I shrugged with one shoulder. “You never asked.”

  “I’m asking now.”

  I opened my mouth, hesitated, then stopped. When I closed it again, Lincoln was staring back at me curiously.

  I let out a long, resigned sigh.

  “What?”

  “I’d tell you,” I said sheepishly. “But I’m afraid it would sound too stupid.”

  He stroked his chin for a moment before snapping his fingers. “Sex in the City?”

  I laughed so hard I ended up squeezing his hand. I didn’t let go, however.

  “No. Great guess, though.”

  “Hmmm…” he said. “So what then?”

  “Promise you won’t laugh?”

  Lincoln grinned wickedly. “Can’t do that.”

  “Fine. Just promise you won’t hold it against me.”

  He nodded and held up his free hand. “Scouts honor.”

  I eyed him shrewdly. “Were you a scout?”

  “No,” he admitted. “But I’m told they have honor.”

  “Fine then,” I sighed again. “There’s this really cheesy rom-com.”

  Lincoln rolled his eyes over-dramatically.

  “And it takes place here, in the City. And… I don’t know. It got me thinking about where I was. And where I could be. And Manhattan was so damned beautiful in the movie, so totally unlike—”

  “We’re here,” announced Ulrich over his shoulder.

  Lincoln glanced out the window and did a double take. “The heart of the diamond district?”

  I poked him in the ribs before pulling him out the door.

  “Trust me,” I chuckled. “Your mother will thank you.”

  Fifteen

  HOLLY

  The IGT Jewelry Shopping mall was a glass-framed masterpiece centered in the middle of West 47th street. I’d only been there once before, and the sprawling, multi-level showcase of shops and vendors had overwhelmed even me.

  “Earrings,” I said, dragging Lincoln along.

  “Earrings?”

  I nodded. “In every photo you’ve ever shown me, your mother is wearing the same dated pair of earrings. She needs new ones. Diamond ones.”

  “But how do I know which—”

  “You leave that to me,” I said. I glanced back and delivered my most reassuring smile. “I’m your personal shopper, remember?”

  “Oh, I remember.”

  “Then it’s settled.”

  We took our time here, examining a variety of different options. Hoops, studs, hinged clasps… I had it narrowed down to a few choices in under an hour. I showed Lincoln how to haggle too, despite his embarrassment and protests. How pulling ourselves intentionally away from vendors caused them to suddenly lower their prices as we left, trying to entice us with an on-the-spot sale.

  Ultimately we emerged dizzy but victorious, with the absolute perfect pair of earrings in all of New York City. By now though, it was getting dark. Our feet hurt, our energy was running low, and for once in my life, I was actually shopped-out.

  “Dinner,” Lincoln said, matter-of-factly. “Me and you.”

  I nodded mechanically.

  “Got a preference?”

  “Anywhere they serve food,” I breathed.

  My hunky new shopping-buddy murmured something into his driver’s ear. The blond man in the front seat nodded, made a quick phone call, and the car sped off again. Though I’d been in and out of the vehicle all afternoon, I still couldn’t help marveling at how smooth the ride was.

  Wish I still had my car…

  For the first time all day, my thoughts strayed back to my dick of an ex-boyfriend. I wondered absently what Malcolm had done with my car. Probably turned the lease in early, if I knew him. He’d never use it, and there’s was no way in hell he’d pay for garage space.

  I glanced around jealously. My car was nothing like this, but I loved it just the same. Silently I hoped Malcolm had to pay some kind of a termination penalty.

  “Holly, I wanted to say thanks again,” Lincoln said, leaning back. He actually undid the top button of his shirt. “You’re a champion.”

  I was pressed against him now, hip to hip, leg to leg. Partly because of all the presents jammed in the back seat with us. Partly because it was what I wanted.

  “So what are we having?” I sighed dreamily. “Italian? Chinese?” The mention of each made my mouth water. I would’ve eaten anything at this point.

