment. She assumed those onlookers would end up deleting their pictures of her once they realized they didn’t know who she was.
