Picture Perfect Love (Heartstring Dating Agency Book 3) Read online

  She studied my face hesitantly, but seemed to struggle making up her mind.

  “Come on,” I persisted. “A few drinks with me… no money lost for you. In fact, you could really take advantage of me right now and name some ridiculously high number, and I’d probably never know. Even if I did know, I’d hand it over without a second of regret.”

  “You’re awfully stubborn,” she quipped. “You must be used to getting what you want.”

  “In some ways, yes. In plenty of other ways, no. But… what do you say? Life is short, after all.”

  She turned to face me again, her eyes sparking with daring mischief. “We all know what kind of trouble you prefer getting into with your short life, Joshua Meadows.”

  “Then you know how badly I either need a partner in crime, or someone to keep me in line. Which would you prefer to be?”

  She smiled wider, but rushed off back to work. I knew it wasn’t over yet though. By the way she kept looking at me from across the room, she was obviously toying around with my offer in her head. I just had to sit back, be patient, and see if she came back to me.

  2

  Abby

  I thought it would be easy enough to go back to work and forget all about the invite from the infamous Joshua Meadows. Sure, there was something about it that was a little bit like a fairytale. I mean, I had seen all the photos in the internet gossip with the kinds of women he usually hung out with. They weren’t cocktail waitresses, that’s for sure. And even though that’s not all I am, his kind of women weren’t lawyers either. My hair color was nowhere near blonde, and I was at least a cup size or two too small in the chest.

  I knew all of that, but I could feel him watching me from the other side of the room. The awareness that surged through my body with his eyes locked on me… It was like a beacon, begging and tempting me to do things I would never normally do, like take him up on his offer.

  I retreated into the kitchen where I was safe from the reminder of him and breathed a temporary sigh of relief as I grabbed refilled trays to walk around the room. Unfortunately, everyone had seen us talking, and they all noticed how we were looking at each other.

  “Oooh, girl. I know you’re drop-dead gorgeous and used to standing out in a room and all, but catching the eye of Joshua Meadows like that? Damn,” my co-worker Valerie gushed.

  “Used to standing out in a room?” I laughed. “Hardly. I’m just as surprised as you are.”

  “Don’t try to act all modest. So, what’s he want with you anyway? Did you get his number?”

  We huddled together behind the swinging kitchen doors and spied on him stalking the other side of the ballroom, watching carefully for me to return to the floor.

  “He wants me to play hookie tonight,” I whispered. “Ditch my shift and go have drinks with him.”

  “Figures,” she huffed. “Some rich spoiled guy like that would expect you just to be able to drop everything like that. People like that don’t understand the concept of having bills you gotta pay, and they ain’t gonna pay themselves. You have to work.”

  “Actually… he offered to double whatever I’d make tonight.”

  Her eyes widened. “Then what the hell are you still doing here!? Hell, I’d go anywhere with that man for free if I could.”

  I locked my eyes on him standing there, sipping his drink, looking so fine in his tux with his dark hair and devilish brown eyes.

  “He’s trouble, and you know it,” I told her, shaking my head.

  “Maybe so, but how often do you go out and get yourself into trouble? He sure as hell has to be a lot more fun than that other lame-o you’ve been seeing.”

  “Christopher is a doctor,” I reminded her. “He’s busy like me, and doesn’t have time to be caught table dancing at bars with a bunch of floozies, wasted like there’s no tomorrow. That’s the kind of guy I belong with. Not someone like Joshua Meadows.”

  “Who said anything about belonging with him!?” she cackled. “The point is to go and have a little fun for one night. How often do you do that? Like the kind of fun he could provide I mean.”

  “You girls gonna stand around and chat all night?” our boss barked from the back of the kitchen. “I’m not paying you for that. Now get back to work or get out!”

  We flashed each other a smile and scurried off to go back to work. The moment I stepped back out into the ballroom, Joshua’s eyes stuck to me with a heat wave that prickled across my whole body.

  I was a part-time waitress, but I was also studying law. I had plenty of hobbies and friends. Between yoga and fitness, social time, law classes, and my waitressing gigs, I had to be very disciplined and stick to strict schedules and routines to have time for everything.

  I could tell Joshua was nothing like that, and I knew I should also stay away because I really liked Christopher. Well, sort of. He was a little dull, but that was the only kind of guy who seemed to fit into my life. It wasn’t exactly serious. In fact, after our first few dates, I had still somehow forgotten to actually exchange numbers with him. So far our communication, other than meeting in person, hadn’t branched outside of messaging on the Heartstring app. Was that a sign in itself?

  No, I told myself. Christopher was handsome, successful, and responsible. And I firmly believed in breaking things off with one person before messing around with another. But then again… Surely this one night with Joshua wouldn’t actually go anywhere. He was just looking to have a little fun with me, and he was a notorious playboy. No one would ever have to know, and I never did anything like that.

  Throw in an especially hectic next twenty minutes of my shift, complete with one old rich guy attempting to grab my butt and another old snooty lady yelling at me because an appetizer wasn’t the perfect temperature… I was having a harder time talking myself out of Joshua’s offer.

