Free One Mad Night by Julia London Page B

attention to the window and away from temptation.
    A long moment passed in which they remained sitting next to each other, staring out at a silent snowy night, each with their own thoughts. Ian was thinking about Chelsea and how she had surprised him tonight. She wasn’t as uptight as he’d believed her to be. She was actually a lot of fun. He could honestly say that if he was ever stuck in a snowstorm, he would like to have her along. Actually, he wouldn’t mind having her along on other adventures. Whoa …was he really thinking that?
    But he looked at Chelsea now, and he could picture it. The two of them, on a beach, in the mountains, sitting at a little table for two in a diner and arguing about the Knicks or the meaning of the movie they’d just seen. Strolling arm in arm around Central Park.
    Chelsea, however, was apparently thinking of tomorrow, because she said wistfully, “My new office is going to have this same view.”
    That effectively ruined the pleasant vignettes, because Chelsea would probably never speak to him again after tomorrow.
    Chelsea playfully nudged him with her shoulder when he didn’t respond. “The office goes with the Tesla account. Didn’t Jason tell you?”
    â€œYes, he told me.” He hid the twinge of guilt he felt beneath a sip of his drink.
    â€œHey…” Chelsea put her glass aside. “Listen, I feel like I should tell you something while we’re here, and, you know, being friends.”
    â€œTell me what?”
    â€œJust that Jason told me up front this was my account to lose. I mean, yes, he’s a douchebag for the most part. But I don’t think he’d lie about this.” She nervously chewed her bottom lip. “Do you?”
    Ian could feel the guilt, the regret, all of it, sliding over him like a blanket, weighing him down. He hadn’t even done anything but take a phone call, and yet, he felt as if what he was doing right now was technically lying to her. He debated what he should do in this moment, and in his hesitation, she leaned forward to peer at him. “There it is again. That look—like you’re a big fat cat who just ate the canary. Come on, Ian. I know Jason told you something. Did he tell you the same thing? Because that would not surprise me.”
    â€œNo,” he said quickly, and as Chelsea’s gaze narrowed suspiciously, he said, “I promise you, Jason Sung has not said anything to me about you. Nor did he tell me this was my account to lose.”
    â€œHmm,” she said skeptically.
    Damn it, this woman had a way of looking at him that made him feel as if she could see every thought in his head. “Why Tesla, Chelsea?” he blurted. “I mean, do you like cars?”
    â€œWhat a weird question, coming from an ad man,” she said with a wry smile. “Do I have to like cars? Tesla is a huge account. It’s the natural progression of my work.”
    â€œCar accounts are the natural progression of your portfolio?”
    â€œBig accounts are the natural progression of my portfolio.”
    â€œBut I mean, do you like cars?”
    Chelsea laughed. “I don’t know. I’ve never owned one.”
    Ian put his drink aside. He had the crazy thought that if he made her see she didn’t care that much about cars anyway, somehow she’d be all right when the truth came down. He realized he was grasping at ideas, but it was the only one he had. He didn’t want to ruin this thing between them. He’d told Brad he wouldn’t say a word. What was he supposed to do? He needed more than a few moments to think it through and decide. So he kept babbling. “So why not a big food account? Or pharmaceuticals? Or insurance?”
    Chelsea looked at him as if he were talking gibberish. “Why not cars?” She smiled and swayed into him a little, almost as if the force of her smile had made her teeter off balance. “I believe in my