Free Plum Girl (Romance) by Jill Winters Page A

spur-of-the-moment. He'd scheduled a business lunch with the reps from E-Bizz Inc. on Tuesday at GraphNet, but at the last minute, they'd insisted on meeting at their home base—in New York City. Lately they had been hedging about their account, and Dominick wasn't about to argue with one of GraphNet's biggest sponsors. So he'd spent the past three days in tedious meeting after meeting with the E-Bizz people—the only bright spot being his complimentary room at the Plaza.
    Lonnie's e-mail shocked him. He was sure after Monday night's debacle, she'd want to establish some distance between them. She had to be one of the sweetest girls he'd met in a while, so he knew she wouldn't just dismiss him entirely. But still, he figured she'd wait a while to get in touch with him, now that she realized he was interested in more than a platonic relationship. He'd only come tonight because she had no idea he'd been out of town, and he didn't want her to think he'd purposely blown off her e-mail.
    Okay, and he'd come to see her... and feel the situation out. After all, she had asked him to meet her at a bar on a Friday night. Maybe that meant she was interested. After the way she acted at Rattlesnake, he knew it was a long shot, but he was hoping like hell it would come in because despite everything, he still woke up hard every morning with thoughts of her curvy body and wet, wine-colored lips.
    Then, just like that, those thoughts went down the drain. He'd come in and seen her with another guy's arm around her. It looked like he knew Lonnie pretty well by the close way that he was leaning in to her and holding on to her almost possessively. Dominick had looked away quickly, inwardly denying he was that jealous, as his blood boiled and gut churned so fiercely he thought he might lose it. Normally he didn't even have a temper, but when it came to Lonnie, he couldn't seem to control the intensity of his feelings. Why the hell had she asked him to meet her if she was with someone already? The guy could've been just a coworker, but that wasn't how it had looked.
    Damn it all! Here he had this cute graphic artist interested, and he couldn't stop thinking about Lonnie, who was obviously playing games. He didn't need this. Christ, he was thirty years old! He wasn't some college kid anymore, and he sure as hell wouldn't play games.
    He didn't care how much he liked being with her, or how mystified he was by her collection of degrees, or how much he lusted after her gorgeous mouth and full, round breasts. He was tired of trying to read her. Period.
    Then again...
    Maybe I'm overreacting, Dominick thought, as he nodded to whatever Mo was saying and hoped affirmation was the appropriate response. Lonnie hadn't heard from him since Monday. She probably took that as a sign he wasn't interested anymore, which was far from the case. Obviously, he'd need to clarify that. Stat.
    Well, that settled it. He'd found the rationalization he'd been looking for, and now he could go try to find her. Mo asked, "So, what's the deal with the guy in your group who wears power suits when the whole office is business-casual?" Harold, his over-eager protégé.
    "Mo, I'm sorry, but will you excuse me? You just reminded me of a phone call I needed to make. For work." It was a lie, but what was the alternative? Have her think something was wrong with her when there was absolutely nothing wrong with her? That wasn't how he operated.
    "Oh, yeah, okay," Mo replied, and Dominick could tell she was disappointed. But he figured she was young, smart, and good-looking, so she'd get over it soon enough. He said good-bye to her two friends across from him, and left the booth in search of Lonnie.
    It didn't take long to spot her. She was the pretty girl with the black hair and the lost-puppy look in her green-honey-brown eyes. She was standing at the bar, not talking to anyone. God, she looked sweet. Okay, he had to get his infatuation in check. He still didn't know what the situation