Free Want Me by Jo Leigh

of it, it was probably the other way around. A dark plum shirt
tight enough that it stretched a tiny bit at the buttons. His black jacket
was equally tailored and fit him like a glove. Oh, this had been such a bad
idea.
    “It’s on the third floor,” Aiko
said, leading them to the elevator. After a quick ride they went to the
farthest corner unit and she took them inside.
    For its location alone, Shannon
could see straight away that the unit was worth considering. It had low
ceilings, standard in high-rise buildings that weren’t off-the-charts
expensive, as were the smallish rooms, but at least the living room would
comfortably hold a couch and a couple of decent club chairs, and there was a
fireplace. Gas, but ah, well.
    “This is much better,” Nate
said.
    Aiko then led them into the
kitchen. It was a typical New York nightmare, everything crammed into the
size of Shannon’s mother’s pantry. But the cabinetry wasn’t bad, and neither
was the flooring. Stainless-steel appliances. No task lighting, though.
She’d seen professional chefs deal with less.
    Aiko told them about the
security, the gym, the laundry room, which was all fine, but the bedrooms
had terrible closets, neither bathroom had a tub and, again, most of the
lighting sucked. Still, there was natural light from two sides, which was a
big deal. Depending on the price, he could do worse.
    “It’s seen some interest, but
it’s only been on the market for five days,” Aiko said when they returned to
the living room. “Why don’t you think about it, and give me a call tomorrow.
If you want to see more, we’ll set up times then.”
    Nate smiled, put his hand on the
small of Shannon’s back and escorted both women to the door.
    Shannon was absolutely,
completely certain that he had not only felt the electrical jolt that had
scorched through her at his touch, but could also sense the full-body blush
that was going to set her on fire if he continued to let his thumb make
little circles on her blouse.
    She didn’t breathe much on the
way down, letting out a loud gush of air as Nate stepped away to shake hands
with Aiko.
    “It was nice meeting you,” she
said.
    Shannon made some sort of sound,
cleared her throat and somehow managed to say, “You, too. Have a good
evening.”
    Nate turned to Shannon and
narrowed his eyes. “I was thinking Katz’s.”
    “Katz’s sounds
great.”
    He held the door open for her,
but didn’t touch her as they left the building. She would tell him about
Ariel the moment they sat down at the deli. He’d be delighted. Why wouldn’t
he be delighted? Ariel was great. Pretty. Shannon had a picture of her on
her cell so she could show him. It would be done in a flash, then she’d have
the matzo ball soup, and they’d talk real estate. She knew a lot about real
estate.
    “I’ll warn you right now, I’m
ordering all the stuff I can’t get in Indonesia. A knish, latkes, kishke,
the works.” He grinned.
    They walked to the curb, where
they waited to get a cab, as several, occupied, drove by. It was dinner hour
and it would be nuts at the deli, but that was okay, because she was going
to set up the date with Ariel first thing, then it would become easy.
Simple. Eating good things, talking square footage and hardwood
floors.
    Finally, an empty cab stopped in
front of them. Nate opened the door, and she jumped inside, grabbing the
door handle in a panic. “You know what, I forgot. I’m supposed to be… I’m
sorry, I have to… I’ll see you at the— Sorry.” Then she slammed the door
shut and pretty much screamed her address at the cabby.
    * * *
    “W HAT THE HELL WAS THAT ?” Nate said, to no one in particular. Stunned, he
watched the taxi weave into the bumper-to-bumper traffic as he tried to
interpret the past few minutes.
    He was certain she hadn’t
forgotten anything. Unless the thing she’d forgotten was hugely
embarrassing, but that seemed unlikely.
    Had he said something out of
line before the deli talk?