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New York, New York

Chapter 3

JJ's trip was an ultimate letdown. She had come to realize this the moment she met the party she was going to travel with at the airport, and was immediately reminded of her usual aversion against such journeys. God, had she really been that desperate that she'd registered for traveling with a group of singles?

It wasn't just the fact that twelve of the fifteen participants were men, who were competing for her and her two fellow females like hyaenas fighting for their prey from the moment they'd introduced themselves. No, said pack of hyaenas were also the worst examples of their species that JJ had ever come across.

If she hadn't longed for a few days of vacation and some time for herself, she'd have turned around and gone home instantly. Instead, she reckoned that New York would be big enough for her to skive off from the group and not run into them anymore if she timed things cleverly. All she had to do was survive the hour-long flight, and then she'd be free to do what she wanted. In all honesty she had to admit that it was the longest hour in her entire life.

.~.~.

Rossi felt almost like a new person when he woke up in his hotel suite late in the morning on New Year's Eve. It had been quite a while since he'd had the chance to sleep in, and he was already glad that he had made the trip.

He had arrived in New York in the late afternoon the day before, and after a quick check-in at the Waldorf, he had spent a quiet and relaxing evening at the hotel's spa. If asked, he'd probably never admit to enjoying these things occasionally, but he was nothing if not a connoisseur of the finer things in life.

After ordering breakfast from the room service, he had a quick shower, and contemplated what he'd do with the rest of the day until the party in the evening. He had an appointment with one of his publishers for lunch, but for the afternoon didn't have any specific plans yet.

Maybe finally visiting that art gallery his editor's wife had long since recommended to him would be a good idea.

.~.~.

It was almost two o' clock when he finally managed to get away from his publisher. Appointments with him always stretched his patience, as the man usually came with a whole bunch of weird, not to say idiotic ideas for promoting Dave's books. Dave normally went along with the classic methods – interviews, TV appearances, or book tours – as he knew they were part of his duties as a bestselling author, but dismissed everything else. Nonetheless, after lunch, he almost felt as if he needed another one of those relaxing sessions at the spa.

Taking a deep breath, he hailed a taxi to bring him to the gallery. He needed to get his mind into other things before the party would wear on his nerves again. He knew, coming alone without a date for the evening, he'd spend a good part of the time trying to get rid of more than just a few women, who would throw themselves at him in desperate hope of having their way with him. There might have been a time he'd enjoyed the attention, but nowadays he was just annoyed with it.

.~.~.

He had been in the gallery for a good half hour, walking around and appreciating the art, when suddenly a familiar scent permeated the air. A scent he would recognize everywhere. JJ's. Closing his eyes for a second, he inhaled deeply before looking around.

Realizing with instant disappointment that he was alone in the room, he was almost convinced that his mind had played tricks on him when he heard her voice from the next room.

"What part of 'I'm not having dinner with you tonight' don't you understand?"

It was clear she was annoyed with someone, because the JJ he knew never raised her voice like that in a public place.

Quickly following the noise, he flinched angrily as he saw the reason for her displeasure standing way too close to her for his liking. Fixing the guy with a dark glare, he closed the rest of the distance between him and them, came to stand behind JJ, and growled lethally: "I believe the lady has made it very clear that she's not interested."