back of the door, she leaned back against the wall, unable to face going back out.
Instead she opened her bag, found her compact and began to powder her nose, aiming to redo her lipstick, using it as barrier against his lips.
"Shit," she said out loud, starting guiltily at the sound of her voice. However, her outburst was justified, her eyes belonged to a panda, big dark smudges where her make up had slid down her face in the middle of her sweaty dancing. How could any man find her attractive?
That proved it to herself, he only showed an interest because he had to. Not because he was in anyway attracted to her sweaty lumpy body, but because of the promise of a big wad of cash. Plain and simple. The sooner she got that through her thick head, the easier it was going to be to spare herself disappointment and heartache.
Leaning back against the wall, her face restored to normal, she tried to figure out what to do. This needed to stop, she had to distance herself from the feelings all jumbled up inside her. This was not a date, this was business, she needed to search inside herself to find the successful, professional business woman. Not easy when his face kept appearing in her head, his easy smile, relaxed manner, and perfect abs.
Shaking the tension from her body, she unbolted the door, and went out, taking a careful look in the mirror. Other women jostled for space, no one taking much notice of her now her panda eyes were gone, she was back to where she liked to be, unnoticed. Liar. She bit her bottom lip, telling her inner voice to shut up, she didn't need any more fuel poured on the inner turmoil she was experiencing.
Back into the corridor, she gave herself a minute to fully assess her options. She could either go home, or go back out to Dan, spend the rest of the evening with him, but this time keep herself on a tight leash. Max knew the sensible thing would be to go home, and tell him to forget tomorrow night too. But she wasn't quite back at sensible yet. Especially when she looked up and saw him standing there watching her.
"I thought you'd run out on me."
Straightening up, she went for a low blow, hating herself for it. But he was being paid to like her, so he should have a thick skin. "Thought I'd taken my money and run. I've had a great time, Dan. I wouldn't leave without paying you."
Watching the expression on his face change, she was intrigued to find she had hit a nerve. In her job she was good at reading people, and now she had calmed down her intuition came back to her fully. He didn't like this side of it. Max wanted to know why, but didn't feel she had the right to ask him. Some things were private.
"Sorry," she said. "That wasn't fair."
"Yes. It probably was. But thanks for the apology anyway." He leaned forward, keeping some distance between them, and passed her the bottle of beer.
"Thank you." She took a long drink, appreciating the cold bitter taste. "That is good." She looked at him again, and smiled. "Half full or half empty?" she asked, holding her bottle out to him.
"Most definitely half full. You can always add something to fill it up, mix it up a bit."
She looked at the bottle again. "I like that. Sometimes we don't need to be more of the same, we can change into something different."
"Exactly. Two halves make one whole. It's not important if those two halves are exactly the same."
"I think I might need more beer to understand that," she said, draining the rest of her bottle.
"Then let's go. I wouldn't like to disappoint a lady."
She snorted, just managing to stop the beer coming out of her nose. "Despite what you think, you know the fancy restaurant and everything, I am not a lady."
He came right up close to her, his body heat penetrating her dress, warming her ample flesh. "Prove it to me."
"What do you have in mind?"
"A kiss."
She stood up straight, tension in her body. "A kiss, Dan, look, I know what you probably think about me, but you're wrong. I am not interested in
Missy Tippens, Jean C. Gordon, Patricia Johns