I was gone by the time she finished her sentence. I’d been scanning the room since she brought up the game rules, formulating a plan, so I didn’t hesitate in beelining toward a group of twenty-something women in the corner.
Lucky for me, the bar’s female to male ratio was about two to one, giving me the upper hand even if I stayed away from women who were with their significant other.
I kept my conversations brief and flirtatious. I never promised more than I could give, and I made the women I talked to feel good enough they had no qualms about parting with their numbers after only a few minutes. I suspected a few knew I was up to something, considering how quickly I was moving through the crowd, but that didn’t stop them from flirting back.
By the time six-thirty rolled around, I’d secured well over a dozen numbers. I should’ve been thrilled, but suspicion trickled through me when I noticed Jules hadn’t moved from her seat. She sipped her drink, her face serene as she watched me work the room.
What was she up to?
Unable to take it anymore, I ended my conversation with the woman I was currently talking to and stalked over to Jules. I planted my hands on the wooden tabletop and narrowed my eyes. “Okay, what’s your game?”
“What do you mean?” Jules asked, innocent as a newborn lamb.
“We have…” I checked the time again. “…ten minutes left and you haven’t even tried to talk to a guy. Don’t tell me you’re banking on them approaching you first.”
A few had, but Jules wasn’t the passive type. She liked to go in guns blazing, no matter the situation.
“I’m not.”
“Forfeiting, then? If you’re scared of losing, just say so. No need to go through this whole song and dance.”
“Oh, I’m not forfeiting.” Jules finally set her drink down and unfolded herself from her chair. She slipped out of her jacket, her movements like honey gliding against the gentle curves of a glass bottle.
Slow, smooth, sensual.
Fucking hell.
My throat dried at the sight before me.
Jules wore a standard professional uniform—a white button-down shirt tucked into a gray skirt, black heels, and a discreet gold necklace that peeked out from beneath her collar. But with her body and confidence, she might as well have been wearing the world’s sexiest lace lingerie.
No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t stop my eyes from devouring her flash of cleavage and the way her outfit hugged her ample curves. Her voluptuous figure wasn’t toned and lean like so many of the women in my gym, but it was soft. Lush. And entirely too appealing.
Heat scorched my blood as an image of me pushing her up against a wall, yanking up that tight little skirt, and fucking her until she screamed flashed through my head.
I shoved it aside the minute it popped up, but it was too late. My cock was already hardening, and arousal thrummed low in my gut.
Tension hardened my jaw. I hated this newfound effect she had on me. I’d gone years without being turned on by her, and now, I couldn’t stop fantasizing about her. I didn’t know what changed, but it was pissing me the fuck off.
“I’m winning this bet. Watch and learn, Chen,” Jules purred before sashaying over to the DJ.
The view of her walking away did nothing to ease the ache in my groin.
Of all the horrible things that could happen to me, being sexually attracted to Jules Ambrose topped the list. No question.
Need, frustration, and curiosity battled for dominance as she said something to the DJ. He nodded, his face creasing with sympathy.
A burst of suspicion entered the mix when he cut off the music. Why would he…
I shot up when I realized what she had up her sleeve.
She wouldn’t. No fucking way.
“I’m sorry for interrupting your happy hour, but I’ll keep this quick.” Jules’s voice rang through the now silent bar, clear and strong but with a touch of vulnerability that had everyone leaning in to hear more.
“Long story short, I just got out of a long, terrible relationship, and my friend”—she gestured toward me, causing dozens of heads to swivel in my direction—“reminded me the best way to get over someone is to get under someone else. So I’m looking for a rebound.” The mix of studied hesitation and suggestiveness in her voice was enough to drive any red-blooded male crazy. Goddammit, she was good. “If you’re interested in a no strings attached night or two, give me your number. Thank you.”
Straight to the point, even if the point was a false one. Classic Jules.
The bar reverberated with stunned silence for one, two, three beats before pandemonium broke out. Cheers and applause rang through the space while dozens of men rushed toward her, nearly tripping over themselves in their haste to be her “rebound.”
I shook my head, unable to process what was happening. I felt like I’d just been dropped into the middle of a farfetched movie scene. I wouldn’t have believed it had I not witnessed it with my own eyes.
Of course that was Jules’s plan. She was the only person I knew who could pull off such a move.
She caught my eye over the crowd, her face glowing with triumph. Sucks to lose, she mouthed.
It did. I hated losing. But I couldn’t even be mad because what she just did? Fucking genius.
I rubbed a hand over my mouth, unable to hold back a laugh of grudging admiration.
Jules Ambrose was something else.
17
JULES
The final score in our game? Sixteen numbers for Josh, twenty-seven for me.
“You cheated.” Despite his declaration, the gleam in Josh’s eye told me he was more upset he hadn’t thought of my idea first than by my unconventional strategy.
“Can’t cheat if there were no rules.” The thrill of victory added an extra bounce to my step.
We’d left the bar after tallying our numbers and were currently walking home from the Hazelburg metro station. Maybe it was the alcohol or the body heat radiating off Josh as he walked beside me, but I was roasting in my coat even though the early evening temperature hovered in the low fifties. I didn’t feel like carrying it though, so I kept the coat on.
“Should’ve known you’d find a loophole.” Josh angled his chin toward my bag, where I’d stuffed the dozens of napkins with men’s numbers scribbled on them. “You gonna call any of them?”
“Maybe. Couldn’t be worse than trying to find someone on a dating app.” My smile dimmed when I remembered my encounter with Todd. He had some nerve, approaching me like that. Then again, men possessed nothing if not audacity.
“Hmm.”
The disgruntled sound settled into my bones and caused my pulse to spike. Was Josh…jealous?
No. That was ridiculous. To be jealous, he had to like me, and while we’d developed a grudging mutual respect, we didn’t like each other. I still wanted to punch the cocky smirk off his face every time I saw him.
“And you? Are you going to call any of the numbers you got?” I asked casually.
“Maybe,” Josh said. “Haven’t thought about it.”
“Hmm.”
Shit. The sound slipped out without thinking. Now it sounded like I was jealous.
“What’s the deal with you lately, anyway?” I added quickly in an attempt to draw attention away from my slipup. “You used to go through a different girl every week, but I haven’t seen you with someone in months.”