Those Red High Heels (16 page)

“I feel like this could turn out to be a bad idea.”

I let out a laugh and motioned to a cocktail waitress who was starting to come in our direction. “Okay, we are going to compare our lists, and for every destination we have in common, we have to take a shot.”

“This really doesn’t sound like a good idea, but why not? Let’s do it.”

The waitress walked right over to our table. “What can I get you two?”

Greyson winked at me and placed our order. “Ten shots of Jack and two Kilkenneys.” The waitress might have given us the tiniest bit of a weird look, but turned around to fetch our order.

“Good choice on the beer, but ten shots?”

Greyson chuckled a little under his breath, and set his phone down on the table. “For some reason, I think we may need more.”

I smiled and really started to wonder what it would be like if Greyson and I lived in a different world. One where we could be together and not upset the balance of life. I had really thought about this, but I’d come to the conclusion that I needed to stay out of it. Well, except for one night.

“I haven’t had the chance to tell you, but congratulations on your success with
Stolen Ivory
.” Greyson’s voice interrupted my thoughts and brought me back to McCabe's.

“Thank you. It’s been really fun, and I picked up a new client, recently, who I think will make it far. I feel like I have been on the lucky side ever since I moved to this city.”

A few seconds later, our drinks were placed between us on our table, and the show began.

“Okay, how this is going to work is you read your list, and if I have the same destination, we have to drink. Sound fun?”

Greyson situated his phone in his hand so he was ready to read. “Fun may not be the word we use in about one hour.” He shot me a playful smile and cleared his throat. “My number one place that I will visit one day is ... the ancient pyramids in Egypt.”

I grabbed a shot and raised it toward him. “Here’s to shot number one.”

“Really? Egypt is on your top ten?”

I nodded and handed him his shot. “Number three.”

We both smiled at each other and quickly took our shot. The sudden blast of warmth and bitterness went straight down into the pit of my stomach. I really hadn’t eaten much at the party, so I decided we needed to order some sort of appetizer to go along with these shots.

“I may need to order some food, unless you want to end up carrying me home.”

“That’s actually a good idea, I could use a little something, too. I’ll be right back.”

As I watched Greyson head back over to the bar, I noticed that most of the women in the bar were watching him as well. It was hard to miss his good looks, especially when he was wearing a dress shirt that had the sleeves rolled up a bit, and pants that made him look delicious.

A few minutes later he was back and asked if I liked nachos.

“Are you kidding me? That’s perfect.”

“Great, because that’s all they had left.”

I pulled my beer closer to me and took a little sip. I’m glad Dexter introduced me to Kilkennys beer. I was hooked. “So Egypt huh? Every one of my friends thinks I’m crazy for wanting to go there. Something about the chance of me getting kidnapped because of my blonde hair or some nonsense.”

Greyson, also drinking his beer, made a satisfied mmm when he set it down. “Well, it really isn’t nonsense. It’s not exactly the safest place in the world. My friends think the same thing if I ever mention it. There’s something about the history there with the Egyptian tombs and ancient ruins. I’m going to see it one day with my own two eyes.”

I noticed Greyson let out a low chuckle when I didn’t answer right away. I was too caught up in thinking how perfect he was. Greg had always called me crazy when I said we should visit Cairo one day.

I finally returned to reality and pulled out my phone. “Okay, my turn. I’m going to tell you my number one. I also want to make a rule. No laughing.” I eyed Greyson and when he motioned a cross over his heart, I continued on. “My number one is to visit Edinburgh, Scotland.”

Greyson looked down at his phone and shook his head. “We get a pass on that one. Edinburgh is not on my list.”

“Really? Did you know that over five hundred romance novels have been inspired by and written about Edinburgh? When I heard that statistic, I knew I needed to visit that place. Maybe I’ll write a book about it.”

I could tell Greyson wanted to laugh, but he did a pretty good job at holding it in. “I didn’t know that. It sounds like a very interesting city, but romance novels aren’t my choice of literature.”

I rolled my eyes at that one. “What, there’s are no steamy loves scenes in the Fortune?”

Greyson let out a loud laugh. “No, but I bet they would get more sales if there were, and we are losing focus. My number two is a pub crawl in Ireland as well, so I’ll skip to three.”

I eyed the shot glasses and had a feeling that shot number two was on its way.

“My number three is to take pictures of right whales in the Bay of Fundy in Canada.”

“Damn you! Are you serious? Most people don’t even know that the North American Right whales even exist, let alone want to take pictures of them.” I grabbed a shot glass and couldn’t believe he really had that on his list. That was my number ten, and I had to hide the rest with my hand to prove that it was really there.

“I can’t believe this. We’re going to regret this in a few more shots.”

“I think I may be on your page, but we can’t stop now. I am going to tell you my number three. I really want to see the Mona Lisa in person at the Louvre. I need to, you know, so I can fully understand what all the hype is all about.”

Greyson wiped his forehead. “Phew, I have already been to that one, and you should go. It’s one of the finest art museums in the world.”

“Of course you’ve been there. Your turn.”

“Okay, let’s do my number four. This might sounds strange, but I have always wanted to camp in Yellowstone and see a grizzly bear. From far away of course.”

