Page 1 of See You Again
CHAPTER ONE
Living in a luxury hotel had its perks, James thought. He hadn’t originally planned on taking anyone to his room tonight, but the blonde had made a beeline for him the minute she’d stepped into the bar. Resting his hand on the hip of the woman attempting to crawl into his lap, James swirled the amber liquid in the crystal tumbler. The liquid refracted under the lights, casting a kaleidoscope of color across the wooden bar.
What had she said her name was again? Something with an L?
Lexie.
James clenched his jaw as loud laughter sounded from a group in the far corner again.
“That’s Kip Jordan,” Lexie said, seeing where his attention had gone. Her crimson lips flashed a smile as she dragged a long, matching fingernail down the arm of his charcoal suit jacket and then tugged at his lapel. “I could introduce you if you like?”
“Why would I want that?” James tried to hide his frown. It wasn't her first comment about who she knew and why she assumed he'd be impressed with her social connections.
Her smile faltered.
“You keep looking over there. I thought maybe you were a fan. He’s opening a new restaurant here in Atlanta.” Lexie’s eyes returned to a tall man with short, spiked hair, holding court with a group clustered around two small sofas near the entrance.
James snorted and lifted his glass. “I keep looking over there because they’re obnoxious.”
Uncertainty flashed across her face. “He’s just laughing. That’s kind of his thing. You know… being the life of the party… He’s the person to know right now in Atlanta.”
“They have private dining rooms for parties,” James muttered under his breath.
“Don’t be jealous.” Lexie leaned into him pressing her breasts into his chest. “He’s not more famous than you. Everyone knows who the Blooms are.”
He swallowed a sigh as her nails slipped behind his head to tickle the hairs at his nape. Lexie wanted a name she could brag to her friends about.
It wouldn’t be his.
“You should go talk to him,” James said, draining his glass, reaching up to remove her hand.
Her lips parted slightly in surprise. “You want to meet him?”
“No. I think you two are a better match tonight.”
James shifted his knees, forcing Lexie to step back, and lifted his chin at his favorite bartender, Annie. With a neutral expression, she refilled his glass.
James rarely ordered a second scotch, but between the braying noise from the corner and Lexie’s heavy floral perfume... he was… annoyed. Mostly at himself.
He should have seen it coming.
James wasn’t particularly vain, but he knew women were attracted to him. After his picture was splashed across the front page of the Journal a few weeks ago, following his win in a high-profile murder case, women had been coming in droves. No matter where he went, someone wanted a piece of him.
But it wasn’t James they wanted.
They wanted the notoriety and attention that came with being attached to a Bloom. Even though he’d been disinherited from his father’s billion-dollar fortune, along with the rest of his siblings, the famous last name was enough.
His top lip curled. It was a lesson he’d learned the hard way a long time ago. The reason he stuck with one-night stands. No feelings attached. Both parties using each other for purely physical purposes.
Life was a lot cleaner and simpler that way.
Lexie’s eyebrows puckered as much as her Botox would allow. “You want me to go talk to another guy?” Her voice dripped with disbelief.
James gave her a cool smile, his eyes drifting over her body. He guessed it didn’t happen to her a lot. She was gorgeous, and most men would trip over their tongues to have what she was promising.
Another laugh from the celebrity chef set James’s teeth on edge, and a wave of exhaustion crashed over him.
“Yeah.” James turned to face the bar fully, effectively dismissing her, and took a sip of his fresh drink.