Thatwas why he looked familiar. Leo had been the darling of the literary world a few years ago. He was still well-known, but his two-year hiatus from publishing had stunted his momentum. Rumor had it he was working on a new book, but nothing had been confirmed.
“Yes.”
Isabella was too busy gushing about him to notice my unenthused reply. “I joined a local writing group to see if it would help with my block. Today was my first meeting, so imagine my surprise when Leo showed up!”
“I’m friends with the organizer,” Leo explained. “I’m in town for some meetings, and I dropped by to say hi.”
“Perfect timing.” Isabella’s dimples flashed. “It’s like fate.”
“How fortuitous.” I didn’t understand her excitement over Leo. He was good, but he wasn’t that good.
Unlike most writers who stuck with one or two genres, Leo’s works spanned literary, contemporary, and historical fiction. The Poison Jar was the most introspective piece in his catalog, and Isabella hated lit fic.
They carried on like I hadn’t spoken.
“Are your meetings about your next book?” she asked.
“Some of them,” Leo said with a grin. “I’m working on a travel memoir about the two years I spent abroad.”
So the rumors about a new project were true. Normally, I would’ve texted my books and culture editor with the news, but I was too distracted by the way Isabella’s face lit up at the confirmation.
“Yes! I read your guest column in World Geographic. I can’t believe you went diving in Silfra,” she breathed. “That’s one of my top bucket list items.”
My jaw tensed as she rambled on about his adventures. Personally, I didn’t think they were a big deal. So what if Leo went diving between tectonic plates? He didn’t discover the Silfra Fissure, for Christ’s sake.
Isabella brushed a strand of hair out of her eye. Her tattoo peeked out from the sleeve of her coat, and I tried not to think about tracing its lines and swirls with my tongue.
I had a meeting to get to, but I couldn’t leave her alone with Leo. His timing was too suspicious. He just happened to be in town for meetings? Likely story. What if he was a stalker or, worse, a serial killer?
My phone buzzed with a new message from my assistant informing me the Whidby crisis response team was onsite. I reluctantly pulled my attention away from Isabella and typed out a quick response.
Me:I’ll be a few minutes late, but have them put together an initial crisis plan. Finance, legal, everything. I want bullet points when I arrive.
Alison:Consider it done.
Isabella was still gushing over Leo’s travels when I looked up again.
Climbing Mount Kilimanjaro. Bungee jumping from Victoria Falls. Sailing through the Drake Passage to Antarctica.
Was he a writer or Indiana fucking Jones?
Unmistakable jealousy gnawed at my gut. She’d never smiled at me the way she was smiling at him, and I couldn’t help but wonder if she’d let him kiss her the way I almost had.
I shouldn’t have left her in the library.My sense of self-preservation and propriety had kicked in at the last minute, but for once in my life, I wished they hadn’t.
Finally, I couldn’t take it anymore. My mouth opened before my brain could stop me. “There’s a big event this Saturday. It’s the VIP opening for a new piano bar in the Meatpacking District,” I said when Isabella paused for breath. “I have an extra ticket, if you’re interested in attending.”
It wasn’t hiking Mount Everest, but it was an exclusive event. Leo wasn’t the only one who could have fun.
“Oh.” She blinked, clearly caught off guard given how our last interaction had ended. It’d been three weeks since I left her in the library without so much as a goodbye. It wasn’t my finest moment, but she had a way of pulling both the best and worst out of me. “Um, thanks for the invite, but I have to work—”
“Hina Tanaka is the opening act.” I banked on the hope that Isabella would know who she was. Hina was one of the top pianists in the world, and she hadn’t performed in the United States in years.
“Oh.” This time, Isabella’s face lit with excitement. “Well, I think I can find someone to cover for me.”
“Apologies, but I only have two tickets,” I told Leo with a forced, polite smile. “Otherwise, I would offer you an invitation as well.”
“No worries,” he said easily. “I’m not a big piano guy anyway.” He checked his watch. “I’m meeting my agent in half an hour so I have to run, but it was nice meeting you. Isabella, I’ll send you the signed copy of The Poison Jar when I get home.”
“He’s a bit full of himself, isn’t he?” I said after Leo left. “All that bragging about his travels.”
Isabella slanted a strange look at me. “Leo? He’s one of the most down-to-earth people I’ve ever met.”
“Yes, well, you only met today. How do you know your assessment of his character is accurate?”
