“She’s a bitch. Forget her. And we have more important things to worry about right now. Are you listening to me at all?”

My brother looks up from his phone. He’s giving me a pep talk, trying to talk me into hating Clarissa, trying to get my head back into the game. But the only thing I can think about is sleazy Robert stealing my fiancee right out from under my nose.

The crazy thing is that I was relieved, in a way, that the wedding was off, until I realized it was Robert’s doing. If Clarissa had come to the decision on her own, I would have stayed relieved. But throwing Robert into the mix is stirring up emotions that I know I have to tamp down.

It isn’t worth getting mad over.

I sip at my gin and tonic and crush an ice cube between my teeth.

Fucking Robert Crandall.

“I’m listening. Would you get off your phone? Let the attorneys handle it. You aren’t doing yourself any good reading the articles a million times. You’re just working yourself up. We had a successful meeting today. You’re the numbers guy. You’re the one who’s good at spotting trends. All those spreadsheets prove it. Leave the legal stuff to the legal guys.”

The entire afternoon, after I was dumped during lunch, consisted of strategy meetings with the attorneys. We had come up with a good plan: fight the other firm tooth and nail for the rights to the land. Prove we had our stake in it first.

I don’t want to lose this one. We’ve poured almost all of our capital into this deal, and even though we could just come to a compromise with the other firm, we decided to fight. There’s just too much risk involved in settling.

I’m confident we will win.

We have to win.

“Okay. You’re right. Let’s just focus on why we came here.

I scan the room. I know why my brother brought me here tonight. It’s to get my mind off Clarissa. It’s to move on from her, fast, and get my head clear.

What he meant was that I need to have some pretty little thing with her stilettos digging into my back by the end of the night.

That shouldn't be a problem. Before Clarissa, my love life consisted of a different woman every weekend. I was fine with it. I didn’t have time for a girlfriend, and Eric and I had to focus on getting our firm running.

It’s the usual Friday night crowd. We’re no stranger to bars like this. Young women come here with the intention of going home with a guy in hopes that it’ll either lead to to something more and she’ll be set for life, or that it won’t lead to something more. In the case of the latter, I am sure some of these women have a pair of ballet flats tucked into their purse for the cab ride home tomorrow morning.

Sometimes it really does lead to something more. One of my best friends from college met his wife here. What started as a one night stand - excuse me, it actually started as a quickie in the bathroom - ended up as a glorious relationship, complete with a honeymoon in St. Lucia.

But those results are not typical. Most of the time, even the women who come here are only looking to have a few martinis and a roll in the bed of some numbers guy who doesn’t give a shit about anything except the dick in his pants and the money in his pocket.

Who said true love is dead?

It seems that the typical clientele is in full attendance tonight, decked out in the standard costumes - women in bandage dresses and sky-high heels, men in their sport coats and some in ties. Shiny, new shoes. Not a scuff mark in sight.

My gaze lands on a pair of women in the corner, at a low booth by themselves. There aren’t any men with them, so I assume that their boyfriends are at the bar. I can't quite figure out another reason why there are no men hitting on them.

They are both hot, but I’m instantly attracted to one of them. She’s slim but not skinny, with just a little bit of curve in all the right places. She has a fresh, smooth, natural face, and her hair is pulled back into a loose bun, with loose tendrils tucked behind her ears.

I can see that she is here for a few drinks with her girlfriend, or maybe with her boyfriend who is just away from the table for a moment. She isn’t here for a drunken hookup. She’s here to have fun, but not that kind of fun.

That shouldn’t be an obstacle for me.

I’ll be tender with her, kiss her, and tell her how sweet and beautiful she is. Maybe she’ll be shy and coy and tell me the truth when I ask her if she goes home with strangers often. I can already tell that she doesn’t, by the way she’s carrying herself. She doesn’t have some ass-hugging dress on, and she isn’t curling her hips to the music and looking over her shoulder at me.

I’ll treat her like the real lady she is, and tell her that she shouldn’t go home with strangers, because now I’m the only man for her.

If that’s what she wants. Otherwise, if she has me and this whole bar fooled, I’ll fuck her fast and hard. I’d even let her suck me off in the cab on the way home. Or if she wants, I’d pull her into the men’s room, prop her ass up on the sink, lift her skirt up around her ass and lick her until she comes right there.

If that’s what she wants.

“Don’t you know it’s rude to stare? Were you raised by wolves? No, you were not. I happen to know who your parents are,” Eric interrupts my thoughts as he slips his phone into his pocket.

“I’m not staring. What’s wrong with your phone? Finally broke your thumbs from all the emails and texts you’ve sent today?”

“You are staring. See anything you like?”

“Her.” I gesture with my drink to the woman in the corner booth.

“Which one? The one who looks like she just came from a job interview or the hot one?”

“What? They’re both hot. You’re unbelievable.”

“No, you’re right. They are both hot. But one of them is dressed so...plain.”

He’s right. That’s what I like about her.

“I’m going to go talk to them.”

“Suit yourself. I’ll be over here, laughing at you when their boyfriends come back.”

“You know I have never had trouble picking up women.”

“I don’t know. You’ve been out of the game for a while. You've probably lost some of your touch.”

“No. Fuck that.”

I pick up my drink from the bar and make my way over to the two ladies. Purposeful, driven. I want her, if only for the night. She is beautiful and cute. She is the opposite of Clarissa. She is the opposite of every woman I've ever been with.

And I can’t wait to see what her pretty little mouth can do.