Chapter 7

Seven

LUCY

I tried everything to get out of this dinner tonight, but Mia and Hannah insisted. Holding out hope of not attending until the last minute, I hadn’t made time to shop for a cocktail dress. After many outfit try-ons in front of my mirror, an off-the-shoulder top with a flower that hides my bare left shoulder and flared black dress pants with heels are deemed the winners.

We arrive in separate cars and I notice Henry immediately, standing by the entrance with Oliver and Finn. He looks mouthwateringly handsome this evening. Sure, I’ve found plenty of photos of him on the Internet wearing suits to movie premieres and award shows while Googling him late at night when I know I shouldn’t be, but nothing compares to experiencing this with my own eyes. Concentrating all of my efforts at hiding my awe, I trip over my own feet. Luckily, the source of my distraction is close enough that he wraps an arm around my waist and pulls me upright, stopping me from falling to the ground. Heat engulfs my body at his touch. I can feel it moving up to cover my cheeks as I thank him and rush into the restaurant. Henry remains silent as he walks in behind me.

The restaurant’s earth tones and dim lighting barely distract me from the million thoughts running through my mind. Once we arrive at the rectangular table, I pause for the couples to choose their seats first. Shock and suspicion overtake me when Henry touches my back to lead me to the closest chair and holds it out for me. I take my seat, slowly letting my gaze sweep over his suit again. “Thank you,” I say when our eyes finally meet.

“Of course,” he answers with a nod.

Will he sit next to me again? Before I have a chance to stop myself from hoping that he will, Henry takes the seat on my left at the head of the table. My heart flutters.

I’m going to have a very stern talk with my stupid heart later.

It is particularly quiet on our end of the table, with sparse small talk. After Henry finishes eating, he sits back in his chair, looking anywhere but at me. I hate how much that upsets me. I catch myself multiple times trying to think of topics for us to discuss, but I stop myself. Wasn’t my desire to avoid him the reason I didn’t want to come in the first place? He’s giving me a reason to not talk to him, so I should be overjoyed. The food is exquisite and I am enjoying the ambience this restaurant offers for a nice dinner out with my friends.

“Isn’t this place amazing!” I try to encourage conversation with Henry but fail miserably when he nods without looking at me as a reply. Aside from the odd interactions with him, I’m quite enjoying my night. I even tried a dish I’ve never had before, artichoke risotto, which was exceptional.

We wrap dinner up quickly, exiting the restaurant to find a large SUV outside waiting for us. “Mia didn’t want to worry about us taking two cars, so she insisted on this,” Finn explains.

“It will be fun.” Mia is the first to jump into the very back seat. Hannah follows her while Finn gets into the front passenger seat.

“Lucy.” Henry grabs my attention as he stands next to the vehicle’s backdoor, holding out his hand to me. I take it, and that heat from earlier returns but this time is joined by butterflies fluttering in my stomach. I slide into the middle row of seats and move over to sit against the opposite door that faces the busy, traffic-filled street. Henry follows behind me to sit in the middle seat with Oliver at his other side.

Henry fidgets trying to get comfortable in a seat no one in the history of car passengers has ever found to be comfortable. “Are you going to be all right?” I ask, trying not to laugh at his squirming.

He turns in my direction and lays his arm across the back of my seat. “I’m fine.”

I overhear Finn sharing the best route to our next destination with our driver. Behind us, Mia is going on about the new bar we are heading to next. She’s already been a few times with work friends, but she swears they “aren’t as much fun” as we are.

The close proximity to Henry reintroduces me to his cologne, the woodsy smell I almost convinced myself I had imagined the other night. If Ellie could be here now, she would find some crafter to make me a candle that smells like him or just send a bottle of the cologne to me with instructions to spray it all over my bed.

The rest of the ride goes by quickly, and soon after, we are pulling up to the bar. After exiting, the group makes their way inside, and eventually, Henry and I find ourselves in the middle of a large U-shaped leather booth while the two young couples file in on either side of us. Mia squeals and does a little dance in place when the waitress delivers a tray of small glasses filled with clear liquid. While the others are devouring their shots, Henry orders, “I’ll have a scotch and open a tab.” He hands her his card and turns to me.

“A merlot, please.” Well, if he is paying, he can buy me a fancy glass of wine.

Once the waitress has moved out of the way, Finn, Mia, Oliver, and Hannah immediately make their way to the dance floor. I had assumed once the others left and more space became available within our booth that Henry would have moved down, but he remains just as close as he was when everyone was squished in. One slight move on either part, and we will be touching, either at the shoulders or legs. As much as my body craves it, my mind understands that, logically, it is unnatural to sit this close with so much space. Thinking better of it, I decide to slide down and put distance between us.

With Henry’s closeness throughout the car ride and entering the bar, multiple brushes occurred, each setting my skin on fire and lingering long after he moved. I am beginning to hate him not just for his sour personality but also for how attracted I am to him. Which is partially his fault. He could work at not looking so good all the time. Who am I kidding? He probably looks this sexy the moment he wakes up in the morning. Okay, I need to shut down thoughts of him in bed immediately and turn my attention to INXS roaring from the speakers located in every corner of the dance floor.