I put my hand on my chin and carefully analyzed my list. I didn’t exactly have the same top ten answer, but pretty damn close. “Okay, this is a toss-up. Mine is to visit Alaska someday and see a bear on Kodiak Island.”

“Yeah, I think that’s a wash. Your turn.”

As we continued reading our list, we ended up both taking two more shots each, giving the other four away to a couple of guys sitting next to us. Although we only took two more shots, we found out that we both wanted to see the Taj Mahal, Visit the Giant Pandas in Shaanxi Province, China, and participate in the real Oktoberfest.

Greyson’s number seven was to visit Antarctica, and nothing about freezing around a few penguins interested me. I dreamed of staying with the monks at one of Koya’s mountaintop temples. It seemed like a soul-searching journey everyone should take. Greyson thought that one was silly. We both did agree the last few shots may have been a little too much, and I ended up being very grateful for the nachos we had ordered.

“I might have drunk too much,” I said quietly as I watched Greyson drink the last of his beer.

“I haven’t drank like this in a very long time.”

I nodded to agree with him and decided to not be a wimp and finish my own beer. “I still can’t believe that we both had top ten lists, and that so many were the same.”

“Some might call that fate.”

That word sent a fuzzy feeling through my body and I really hoped he was right. I knew the chance of us being together was slim to none, but the dating scene in the city was too crazy for a girl like me. I had gone on a few dates in the previous three weeks, and let’s just say I did not want to relive any of those moments.

“So, tell me what brought you out here, to New York City?” Greyson asked, interrupting my thoughts of how wonderful he was.

“It’s your typical story. I recently broke up with my boyfriend, and I was looking for a new job. The pieces fell into place so perfectly that I knew I needed to try it out. I would have never forgiven myself if I didn’t.”

Greyson put his head down for a second and whispered something under his breath. I couldn’t quite make it out, but I didn’t know what to say. He finally looked back up at me with those beautiful baby blues. “I need to tell you something.”

A million different thoughts ran through my head the minute those words left his mouth. He was either going to tell me to get out of there and never come around him again, or he was going to say that was the last night we would see each other. Either way, I knew it wasn’t good. “Okay.”

“I broke it off with Nora. The engagement, it’s off. I don’t want to marry her, Emma, I can’t. We already have a fucked-up relationship, and I couldn’t imagine being in that situation for the rest of my life.”

He’d broken it off with Nora? A sudden feeling of guilt was turning in my stomach, and I wondered... Maybe I was being vain, but I had a feeling I had something to do with it. I also felt a tiny glimmer of hope rise in my chest, because I knew even if nothing happened between Greyson and me, then at least he wouldn’t be in a forced marriage.

“Are you okay?” I asked quietly and thanked the waitress when she brought two more beers to our table.

Greyson grabbed one of the beers and started to swirl it around in the tall glass. “I’ve never felt more free than I did the moment I called it off with Nora. She isn’t taking it well, especially when I moved my things out last week. I think she’s hoping I’m having pre-wedding jitters, because she hasn’t told our parents yet. I’m a little thankful for that, because the minute my father hears the news, he’s going to lose it. I need to have a secure back-up plan. I have a feeling that it won’t end well.”

“What are you going to do?”

“I’ve given this some thought, and I am ready to branch out on my own. I want to start my own company, not one that is still owned and run by my father. I want to do this, on my own. I know I can make it work. Going to see Red Velvet with you last month really opened something up inside of me. I watch my father, everyday, and I wonder how he has lived this long. His life is full of stress, and he is one of the unhappiest men I have ever known. My mother, who you haven’t had the pleasure of meeting yet, used to be as full of life as you are, but now she drinks wine all day hoping to tune out my father. I don’t want that kind of life. I want something real, something that makes me want to get up every day. I had to get out, Emma.”

“I think you’re pretty great, Greyson.” I may have entered a stage of drinking where you really could use one eye closed to focus, but it would have been extremely rude to do that while Greyson was telling me some very major news. So I drank some more of my water, hoping to sobering up a little. “I mean, you are great, but I think that took a lot of courage. I think you’re brave to go after what you want.”

Greyson smiled at me and finally took a swig of his beer. I pulled my phone out of my purse, and noticed it was already one in the morning. We had been sitting in McCabe's for over two hours chatting and playing our drinking game.

“Thank you, Emma. For this.”

I held up my glass for him to clink his against. “For doing what’s best. Even if it seems impossible.”

Greyson shot me a quick smile and bumped his glass against mine. We spent the next thirty minutes laughing and telling each other embarrassing stories from our childhood. I learned Greyson’s upbringing was something like you would see on a popular drama series about kids who were brought up in the ritzy part of New York City. He attended the best private schools, and has a business degree from Harvard. I wouldn’t have expected anything less.

I told Greyson what living on a small farm was like. He was blown away by my simple life, and told me he admired my hard work and determination to make it where I was. I also told him I have two older siblings. They are quite a bit older than I am, and it felt like I was an only child because of our age difference. My parents never told me I was an accident; they liked to use the term, ‘surprise.’ My mother never imagined she would have a child in her forties, but she proved able to handle it.