She crossed her arms over her chest. “Are you sick? Because you’re behaving very strangely.”
She wasn’t wrong. I was acting like an ill-mannered boor, but I couldn’t stop myself. Seeing her laugh and converse so easily with Leo had triggered my worst caveman impulses.
“I’m not sick. I’m—” I caught myself and took a deep, calming breath. “I’m late for a meeting. But send me your address and I’ll pick you up at seven on Saturday.”
“No need. I can meet you at the club.” Isabella paused. “You’re not going to leave me there without saying goodbye, right?”
A flush singed my cheeks at the indirect reference to what’d happened in the secret room. “No.”
“And this isn’t a date?”
“Of course not.”
It was simply a friendly gathering of two acquaintances at a predetermined time and location.
I said a curt goodbye and called Alison on my way back to the office. “I’ll be there in twenty minutes,” I said. “In the meantime, please reschedule my dinner with Russell on Saturday. Tell him a personal emergency came up.”
I was supposed to take our company’s visiting COO out this weekend, but plans changed.
“Of course. Is everything okay?”
“Yes, everything’s fine, but I changed my mind about the piano bar opening. RSVP yes for me and a plus-one. Thank you.”
I hung up. I should have been brainstorming strategies to manage the DigiStream crisis, but as the cab sped toward midtown Manhattan, I couldn’t stop my mind from fast-forwarding to the weekend—or my pulse from hammering at the anticipation of a completely innocent, one hundred percent platonic non-date.
ISABELLA
The piano bar occupied a hidden, speakeasy-style basement in the Meatpacking District, nestled in between a coffee shop and the type of trendy boutique that sold ripped jeans for eight hundred dollars a pop.
Twin bouncers the size of mountains screened invites. Past them, a narrow flight of stairs led to a lavish room that looked like something out of 1920s Chicago, with exposed brick walls, crystal chandeliers, and red velvet booths curved around tables of well-dressed, well-heeled guests in sleek designer eveningwear. An imposing five-tiered wall of liquor anchored one end of the space, while a stage with a grand piano occupied the other.
It was stunning and exclusive and a throwback to headier times.
It was also incredibly, mind-numbingly boring.
I stifled a yawn as another pianist took the stage. The night had started promisingly enough with a dazzling performance from Hina, who’d opened the show early so she could catch her flight to Japan—apparently, she’d agreed to perform at the last minute as a favor to the club’s owner—but the rest of the hours had inched by second by torturous second.
I liked piano, but I didn’t want to sit through set after set of classical music. I needed action.
I drained the rest of my drink and glanced at Kai, who watched the show with an attentive expression. His profile was all clean lines and sculpted cheekbones, classically handsome in a way that evoked smoky jazz lounges and Old Shanghai glamour.
Charcoal tailored suit molded to broad shoulders, crisp white shirt against tanned skin, the subtle, expensive scent of cologne.
Warmth and whiskey pooled in my stomach. My body tightened with annoying appreciation as I leaned over, holding my breath so I didn’t inhale more of that delicious scent than necessary. I was convinced he’d laced his cologne with drugs.
“How many more songs are left?” I whispered. I would die if there were more than two.
“Five.” Kai didn’t take his eyes off the stage.
Five?Cold dismay doused the warmth.
I shouldn’t even be here. Tessa had agreed to cover my shift tonight, but I hated asking people for last-minute favors. Plus, voluntarily agreeing to a night out with Kai Young? Sheer insanity, especially after our almost-kiss and his abrupt departure.
I hadn’t seen him for three weeks after, and I was sure he’d been avoiding me. That hadn’t stopped my heart from fluttering when I saw him downtown the other day or prevented a whisper of satisfaction from snaking through me at his obvious dislike of Leo.
Perhaps I’d imagined it, but I could’ve sworn he’d been jealous.
The thought evoked a strange thrill beneath my skin.
“Are you enjoying the performances? Besides Hina’s,” I amended. “Be honest.”
Kai finally glanced in my direction. The full width of the table separated us, but the impact of his attention still sank into my body, filling every inch with uncomfortable warmth.
I crossed and uncrossed my legs, oddly breathless. I was dying for a shot of tequila, but all thoughts of alcohol fled when his eyes dipped to my bared thigh. The slit of my dress had fallen open, and my skin burned under his dark, inscrutable scrutiny.