Illusion (Swept Away 1)

“Wow. He does sound like a winner, doesn’t he?” Rosie exclaimed, and I nodded, though she couldn’t see me.

“Now you know why I won’t be dating online anymore.” I closed my laptop.

“We’ll find two hotties tonight and flirt the night away.”

“Sounds good to me.”

“You might finally get laid,” she said, and then giggled.

“Rosie!”

“Hey, I’m just being honest. A vibrator can only do so much.”

“I’ll see you tonight,” I groaned.

“Hey,” Rosie whispered into the phone as I picked it up.

“Hey back at ya.”

“Meet me at this new bar on the Upper West Side tonight. I’ve heard good things and want to check it out.”

“What’s it called?”

“Orange.”

“Okay. I’ll see you around six?”

“Yeah.” She paused. “Six sounds good.” Then she giggled; the noise sounded quite nervous, and I frowned into the phone.

“What’s so funny? Is there a reason why you chose this bar, Rosie?” My brain started ticking, and I took a gulp of water.

“I’ll tell you later,” she said hurriedly, and then hung up.

I checked my watch for the tenth time. It was now six forty-five, and I was starting to get impatient. I looked at the menu again, and my stomach rumbled as I read the different entrée descriptions. I was so hungry, and I could already feel the glass of wine I was sipping going to my head.

I texted Rosie a photo of the cute bartender and then rubbed my temple softly. Hopefully the surreptitious photo I’d taken would make her hurry up.

“Hey.” Rosie walked into the bar as if she owned it, oblivious to the stares of the men in the bar as she sauntered toward me. Her blond hair was perfectly coiffed and her Escada suit clung to her body perfectly.

“Hey!” I jumped up and gave her a quick hug and continental kiss—left cheek, right cheek, left cheek. “I just texted you, by the way!” I looked at her expensive suit enviously. “You’re lucky I work from home, or I’d be borrowing your clothes.” I laughed as we sat down. I instinctively grabbed to the right of me to make sure the plastic bag was still at my side. I was going to give Rosie a copy of my father’s papers to hold for safekeeping. I’d taken the originals and put them in my safety deposit box at the bank, but I wanted to make sure that I had multiple copies out there just in case.

“How goes the writing? Seen any good movies lately?” She smiled at me briefly before turning to call the waiter over.

“Depends on what you mean by good.” I shrugged. “I’ve been watching box office movies mainly, those are the reviews that get the hits. Not the art pieces we used to watch in college.”

“Good old action movies, huh?”

“Action and cheesy romance.” I smiled and picked up my glass of wine. “They all start to seem the same, but they pay well. I had an article on Channing Tatum get ten thousand views last week.”

“Well, I’d pay to see him swinging those hips.” Rosie frowned as she waited for someone to come over and take her order. “The service here sucks. I should have remembered from last time.”

“Oh, you’ve been here before?” I asked her curiously. I was pretty sure she had said this was her first time.

“Yeah, once.” She ran her hands through her hair and then leaned toward me and grinned. “I’ve missed you, Bianca. I feel like we haven’t seen each other in ages.”

“That’s because we haven’t.”

“I bought you something the other day.” She studied my face and grinned. “A book on Richard the Third and the lost princes or whatever.”

“Oh awesome.” I leaned back in my chair. “You know that some men at the Tower of London recently found . . .”

She interrupted me and said, “So you have to tell me all about that guy online.” Then she paused and turned around. “Waiter!” she called out loudly. “Can you come over here when you have a chance? I’d like a drink sometime this year.” She turned back to me with a glint in her eyes and a small smile. “Let’s see how long he takes now.”

“He’s most probably busy, Rosie.” I shook my head at her impatience. “You’ve only been here for a few minutes.”

“Exactly, I’ve been here for a few minutes, and I’m still sober.” She shuddered. “Something is wrong with this picture.”

“You can have some of my wine if you want.” I pointed to the bottle on the table, and she shook her head.

“No, I think I’m going to get a cocktail,” she said quickly. “I need liquor tonight.”

“So how’s work?” I changed the subject and inquired about her job. I really wanted to talk about myself, but I didn’t want to be rude.

“Challenging.” She shrugged. “We’re attempting to get the account of one of the top financial companies in the States. I can’t tell you the name for legal reasons, but let’s just say if we get it, we will be one of the top advisement companies in the world.”

“Do you think you’ll get it?”

“If I have anything to say about it, yes.” She pursed her lips. “Of course, I’m not working on that deal. I’m helping James with the Bradley Inc. deal. If we get that, I think I’ll get promoted. That’s why I’ve been so busy.”