A Gentleman’s Offer by Dara Girard Read Free Book Online Page B

stifled a scream. On the desk and all over his walls were framed pictures of her. One of the photos was from the tenant’s barbecue last summer, another was a picture taken of her by Arthur as she sat on the doorstep and there were more.
    “Yvette?”
    She spun around. “What is all this?”
    “It’s not what you think,” Arthur said in a nervous voice.
    “Not what I think? People expected me. You’ve been lying.”
    “Look, we’d be perfect together. Do you see this view?” He pointed to the magnificent scenery that could be seen from his new corner office.
    She walked past him. “Take me home.”
    “But the party—”
    She raised a hand. “Is over.”
     
    When she returned to her apartment, James rushed up to greet her. “This is why I don’t like men. I don’t understand them but dogs I do. Going out with Arthur was a big mistake. I should have listened to you. Maybe Nate is a mistake, too.” She picked up the phone, then put it down again. She’d given a total stranger her home number but to be fair, he had given her his and his cell phone. But she knew so little about him. She picked up the phone again and dialed. Nate picked up after two rings. “Hello?”
    She froze.
    “Yvette?”
    “Yes, how did you know it was me?”
    “I saw your number.”
    “Oh.”
    “Do you need something?”
    “I need to ask you a few more questions.”
    “Okay.”
    “Are you single?”
    “Yes.”
    “Are you looking for a girlfriend?”
    “No.”
    “Do you have any hopes, plan or desire to get married any time soon?”
    He laughed. “No.”
    “Good.”
    “What about you?”
    “Me?” her voice cracked.
    “Yes, do you have a boyfriend or want to get married soon?”
    “No to both.”
    “So we’re definitely in business. What triggered this phone call?”
    She told him about her night with Arthur. He burst into laughter.
    “I don’t see the humor.”
    “That’s okay. I do. The same thing happened to me once when I was sixteen except I didn’t know the girl. She wanted to impress her mother so she cut out a picture of me she had found in one of those glitzy magazines and put it in her wallet. Then one day I visited the same restaurant she went to with her mother and when her mother saw me she rushed over and hugged me.”
    “What happened?”
    “We dated a few months then broke up.”
    “You dated her?”
    “Sure. It was fun and she was able to save face. But I made sure not to be in photos after that.”
    “You’re a kind man.”
    “She was a good-looking woman. I wasn’t being that kind.”
    Yvette argued with him for a while, then they talked about other dating disasters. He had more than she did. Before she knew it an hour had passed. “Sorry to have kept you so long.”
    “No problem. Now you know me enough to trust me. I’m not after you, so you’re safe.”
    “Yes,” Yvette said, wondering why she felt disappointed.
    “I’ll see you Tuesday.”
    Yvette hung up the phone, then smiled at James. “I guess the night wasn’t so bad after all.” She looked at her calendar and saw she had an appointment with Rania, an etiquette consultant, on Monday after work. Yvette remembered her initial apprehension when she read the instructions from The Black Stockings Society that told her to contact Rania. She’d made the appointment with a brusque, but polite, woman who identified herself as Rania on the phone and now looked forward to meeting someone who was part of the Society. All Sunday she thought about her appointment and went to bed excited.
    Unfortunately, her excitement fell when she saw the building. It was a brownstone. An ordinary brownstone with one skinny tree that had small yellow blossoms. Yvette checked the directions to make sure she was at the right address, hoping she’d made an error. But there hadn’t been a mistake. She was at the right place. She’d left work early for this?
    When she stepped inside, the interior didn’t look much better than the exterior. Even