  “Well on our next date,” Lincoln said slyly, “I plan on taking you to a real restaurant.”

  Next date…

  The phrase ended all speculation in my head. So we were on a date. Of sorts, anyway. And apparently, at least as far as he was concerned, there was going to be another.

  “Next date huh?” I chided him. “Real restaurant?”

  He nodded amicably.

  “But for now?” I asked, my stomach growling on cue.

  The luxury sedan rolled to a flawless stop. I turned my head to one side and there it was.

  “Oh shit!” I laughed. “You’re kidding, right?”

  “Good guess?”

  The strange windowed doors and little black awning looked exactly as they did in the movie! A thrill surged through me.

  “YES!” I screamed. “Yes, amazing guess!”

  Lincoln folded his arms in triumph. “Thought so.”

  The line streaming out of Serendipity 3 was a few dozen people long. It stretched out into the street and down the sidewalk a good long ways. At this rate, we wouldn’t be eating for another two to three hours. The idea caused my stomach to rumble again.

  “C’mon,” said Lincoln. He jumped out, skirted the back of the car, and arrived in time to open the door for me.

  “But the line—”

  “Screw the line,” my date smirked. “We already have a table waiting.”

  Sixteen

  HOLLY

  Lincoln spoke briefly with the maître d' before pulling me into the restaurant, where I gasped at the eclectic mix of odd yet beautiful furnishings that seemed to explode from everywhere. Dozens of Tiffany glass lamps hung from the ceiling. Ornate vases sat on Corinthian pedestals. Mirrors of all shapes and sizes lay scattered across the walls: round mirrors, funhouse mirrors — all of them adorned for the holiday with twinkling Christmas lights. The whole thing reeked of insanity, like something out of Alice in Wonderland. Yet even the chaos was just as cozy, just as romantic, as it was in the movie.

  We were led past crowds of laughing, merry people sitting at round tables until finally I knew where we were. When the hostess pointed downward at our two empty seats, I was too stunned for words.

  “The Star Table,” the slender man announced proudly. He laid down two comically oversized menus. “Enjoy!”

  Lincoln held my chair out for me, but I wasn’t sitting down. I was still standing there, hands over my mouth, taking the whole thing in.

  “This… this is…”

  “The table they sat at in the movie,” Lincoln smiled. “Yes.”

  I glanced down at the little round table set against a tiny, unlit fireplace. The positioning was the same. The chairs were same. It was unreal.

  “H—How did you—”

  “I do work for the owner,” Lincoln explained. “Three different campaigns so far — other restaurants, not this one. I’ve also played racquetball with him on certain weekends.” He sighed. “Not for a while though. Too busy.”

  A patron bumped into my date from behind, jostling him. He was still holding my chair out.

  “Oh! Sorry!”

  I slid into the same seat Kate Beckinsale sat in. Lincoln slid into John Cusack’s. The movie was my favorite of all time, and yes, I’d come here before to see the place from the outside. But there had always been a line. I’d never even tried to get inside.

  “This is unreal,” I breathed. “Like living out a fantasy, or...”

  “Or a romantic movie!” Lincoln laughed, handing me a menu. “Congratulations. You’re starring in your own rom-com.”

  I beamed at him as I took the giant piece of laminated plastic. “You’re starring in it too, you know.”

  “Oh, I know.”

  As far as food went, the restaurant was limited. It was more of a coffeehouse and dessert shop, really. Luckily we were hungry enough that it didn’t matter. It wasn’t long before we were diving into hot soup and blue corn nachos, greedily devouring everything down to the porcelain white plates. I glanced up at Lincoln and laughed.

  “You have a little bit of… on the corner of your…” I reached out and wiped the edge of his goatee. “There you go.”

  He grinned back and caught my hand in his. It was warm and strong. Our eyes met, and for a moment he held my fingers against his face.

  “Thanks.”

  It was a long moment, and full of meaning. Somewhere under the table, I felt my stomach do a sexy backflip.

