After the Kiss by Lauren Layne Read Free Book Online Page A

better feeling than having a risky gamble play out the way you wanted. And this one had played out perfectly. Julie Greene had done exactly as he’d hoped. Exactly as he’d expected.
    It was particularly satisfying, because as good as Mitchell was at reading people in the workplace, he’d never been particularly adept at understanding the workings of the female mind. But last night he’d somehow known
exactly
how to play Julie Greene.
    Putting her in that cab without so much as asking for her number had been a stroke of brilliance. It had surprised her, caught her off guard, and probably pissed her off. And, most important, it had ensured that she would seek
him
out.
    Mitchell wasn’t even entirely sure what had made him do it. The object of this little game with Colin was simply to have a little fun with a girl who wasn’t the commitment kind. To that end, simply asking her on a second date would have been more efficient.
    But that was exactly what Julie had expected him to do. If it had been up to her, the entire evening would have been manufactured, from the tilt of her head to her too-high laugh when he’d made a dud joke.
That
Julie hadn’t interested him.
    But the Julie he’d seen when he’d ripped away her safety net and called her on her bullshit? That Julie he kind of liked.
    Okay,
really
liked. Not in the way he’d liked Evelyn or Sarah, or even Christina back in college. Julie was the opposite of every woman he’d ever dated. She was too bright, too intense. She was the last person he’d seek out for long-term companionship—she was far too disruptive for that.
    But disruptive could be rather refreshing.
    At least for the short term.
    Mitchell hadn’t been able to withhold a little fist pump when she’d called him at his office that afternoon, her voice all soft and husky and fake. She made some cooing noises aboutit being her turn to treat him to dinner, but he knew what it was really about. A woman who knew how to wrap men around her finger was bound to see last night’s abrupt ending as a failure. She simply wanted to repair her flawless record.
    The nature of the invitation, however, had surprised him. He’d thought for sure she’d suggest drinks at a trendy hotel bar or dinner at some place with tiny portions and pretentious service. But a home-cooked meal? That didn’t seem like her. At least not what he knew of her.
    Apparently he wasn’t the only one who had a sudden desire to be unpredictable.
    Mitchell wasn’t embarrassed to admit that he’d Googled her. She’d come up nearly a dozen times in various articles on the New York social scene. Colin had been right: Julie Greene was no small-time journalist.
Stiletto
was more empire than magazine, and as far as he could tell, Julie, Grace, and their friend Riley were the princesses.
    Neither had Colin exaggerated her dating record. There’d been a male-model look-alike by Julie’s side in almost every picture. Always a different guy, always the same flashy good looks and toothpaste-commercial smile.
    Which raised a question: what the hell did she want with
him
?
    Julie was all dazzle and fun, and he was, well … Wall Street.
    But Mitchell wasn’t about to look a gift horse in the mouth, or whatever the hell that phrase was. The woman was his ticket into Yankee Stadium. That’s all he needed to know.
    Standing on the doorstep of her brownstone, Mitchell found the call button marked “Greene.”
    “Hey, Mitchell! Come on in—up the stairs, first door on the right.”
    He tentatively pushed the door open, looking around curiously. Call him a snob, but a Manhattan home without a doorman was new to him. He’d only ever lived in swanky high-rises, as had his previous girlfriends.
    Still, this was no run-down hovel. The building, while old, had obviously been renovated and kept in good condition.
Stiletto
must pay their princesses good money.
    Mitchell started to knock on her door when he heard a loud clatter of pots and pans followed