Trying to distract myself, I shuffle down just a few more inches and reach for some gum in my purse, hoping to be discreet. Of course, the gum packets have a way of hiding under everything else in there, and I catch Henry watching me out of the corner of my eye. I move the e-reader to the side, and he starts to say something, but it’s too difficult to hear over the song lyrics from “I Need You Tonight” by INXS blasting out of every speaker. I lean in a little and ask, “What’s that?” with my hand by my ear.

Henry closes the distance I just put between us by placing his arm around the back of the booth this time. What is with this guy and his arm move? It’s déjà vu. He leans to my ear, his warm breath sending shivers down my spine. “Do you not spend enough time reading? Is it necessary for you to have that here?”

Struggling to think clearly, I take the opportunity to speak directly into this ear. Two can play that game. While leaning in, I also place my hand on his leg. “Habit when I go out with couples.” Hopefully, this answer was vague enough to keep the conversation going. I shouldn’t want that.

Henry moves his arm from resting on the back of the booth to around my shoulders to allow him to get even closer to me. I sit up straight and look forward as he asks, ”Did you not know I was coming?”

I answer, returning to my position of leaning into his ear and my hand finding its previous position on his leg. “I assumed you would, yet you aren’t shy about your lady killer reputation. Honestly, I’m amazed you haven’t swept one of those girls at the bar off their feet by now. They look like your type.” I nod my head in the direction of three young twenty-somethings sitting at the main bar who haven’t taken their eyes off him all night.

He doesn’t follow my gaze but continues to focus on me, sliding his hand down my lower back, applying just the slightest amount of pressure to pull me toward him, and then his mouth is back at my ear with a soft nudge of his nose against my ear. “You think me so rude to leave you here alone?”

My body takes over, and I shiver at his words and proximity. I could declare it’s from a chill, but I’d rather not admit the action to him at all. He leans back with a smirk on his face. Sure, he earned that smirk, but it’s time to shut this down.

When I lean in to respond this time, I keep my hands in my lap. “Well, you now know I do have the company of endless characters in my purse. You are free to make one of those girls’ dreams come true tonight.” I lean away and watch his face. The volume of the music starts to quiet just as the rest of our party makes their way back to our booth.

Henry moves his arms back to his side as the girls start asking for recommendations to send to the DJ via the club’s app while Finn orders another round for the table.

About a half hour passes, and conversations flow between everyone. It appears no one noticed our close conversation while they were dancing .

“What do you think of this place?” Hannah asks, leaning close so I can hear her.

“It’s great,” I answer while noticing two of the girls from the bar walk by our booth, looking directly at Henry. When he notices them, they smile and wave.

I move to grab my drink from the table and study him from the corner of my eye as he politely acknowledges them with a nod but doesn’t linger with his attention. Of course, why would he—it’s like fishing in a barrel for him.

“Mia really is in her element.” I nod my head toward Mia for Hannah to follow. She’s at the end of the booth, dancing with her drink still in one hand raised above her head and her dress swaying with her hips. That girl is her own party. So confident and brave—I find myself a little jealous of her ability to just stand up and dance by herself.

Finn is seated at the end of the booth, staying at arm’s length of Mia, yet not even he can keep up with her energy. Oliver and Henry are chatting to themselves and I notice Henry looking beyond Oliver’s shoulder in the direction of those girls at the bar. Ignoring the burning sensation in my chest, I bring myself back to reality. Henry is conceited and arrogant, and I am not his type. Remembering his words from earlier when he said he wouldn’t go talk to them because I was here. Perhaps I am keeping him from what will surely end as an exciting evening. Or worse, he will go over and pick one of them up in front of me. For some reason, I decide I do not want a front-row seat to Henry’s seduction of one or both of those blondes.

Hannah and Mia announce they are running to the ladies’ room. I jump up to join them, taking this as my chance to leave without any fuss. On the walk to the ladies’ room, we approach the exit doors. “Hannah, Mia, I’m getting a bit of a headache. I think I’m going to call it a night.”

“Oh no, you can’t leave yet. They didn’t even play your song!” Mia pleads. “You haven’t danced yet.”

“Next time, I promise you will have my first dance.” I feel bad leaving when she is so upset, but I think half of it may be the numerous shots she’s had this evening. I know she’s in good hands with the boys.

“Mia, if she has a headache, she should go home and rest.” Hannah’s voice is consoling. “When her song comes on, we will dance and send her a video and she can watch it tomorrow when she is feeling better.”

I whisper into her ear a very specific goodbye message for her to share with Henry. “Thank you, both. Send the guys my best!” And with that, I move through the exit to grab a cab back to my apartment.

As I leave the bar, I notice a group of photographers standing outside. They raise their cameras as I open the door but quickly lower them when they realize I am not anyone important. This place Mia picked must be really popular with celebrities. I didn’t notice anyone famous, but then again, it was poorly lit inside…and if I’m being honest with myself, Henry occupied all of my attention.