“A piece of ass for five hundred k.” He shakes his head. “Please tell me it’s more than that.”
“It is.” At least I hope so. I groan and slump in the chair. “I’m stupid.”
“A little,” he says in agreement. “You exhausted how much more of your trust fund for this?”
“I don’t even want to know.” In all honesty, it’s not much. Tri-City Media Group brings in a shit ton of money. I just made sure to use my part of the earnings.
Damien laughs. “I will say she’s beautiful.”
“She is,” I tell him. “I can’t even explain how I feel when I’m near her. The entire time she was meeting with you, I was in the control room with security watching so I could time the right moment to run into her.”
“And did it work?”
“It did.” I laugh. “I was just around the corner of the meeting room when she walked out. She wasn’t watching where she was going, but I was, and she ran right into me.” I hold my leg up and inspect my shoe. Maybe I’ll leave the mark there for a few days, so I have something to look back on. “Anyway, I looked right into those green eyes of hers and felt my knees go weak. She’s the one.”
“And you know this from one night?” Damien asks.
I shake my head and sit upright. “I knew from the moment I saw her, even though she was wearing a mask. I was across the room, and there she was, in this green mermaid dress.” Damien holds his hand up, and I pause.
“How the hell do you know what a mermaid dress is?”
“My sister is a fashion designer. If you don’t think I had to model dresses for her when I was younger, you’re crazy.”
Damien laughs and spins his hand in a circle. “Carry on, Coco Chanel.”
I flip him off, with not one, but both middle fingers. “Anyway, as I was saying before, I was so rudely interrupted and mocked,” I pause and give Damien a dirty look. “I went up to her right away and asked her to dance. She smiled as I held out my hand. The second her hand touched mine, my body was on fire. My mouth watered. My throat tightened. I was in middle school all over again. We danced for three songs, all while I had the biggest hard-on. I wasn’t even embarrassed. Each time I’d brush it against her, she’d let out this little gasp, only turning me on even more. I took a chance and asked her if she wanted to get out of there, and she fucking agreed.
“I took her to my room and one thing led to another. We both agreed to keep our masks on, but I knew, without a doubt, underneath her mask was the most beautiful woman I had ever seen. She had pinned her auburn hair, so it fell to the side. It brushed against her skin, and I was jealous because I wanted to touch her there. Her eyes never left mine as I approached her. I expected her to step away, but she stood there, and when I was within reach, her fingers brushed against my cheek,” I pause and shake my head.
“I went into that room looking for a quick fuck and ended up spending the entire night with her. When I woke, she was gone. There was a note on the pillow, and I hoped it was her name and number, but it was a note, thanking me for the most amazing night ever.” Damien doesn’t need to know I still have the note, tucked away in my dresser drawer.
“So, if you didn’t know her name, how did you find her?”
“I remembered where she was standing, always on the outskirts. I described her to Celeste, and she told me right off her name was Ensley and she was the most sought-after party planner in Charlotte, if not the entire state.”
“And now she’s planning our station’s biggest event of the year,” Damien points out. “What I don’t get is, if you want to know her, why not just introduce yourself?”
“Because she wanted a night of passion with no strings. We purposely kept our names a secret. We’ve never crossed paths before, and it wouldn’t take a rocket scientist to discover I figured out who she was.”
“And you don’t think she’ll be suspicious when you just happened to come up to her again?”
I shrug. “It’s a risk I’m willing to take.”
“It’s a damn expensive one, Owen. You could save a shit ton of money by just walking up to her or hell, following her to a clothing store, and conveniently run into her.”
He’s right, I could. “If I did that, then I wouldn’t get to see you dress up in a Halloween costume.”
Damien groans. “I should boycott.”
“You could, but you won’t. You could meet your soul mate at our party. Many people do.” It’s for singles only.
“I’m not hooking up with Elvira,” he quips.
My mouth drops open, and I shake my head. “I can’t believe that girl from college dressed like Elvira every single day.”
“What’s worse,” Damien pauses, “is we met her on Halloween, and we had no idea. I couldn’t understand why everyone laughed at us at that frat party.”
“The joke was definitely on us that night.”
“And the next day,” he adds. “So, what are you going to be?”
My cheek rises as I think. “I don’t know, but it has to be something that will get Ensley’s attention.”
“Which could be hard.”
I shake my head slightly. “I may or may not have stalked her social media.”
Damien throws a pen at me.
“What? I can’t help it. I’m infatuated with this woman.”
“All right, Romeo. Tell me what she likes.”
“Reading, mostly. She watches a ton of Hallmark movies, which I get because she’s a party planner. I
