Page 16 of Wingwoman
“Touché.”
If I knew men… and I think I did… there was one thing that would bother any ex. Seeing his ex-fiance trading up with a bigger and better celebrity. Especially one that craved the spotlight as it sounded like her ex did. It sent my mind whirring with ideas.
“Anyway,” she continued with a tone of finality to her voice. “Are any women here striking your interest?”
And just like that, we were done talking about her.
I cleared my throat, recognizing her blatant change in subject, and glanced around the bar. Not a single woman in here kicked my heart into overdrive like only a few minutes with Hope did.
“Well,” I said, “I want a woman with her hair color .” I tilted my head toward the bar where a girl was leaning across ordering from Nina. She had curly, chestnut brown hair. Then, I shifted my gaze to where another girl was riding the mechanical bull. She had straight, blond hair with sleek layers just below her shoulders. “But with herstyle.”
Hope’s gaze swept the room right along with me and she nodded with what I was saying. “Her clothing style?”
“Herhairstyle,” I clarified. “The clothing style needs to be versatile, as we talked about before. Someone who can dress up and be comfortable in heels on a red carpet, but who can also dress down and come riding horses with me at the ranch.” My gaze swept down Hope’s body to her long, muscled legs, covered in the tight denim of her jeans. Her perky breasts pushed against the buttons of her shirt with just the tiniest bit of cleavage swelling from the top. Enough to catch my eye and stir something behind my zipper, but not enough to be inappropriate. And I’d seen her dressed up the other night in her black pencil skirt, pink sleeveless top, and stilettos. She’d been a knockout then and she was a knockout now.
“Okay,” Hope answered. “Anyone else catching your eye?”
I held her gaze a moment longer, purposefully. Then with a quick swipe of my tongue across my lips, I jerked my head to Nina. “I need a muse who can handle me. Call me on my bullshit like Nina.”
“You know it, baby,” Nina chimed in, overhearing us as she walked by.
I grinned and sent her a wink, which she responded to by flipping me off.
“Okay then,” Hope said, smiling at Nina. Apparently, she liked the idea of me being put in my place.
“And I want her to have her own career. Her own ambitions, but preferably be her own boss so I have time with her while I’m writing this album.”
Hope put her drink down, the sound of it hitting the bar echoed over the white noise of the surrounding conversations. “Okay, I think we’re getting ahead of ourselves. We won’t be able to determine her career tonight in the bar. Just… look around. Pick out a few women that might visually be what you’re looking for. Then we’ll narrow down the pool of women from there.”
I scanned the bar again. I made an effort. Truly. Swear to God. I looked for someone else—anyone else—who may have fit the bill for my muse. But there was no one. Not even the slightest spark of an interest for anyone else here in the bar with me.
No one except the one woman sitting across from me.
I slowly turned my gaze back to Hope who was watching me with intense eyes.
“Well, there is one woman I’m intrigued by.”
Her eyebrows jumped and her expression dropped in shock. “Really? That’s fantastic. Who?”
I leaned in closer to Hope. So close that our elbows brushed where we were each leaning on the bar. “She’s standing really close to us, so I have to be coy,” I whispered.
Hope’s lips formed an o-shape and I couldn’t help but notice the sheen of moisture across them. Wet. Ready. Ready for me.
I swallowed a groan.
Like a pro, she kept her eyes on me, dropping her voice to match my whisper. “Okay. Just tell me where she is and I’ll subtly glance her way.”
“Well,” my lips were so close to her, our faces couldn’t have been more than two inches apart. “It’syou. You’re the only woman in this bar I’m interested in pursuing.”
Her lips parted as she let out a gasp so quiet, I easily would have missed it if I wasn’t paying such close attention to her. “Me?”
I studied her reaction. The way her pupils dilated with the news. The quick swipe of her tongue across her rose-colored lips. The way her breath hitched and her skin lifted in goosebumps that quickly disappeared.
“Absolutely not, Josh. We have a working relationship and that’s all. If this is going to be a problem, then we should void our contract right now. Do I make myself clear?”
I smiled. It was a triumphant smile. Because even though she said no, she didn’t see what I saw. Lust. And desire. For the briefest moment, I could tell she wanted to say yes.
Look, I’m not a creep. I would never force a woman to be with me inanyway. But I also know what I saw. And based on that… Hope Marcoux-Evans will eventually say yes.