  Maybe that was why I conveniently started circling my tray around his side of the room, tempting him to come over and give me just one more little push… That was all I needed to throw all my reservations to the wind and go running off with him into the night.

  And it worked. He took the bait. Within minutes, he had approached me again with that devastatingly charming smile of his.

  “You slipped away before without telling me one very important thing,” he grinned.

  “What? My answer to your proposal?”

  “Okay, two very important things. But the first I was referring to was your name.”

  I looked into his eyes and there was this strange still sort of moment where everything seemed to slow down around us. I had this feeling that, for better or worse, I’d have a night of memories with him… Ones that didn’t involve cocktail sauce stains on my shirt or lousy tips from people who had more money than God.

  “Abby,” I told him with a smile.

  “Abby,” he swirled my name around on his tongue, trying it on. “I like it. It suits you. Now what about matter number two?”

  I considered it for a moment, but really I didn’t have to. Just like that, my mind was made up.

  “Won’t you get in trouble?” I asked. “This is your party, after all. Will your family be upset with you for leaving?”

  “My family’s upset with me whether I stay or go. But if they had to choose, I think they like me better when I’m out of sight.”

  “That’s sad to hear,” I frowned, feeling a little sorry for him.

  “The only thing that makes me sad is the prospect of you turning me down,” he replied. “What will it be, Abby?”

  “I don’t have anything to wear,” I admitted.

  His eyes scanned the room until he landed on the coat check. “I might be able to dig something up for you.”

  “I don’t even want to know what that entails,” I chuckled. “But okay. I’ll go with you. You have to pay me though, like you promised. Give me a few moments to plan my escape.”

  His hand wrapped around my arm as he pulled me in close. “You do what you have to do. I’ll fish you up some clothes and meet you
around back with my car in ten minutes.”

  With that, he winked and set off on his scheme, which I could only assume wouldn’t be his first or last that evening.

  I made a few more rounds so I didn’t look so suspicious, since I had just been talking with him so closely. Then I went back into the kitchen and proceeded to cough very loudly. I recovered for a moment, popping open a few more bottles to be delivered, only to erupt into another coughing fit all over again. Everyone was staring at me, especially Valerie with a coy little grin. She knew exactly what I was doing.

  “You! What the hell has gotten into you!?” My boss scowled.

  “I… I don’t know,” I croaked. “I didn’t feel good earlier, but it seems to be getting worse.”

  He seemed unmoved, so I coughed even louder and even managed to fake a few sneezes. Finally, he was so repulsed that he caved.

  “Fine! You can’t work like this! Get the hell out of here before the guests see you coughing all over their food!”

  I nodded in a daze and slipped off into the back to grab my purse. A few minutes later I was in the alley out back where Joshua’s car pulled up, just as promised.

  I couldn’t help but notice there was a bunch of fur bunched in his lap. “What is that?”

  “Your wardrobe change, madam.” He held it up to reveal a beautiful fur coat. It was hardly a whole new outfit, but it was better than what I had on.

  “Hmmm, okay,” I nodded, biting my lip as I surveyed what I had to work with. “Hold this,” I said, handing him my purse.

  I straightened my legs and started ripping at the seams of my uniform. I opened up the stitches on the sides of my black dress pants, morphing it into something that mostly passed for an open, flowy skort kind of garment. Then I turned to my white button-up and ripped off the sleeves. A few buttons undone at the top, and it sort of looked like a chic womens suit.

  “There. Now with the fur coat, I think I can pass as someone who knew they were going out tonight… for something other than delivering drinks and food. It’ll be even better if the club is dimly lit.”

  He looked me up and down with his lips slightly parted, his eyes stalling around my cleavage and thighs. “You’re more resourceful than I am, and that’s saying something.”

  As if playing hookie at work didn’t give me enough of a rush, the way he looked at me only added to the thrill. Maybe I wasn’t the kind of girl I would picture him being into, but he was into me that night. The next day I would go back to my regular life with school and work and maybe a little Christopher on the side. But until then… I was someone else, someone new. Someone that did impulsive things like skip out on work with a stranger and tear up my clothes in the back of a limo to make a new outfit.

  This new Abby wasn’t sustainable long-term, but she sure was fun to try on for a bit.

  3

  Joshua

  My phone was already blowing up with angry texts from Lucas and Camille before we even made it to the club. But they were the ones who told me to keep my drinking under control at the party, which I did. The time had come where in order for me to continue keeping it under control, I had to migrate elsewhere. Surely they preferred that over me staying at their snooty party and making a scene. I didn’t even think I was that much of a loose cannon, it was just that easy to disappoint and scandalize their crowd of people.

  “Everything okay?” Abby asked from the other side of the backseat.

  The sincere concern in her eyes gave me pause. I definitely wasn’t used to that with the party girls I usually hung around. They didn’t care how I was doing, as long as I kept paying for the drinks.

  “Everything will be just fine now that you’re here,” I smirked, turning my phone off and sliding it into my pocket.

  I didn’t know what it was about her, but something made me feel like that statement meant miles more than I even realized. She had a special je ne sais quoi, which must have been why she stood out to me from all those other waitresses and guests.

