Chapter Four

"You're not what I expected; you know that?" There was a chuckle in his voice.

"How so?" She questioned, more curious than anything.

"I think it was the Burberrys that threw me off."

"Do you have something against my shoes?" She looked down at her feet, admiring the beige striped sneakers that she had snagged for a great deal at Bloomingdales. "Just because I'm a female who wears designer brands doesn't mean I'm a snob." "They're my favorite color, and they match my outfit," she added. 

He nodded his head and smiled. "That, they do."

"Well, you're not what I expected, either," she yawned. She wasn't a teenager anymore; her age was long past the nights of staying awake this late.

"Oh, and what were you expecting?" He asked, sitting up to take his jacket off. Jade wanted to ask why he was making himself more comfortable. Perhaps because he realized she wasn't drunk?

"I don't know," she replied instead, "At the bar, I thought you were just trying to get me drunk so you could have sex with me. But, here we are..." As she spoke the words aloud, it baffled her. She couldn't recall a time when a man wouldn't have taken advantage of the opportunity, even if she were drunk. 

He gazed up at the ceiling and chuckled to himself, "Tonight, mostly had nothing to do with sex. In all honesty, you've been a breath of fresh air."

"Mostly?"

"Well, I would be lying if I said the thought never occurred to me, but tonight I enjoyed just letting loose with you. It gets tiring being surrounded by stuffy people who take everything so damn seriously all the time. Sometimes I want there to be more to my life than just work, and you've made tonight very interesting."

"Yeah, well, alcohol seems to have a way of opening me up. I have my serious persona, too," she replied, "I'm very professional at work."

He thought to himself for a moment and then frowned. "Speaking of which, I have to go into the office tomorrow morning— well, this morning, I guess you could say."

"Oh mannn," she grimaced, "That wasn't a slur, I promise. It's just the thought of working on a Saturday with a hangover? No, thank you," she wrinkled her nose at the thought.

"I'm used to working weekends," he shrugged, seemingly not bothered by the idea. "It helps keep my mind off of other things."

"So, what do you do?" Jade asked, just trying to follow the natural order of conversation. Maybe this would lead to somewhere.

There was a long pause as he considered how to explain his job description. "I mainly deal with financial management, boring stuff. I work over at the Odyssey building." She could tell he was trying to play it off casually, but the tone of his voice said that he wasn't interested in talking about his job. She didn't blame him; she hated discussing work outside the office too.

"That's cool," she shrugged. She had no idea what the company was or what it did, but she always passed by the big, bold glowing letters on top of Philly's second tallest building that readout Odyssey every time she came into the city.

"So Jade," he emphasized her name like it was his new favorite word, "Where do you work?"

She sat up and tugged off her beloved sneakers, wiggling her toes. She turned to him, "I work at Unisoft. It's like an hour from here." She waved a hand in the direction she thought it might be.

He thought to himself for a moment, "Unisoft, that's an I.T. company out in Allentown, right?"

She smirked suspiciously at him, wondering how he would know that information. Most people never heard of Unisoft unless they lived in Allentown because it was such a small firm. "Um, it is. I'm a project coordinator, but I won't be there for long. Eventually, I'm going to start looking for something a little closer to the Philly area, so I don't have to commute every day."

"Oh, do you live in Philadelphia?"

"Not yet, but I'll be apartment hunting soon. Yay, my favorite," she responded with sarcasm.

"I take it you don't frequent Londons often either?"

She gave him a puzzled look, "Londons?"

"The bar we were in earlier," He clarified, but her confusion had already given him an answer.

"Oh, God no," she sighed, "Going to bars isn't really my thing. I don't ordinarily drink anything stronger than wine either, because as you have witnessed, it makes me stupid." She hoped this would shed her into a new light. "As I said before, I've had a rough day. On the way to my friend's house, I saw the place and just thought that I could use a drink."

"Well, that's good to hear about you not going there. That place is bad news," He mumbled.

"Hm, well, I met you there. So what does that say about you?"

"I was only there for business."

"Uh-huh?" She gave him a puzzled head tilt, hoping for some clarity.

"When I excused myself earlier, it was because I had a meeting with the owner. We discussed him selling the place," he explained.

Her mouth dropped open in disbelief. "Ew. Do you plan on buying that dump? Why?"

"No, Odyssey sent me to negotiate with him because of the property that it's sitting on." 

She shook her head in agreeance. "I feel like I need a hot shower and tetanus shot just from being in there," she snorted.

"Well, in any case, I'm glad we both happened to be there tonight," he smiled at her, "You've been a nice distraction from everything going on right now."

She was curious by what he meant but decided she didn't want to ruin the mood by prying. She could take a hint; he didn't want to talk about the serious stuff. He wanted them to keep their baggage zipped up tightly.

There was a moment of silence before he twisted his neck, staring at her now. He smiled, "I don't know you've managed it, but you've proven me wrong."

"So, you finally believe me," she stated, turning onto her side. She propped herself up on her elbow, resting her head against her fist. "I'm not a..." she paused, trying to organize her thoughts. "I don't normally end up in hotel rooms with guys I don't know. The moment you entered the elevator with me, I sobered up," she admitted.

"Well," he whispered, turning onto his side as well, "Thank you for having patience and not kicking me out."

(Warning: This book does contain explicit sex scenes. If you're comfortable with that, feel free to proceed to the next chapter)