CHAPTER
32
AS THEY WALKED ALONG, HE breathed in her scent. Equal parts vanilla, coconut suntan spray, lavender, and part something else he couldn’t readily identify. It was all heady stuff, and he fought against it because he needed to keep his head straight tonight.
“Nice place,” he said.
“Brad had it built a few years ago, before we met. He’s into things like this. He has homes everywhere. Two jets, a yacht he uses like one month out of the year, his own chopper. It’s too much for me. I like things simple.”
“Doesn’t sound like you’re going to get simple with the guy.”
She led him to the bar and he got another beer and she had a Cosmo. She held up the glass.
“I was only four when Sex and the City ended its run, but I later binged all the seasons. What a fun fantasy. But really, no one can live like that in New York on their salaries. Same with Friends.”
“Like you said, a fun fantasy. So how did you and Cowl meet?”
“He was in Italy and I was in Italy and we hit it off. I know he’s a lot older than me, but he doesn’t seem it. Some days I feel like the older one. He’s still very much a little boy in many ways, with all his toys.”
“He’s made a ton of money in business.”
“He never talks business with me. I’m not into that.”
“So, do you live here?”
“Not all the time. Brad and I are just, I don’t know, boyfriend and girlfriend, to use an old-fashioned term.”
“And what are you into when you’re not hanging out with him?”
“Travel. I went to college for a year, didn’t like it, and decided to see some of the world. That’s how I met Brad. I was staying at a student hostel in Tuscany, and he had rented like three villas on a hillside. We met at a restaurant, bonded over some really great Brunello di Montalcino wine, and suddenly I was in one of the villas.”
“Hey, good for you. How long ago was this?”
“Nearly a year now. Time goes by. How do you know Brad?”
“I work for his firm. Just a low-level newbie. I got a late start.”
“What were you doing before that?”
“Did some time in the Army.”
“Why?”
He had expected her to thank him for his service like everyone else, so this threw Devine a little. He answered more truthfully than he probably intended. “To piss off my old man.”
She laughed and it was a nice, throaty laugh. She sipped her Cosmo and gave him a look that he couldn’t quite decipher.
“Do you like working for Brad?”
“Just chasing the money, like everybody else.”
She wrinkled up her nose and looked around. “I watched you when you came in. You looked very uncomfortable. You got a beer instead of something expensive and hip. You don’t really want to be here.”
“And yet here I am, summoned by the man.”
She looked disappointed in this response. “Like a dog on a leash, you mean?”
He took a mouthful of his beer and worked this around in his head. He decided to take control of the conversation.