  “I can’t believe you’re eating New England clam chowder here in Manhattan,” I teased.

  “Why?”

  “I dunno. It seems sacrilegious.”

  I was distracting myself. Trying to break the tension. But Lincoln’s eyes held me prisoner, even as he shrugged one big shoulder.

  “I’m originally from Maine,” he said with a smirk. “Besides, our chowder’s way better.”

  Our entrees arrived: shepherd’s pie and some kind of barbecued chicken. We split everything, spoons and forks rising and diving, until virtually nothing remained.

  “So how in the world did you guess the movie?” I asked finally.

  “Serendipity? It’s a New York classic.”

  “I wouldn’t think you’d be a romance fan.”

  “I’m a John Cusack fan,” Lincoln acknowledged. “Better off Dead. Con Air…”

  “Say Anything,” I smiled.

  “That one too.”

  “I would’ve thought you were more of a Kate Beckinsale fan.”

  Lincoln’s grin spread even wider. He let out a low whistle. “Who isn’t?”

  I kicked him under the table. Not hard, just enough to be flirtatious. I no longer felt the least bit tired. I felt alive, in fact. Charged with energy.

  “Ah,” Lincoln said as our waiter approached. “Here we go.”

  Two very large, very familiar mugs were set in front of us. They were topped with a mountain of whipped cream and chocolate shavings… just like in the movie.

  “The infamous Serendipity 3 frozen hot chocolate,” I sighed happily. “We’re never going to finish these, you know.”

  “Speak for yourself,” said Lincoln, leaning in the direction of his straw.

  It turned out Lincoln’s sweet tooth was significantly longer than mine. While he finished his dessert, I barely made a dent in mine. The way I’d been eating all weekend, I’d have to go the gym twice a day next week.

  The gym…

  I fought hard to keep my mind from wandering, but then my date’s phone buzzed. Lincoln excused himself and checked the screen. His face went blank.

  “Uhhh…”

  “What is it?”

  He looked troubled all of a sudden. There were lines his forehead that weren’t there a moment ago.

  “Do you mind if we stop by my office before I take you back? There’s something I need to get.”

  “No,” I said. “Of course not.”

  His smile returned as he called for the check. “Have I told you you’re a champion?”

  “Not in the last hour or so,” I laughed. “But go ahead. I’m all ears.”

  Seventeen

  LINCOLN

  She looked amazing wandering my office, spinning in every direction to admire the open-glass view. In turn, my eyes wandered her legs. They crawled up from her sexy black boots to where her skirt bounced merrily around the backs of her thighs.

  “This is incredible!”

  The folders spread out across my desk weren’t the right ones. Or maybe they were, and I was just too distracted.

  “This is all yours?” asked Holly. “The entire floor?”

  “We shared it with another firm for a while,” I said. “But yes. It’s ours since last year, when we expanded.”

  The place really was impressive. Twenty-fifth floor, southern-facing exposure. Floor to ceiling windows on most of the walls, bringing in blue skies and sunlight for most of the year. And I was proud of the expansion. Proud at having taken on so many new clients in such a short amount of time.

  I sighed as I reached the last folder. With the perks of having this many clients came the perils of being this disorganized.

  “I can’t believe you started this place from scratch,” said Holly. “This is amazing, Lincoln. It really is.”

  I smiled at her from behind my big mahogany desk. The entire office was illuminated solely by computer screens and nighttime lighting. It only made the City lights look that much more spectacular.

  Holly strode through the door and into my office, crossing one sexy leg in front of the other. I glanced up once more, totally lost in how pretty she was. What the hell was I looking for, anyway?

  “Can I help you find anything?”

  “I— Uhh…” I blinked a few times to focus. “I need last month’s financial records,” I said. “I have the income and cash flow statements, and part of the financial position. But I’m missing something.”

  “The statement of changes in equity?” Holly asked.

  I blinked at her in disbelief. “Yes, actually. That’s the one. How in the world did you—”

  “I work in accounting,” she smiled. “Remember?”

