Page 38 of Lying Hearts

Her eyebrows twitch. “Yeah?”

“Uh-huh. O’Brien. So, you’re true Irish aren’t you?”

“Ninety percent.”

“What’s the other ten?”

“Bitch.”

I laugh. “Nice. Okay, back to me so you feel safe…”

“Right. Not because you’re an egotist.”

“Not at all because I’m an egotist. This is all for you, Annie Freckles O’Brien. So, to continue on with my introduction, you should know that I am very important. Verrrrrrrry, very important.”

She shakes her head, glances down the bar and holds up her finger to a waiting customer. “I’ll be right there,” she calls to the guy. To me she says, “I am working you know.”

“Right, I’ll finish this up. I’m the very important creative director for an internet advertising firm called Location Times Three. Kind of the head honcho. So you see, I can’t be a serial killer because that would hurt my upwardly mobile trajectory and I’m all about goals.”

Her bright blue eyes are sparkling. “Go on. This is your last plug. I need to go get that guy drunk.”

Making a sucking sound, I look down at my glass to think of something else to tell her. I have to get her to say yes. There is no other option.

Why not just go for it?

I reach out both my hands, lay them on the counter next to, but not touching, her arms. Her eyes shoot down, curious to see if I’ll brush against her skin. I move my index finger the length of her arm like I’m tracing it, but never once do I actually touch her. I stop and wait. She looks back up and I’ve got her. She’s breathless.

“My last pitch is that I live just around the corner in a huge penthouse loft that needs you walking around naked in it. Tonight.”

Her eyes go wide.