Page 36 of Due Diligence

Gladly.

“So, are you going to let me apologize or not?” I asked. “I’ll also apologize for scaring off Joseph if you want, but you probably owe me some thanks.”

When she canted her head to the side, it made her long ponytail flip, which was easily the most charming thing I had seen all day. “Explain that.”

“Any guy who thinks two hundred dollars is worth more than your time is a shithead,” I told her.

Cassie turned her head slowly, facing me once more. Her eyes scanned me for what felt like the third or fourth time tonight. “You really want to apologize?”

“I do. Will you let me?”

She took a long pause, like she was still on the fence about whether I even deserved the right to speak to her. “I’m going to let you grovel,” she finally declared, her expression still unrevealing. “But it’s truly up in the air whether I’ll accept it.”

That was better than nothing. “I’ve been thinking about what I said to you and I’m embarrassed about it. But I would also be doing myself a disservice if I didn’t say what was on my mind. So, I’m trying to be mature and to talk it out.”

“Right now?” she asked, gesturing to her right where the dancefloor was packed with gyrating bodies. “You came all the way to Brooklyn to have this conversation with metonight? How the hell did you even find me?”

“It’s a long story,” I said honestly. “And you clearly don’t want to give me much of your time, so I can either apologize or I can give you the long story.”

She sat up straight and shook a stray lock of hair that had fallen out of her ponytail away from her face. “You really want to apologize?”

“Yep.”

“Alright, here’s an idea.” She rotated fully in her seat, giving me a head-on view of her outfit. Her body was a revelation, and I found myself clenching my fist involuntarily as I again looked her up and down. “Chugging contest. If you can beat me, I’ll listen to your lame ass apology.”

I paused, wondering if I heard her correctly. Her expression didn’t falter.

“You’re serious,” I stated. “You want to have a chugging contest with me.”

“Absolutely. I’m dead serious.”

Well, that was a first. I released a soft whistle as I slowly wrapped my head around the idea. If we were being honest, I’d had weirder challenges thrown my way—like the time a VC said he would give fifty thousand dollars to Libra if I took his daughter to her senior prom. But never before had a woman ever challenged me to a chugging contest. “And if you beat me?”

“If I beat you,” she continued, her eyes practically sparkling with excitement, “you have to promise to answer any question I ask you.”

“That’s it? You want information?” I clarified.

“I live for it,” was her response. She gave me one of her classic, socialite white smiles. “Deal?”

It was rare to see some levity out of her, so I played along and nodded. “Fuck it. It’s a deal.”

My pulse had sped up—in a good way. I struggled to suppress a smile as we waited for the bartender to give us the beers I ordered. They came cold and foamy in those semi-transparent plastic cups, just like the ones we used back in college. Watery. Cheap. Beers in hand, we moved on our barstools so we were facing each other. Our knees collided softly and I didn’t bother to pull back; neither did she.

Cassie was clearly working to curb a smile too, but I recognized that look. It was that same self-satisfied expressionfrom earlier today—the one she had on her face when she cleaned up my legal files so quickly. That expression probably should have terrified me. Nobody threw down the chugging gauntlet unless they knew they could win.

“Ready?” she asked, holding up her beer. She swirled it once like it was a glass of fine wine.

“Ready.” I nodded, raising my beer as well. “On three?”

One.

Two.

Three.

We both set off, drinking as fast as we possibly could. Within seven seconds, I was triumphantly crumpling up my empty cup and dropping it on the bar.

Cassie, who finished her beer just a couple of seconds later, widened her eyes when she saw me drop my cup with a flourish. I couldn’t help but grin.

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