  Actually I did remember, it just slipped my mind. There was a lot I already knew about my beautiful personal shopper. And a lot more I wanted to know.

  “It’s probably up there,” I said, pointing to a high cabinet. “Should be in a folder, I just forgot what color.”

  Without missing a beat, Holly dragged one of my guest chairs away from my desk. She slipped out of her boots, leapt up, and began thumbing through the files.

  “Let me see…”

  The chair had wheels on it. I cringed and ran over, to make sure she didn’t fall.

  “Looks like purple,” Holly said. “Which month did you need?”

  “October and November.”

  She pushed up onto her tiptoes. The chair shifted.

  “Hold me for a sec.”

  My hands went automatically to her waist, and she felt wonderful beneath my fingertips. Her legs looked fantastic like this, especially her calves.

  “Ah, here we are. Hang on…”

  She stretched higher, and suddenly I found myself hoping she’d fall. I’d catch her, and sweep her into my arms. Then we’d kiss… hotly, passionately. It would be romantic, like something out of a movie.

  “Is this it?” she asked, stepping down from the chair. “I think—”

  I swept her into my arms and kissed her anyway.

  Holly stiffened against me for a split-second, but it was only out of sheer surprise. A moment later she was kissing me back. Sighing softly as her arms slid over my shoulders, the rest of her body going limp in my arms.

  Her lips were sweet and magnificent — and every bit the experience I’d imagined they would be. Holly’s soft tongue probed mine as our passion grew, our mouths rolling hotly and hungrily as if we’d waited all night for this.

  We had of course, only for me it had been much longer than that. I’d had my eye on Holly since she took over the job. I’d been crushed to learn she had a boyfriend, and recently elated to find out they’d finally broken up. She was so cute, so smart and funny, I knew she’d have another boyfriend sooner rather than later.

  If I was going to take action, it was now or never.

  Holly cooed into my mouth as we continued kissing, my hands sliding down her waist to cup her lovely ass. She pulled me tighter against her. In the process, she dropped the records to the floor.

  “Oh!”

  The folders landed upside down, papers and spreadsheets sliding in every direction. She knelt immediately to gather them, but I cupped her face in my hands and stopped her.

  “Fuck that.”

  She gasped again as I lifted her, spinning around to push her backward on my desk. Holly’s ass shoved my keyboard backward. She spread her legs to bring me closer and I pushed between them. I continued kissing her madly, even as our hands began fumbling with each other’s clothes.

  Holy shit…

  I almost couldn’t believe how hot we were for each other. Though it was our first and only date, what we were about to do felt like the explosive culmination of a long, agonizing courtship.

  “Lincoln…”

  She murmured the word, looking up at me innocently. Staring at me with those doe-like eyes, even as her sinful fingers fumbled to unclasp my belt.

  The sensations on my end were indescribable. I could feel heat, passion, lust. An intense thirst and longing for something I’d obviously wanted for so, so long. Holly’s arms went up, and her sweater slipped over her head. She wore the sexiest black bra with criss-crossing straps. The tops of her silken breasts looked so amazing in it, I almost didn’t want it off.

  “Oh… yes…”

  My zipper came down, and a slender hand made its way through the front of my boxer-briefs. Holly’s fingers closed over my stiffening manhood as she drew a sharp intake of air. Probably because at the same time, I was burying my face between her luscious breasts.

  “YES…”

  It was astounding, how quickly I’d been overcome with the irresistible need to have her. I suddenly wanted her physically, mentally, emotionally — I desired her in every possible way. I was becoming drunk with the smell of her body, the sweet taste of her mouth. The warmth of her skin as my palms slid beneath her skirt, and the feel of her lips brushing against mine, gasping together as we breathed the same breath…

  Her hand stroked me openly now. It moved with knowledge and practice, but also with the slightest and most adorable hesitation. I helped her pull the rest of my clothes down and shifted her towards me, at the edge of my desk.

  “Do you want this?”

 

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