  Once we arrived at the club, I led her to my private side entrance. The bouncers stopped us at the top of the stairs, but only to clear some private space for us in the VIP room.

  “Wow, you’re like royalty here,” Abby noted.

  “They’re counting on me causing trouble. And when I do, pictures get taken and put out there right along with the name of their club. They love me around here. It’s free publicity.”

  “Oh, so is that why you can’t stay out of the tabloids? It’s how you earn your special treatment.”

  “That could be one of the reasons,” I told her.

  The VIP room was dark with strobing lights and speakers to blast whatever the DJ was playing on the main floor, which we could view from the balcony. And it had a dance floor that was far less crowded than the sweaty mess happening downstairs where it was packed with people.

  I led Abby over to the bar and told her to order whatever she wanted. She chose a vodka martini while I stuck with my whiskey. After a few sips, she stared at me with a sly smile.

  “So, Mr. Meadows. You got me here. Now what do you intend to do with me?”

  “For starters, once you chug that, I’m going to ask you to dance.”

  “Chug it?” she shrieked. “Slow down, buddy. I don’t go out all the time. If I start chugging drinks, you’ll have to carry me home.”

  “I would be honored,” I winked.

  She shook her head and paused for a minute. “I knew you were trouble.” And then she threw back what was left in the cocktail glass and held out her hand. “Alright. Let’s dance.”

  A while later, with a few more drinks in between songs, we were sweaty and buzzed. Our dancing at first was awkward and rigid, but the more we drank and loosened up, the closer we moved together on the dance floor, with more ease. If we didn’t actually look good out there, we at least felt like we did.

  But there was only so much grinding and gyrating against Abby’s body I could take before I needed a break to calm the erection that had been threatening to spring up.

  “Wanna go somewhere more quiet and talk?” I shouted over the blaring music. She looked surprised. Her brow furrowed and she looked me up and down like I had just said the most absurd thing. “I thought you said you didn’t go out all the time,” I chuckled.

  “I don’t. I just didn’t expect you to be the first one to ask to leave.”

  “How often do I get to coax someone like you into hanging around me?”

  “Probably more often than I’d like to know,” she quipped.

  “While I have you, I want to get to know you.”

  She seemed skeptical, but finally nodded and followed me out. The next private room we went to was at a restaurant and bar with a vintage Italian feel to it. It had Tiffany lamps and mahogany walls, and we were able to steal a dark corner booth where we could actually hear each other.

  Maybe Abby was right to be surprised. I wouldn’t normally be one to beg to go off somewhere and talk, but that’s because I was used to being around shallow people who had nothing interesting to say. I could tell by her eyes that she wasn’t that type, and I wanted to enjoy it while I could.

  “You said you’re in school?”

  She took several gulps of water, then turned back to her freshly delivered cocktail. “I am. Pre-law.”

  “Law? Wow, that’s impressive.”

  “It’s not that impressive,” she shrugged. “It will probably take me a million years to actually finish. Not only does work take up all my time, but it doesn’t make enough to pay for my courses as quickly as I’d like. It’s definitely not as impressive as owning your own multi-million dollar company.”

  “There’s not much to what I do,” I told her. “I’m lucky to have siblings that are such control freaks, they don’t require me to be very hands-on. In fact, the less I do the happier they are, I think.”

  “I’m sensing a lot of tension between you and your siblings.”

  “Tension is one word for it,” I sighed. “Bu
t if I wanted to talk about them, we’d still be back at that stuffy party. I want to know more about you.”

  With a little more prodding, Abby finally started to open up. She told me about her yoga and fitness classes, about all of her friends. She explained how they were very close and had weekly dinner parties. Her family sounded nothing like mine. They actually sat down together and talked, and not in a boardroom at the office.

  Even before our father died, we had never been a very close family. At least not by my standards. We meddled in each other’s lives, a little too much for my taste. But mostly, money had afforded us the opportunities to go off and do our own thing. We lived separate lives and only seemed to take an interest in each other when one of us was in danger of messing up everyone’s reputations.

  Abby’s life was busy, but somehow more full than mine. Full of things that seemed to matter more, anyway. I wondered how she did it. But maybe that was the thing that gave her that warm glow about her, the thing that drew me to her in the first place, aside from her good looks.

  “I’ve been talking too much,” she blushed after a while. “Sorry. Once I start drinking, I don’t have much of a filter.”

  “That’s okay. I prefer people without filters. Filters are suffocating. They keep you from really knowing someone.”

  “Filters also do a lot of important things you know, like protect people’s feelings,” she shot back.

  “Maybe we’d all be better off if our feelings were a little less protected,” I proposed.

  “I’m not so sure of that.”

  Our eyes met with a flirtatious stare that dared us to test each other… to see what else might come out of this random meeting. And I was not about to be the one to turn that dare down.

  “Do you want to take a walk?” I asked.

  She nodded. “I could use some fresh air.”

  She slid back into her stolen fur coat and followed me out once again. Only this time, as soon as we made it outside, I felt her body crash into mine. I wasn’t planning on making the first move, and she didn’t make me.