I want her,my dick shouts, deftly muting out my brain’s objections.
“Hello, Georgina,” I say, shaking her hand. “Georgie. And, please, call me...Mr. Rivers.”
She laughs. “Well, that hardly seems fair.”
“Life isn’t fair.” I lean forward, a wide smile etched onto my face. “Although, sometimes, it can be pretty fucking awesome, when you least expect it.”
She returns my smile, a gleam in her hazel eyes. “This truly is a coincidence?”
“I’m smart, but not clairvoyant. I was at dinner with friends, and then happened to stop in here. How could I possibly have known you work here?”
“You could have followed me. Or had me followed.”
“Pretty sure that’s what’s known as stalking, sweetheart. Way beneath my pay grade.”
“You sure about that? I’m getting a serious stalker vibe from you.”
“Okay, full disclosure, I was going to call CeeCee tomorrow to gather intel about you, in order to track you down. So, maybe stalking isn’t beneath me so much as your accusation is a day premature.”
She giggles. “What would you have asked CeeCee about me?”
“Your name, to start with. Your age. I definitely would have asked if you’re a music student.”
She shakes her head. “Journalism. I’m graduating next week.”
My dick cautiously jumps for joy.She’s not off-limits.“Congratulations. Are you a musician on the side, maybe? A singer?”
“Nope. Just a writer. My passion is investigative journalism.”
I’m losing my mind with relief. Euphoria. Lust. Even as the business side of my brain is slightly disappointed I won’t have the chance to make her a star. “How old are you, if you don’t mind me asking?”
“I’m turning twenty-two next month.”
She just keeps getting better and better. “I’m relieved to know you’re not a teenager,” I admit. “The thought occurred to me at the panel, as I was flirting with you, that your age could very well end inthe word ‘teen.’ Once I realized that, I was pretty disgusted with myself for continuing to flirt.”
“Not disgusted enough to stop, apparently.”
I chuckle. “True.”
“So if I’d turned out to be nineteen, you would have hung up with CeeCee tomorrow, and not tracked me down?”
I pause, unsure. Hearing her say that out loud, it doesn’t ring true to me, even though before today, I would have sworn I’d never be caught dead pursuing a teenager. But, come on, I saw Georgina today and brazenly came on to her for a full hour, even though I knew there was a good chance she was eighteen or nineteen... So can I honestly say I wouldn’t have pursued her if it had turned out she wasn’t old enough to order a beer?
But, still. There’s no reason to say any of that out loud, and come off as a dirty old man. And so, I say, “If CeeCee had told me you were a teenager, then I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t have tracked you down.”
She laughs. “Liar. If I’d been nineteen, you’d have told yourself ‘Hey, she’s legal,’ and then done exactly what you’re doing right now. Whatever that is.”
“Whatever that is? Oh, God. I’ve got to step up my game, if you don’t know. Georgina, sweetheart, I’m hitting on you. With all my might.”
She bites her luscious lower lip. “Oh? Good to know.” She smiles. “I think it’s interesting you think nineteen is too young for you, but twenty-one isn’t. Explain that one to me.”
“Oh, twenty-one is too young for me, too.”
We both laugh.
“Actually, before this moment, I would have sworn I’d never hit on a twenty-one-year-old. Never say never, I guess.”
She adjusts her elbows on the bar. “To what do you attribute this astonishing reversal of yours, Mr. Rivers?”
