"Am I ' bad stranger'?" He grimaced. "Anyway, I thought you looked like a-" He smiled. "You know… adventuress?"
She shook her head. "You definitely had me wrong." "Okay," he said, turning serious. "You're a lawyer from Chicago. What brings you to New York?"
"I'm taking a deposition in the morning. I'll fly back in the afternoon."
"First class, too, I bet. And you'll take your time with the dep at two hundred thirty per. Right?"
She gazed at him with faint disgust. "I don't talk about my fees. "I I "Sorry.
No, you're not. She leaned forward, engaging his eyes. "What about you, Phil? You look like a player. So tell me-what's your game?"
He laughed. " ',' ''-l like that!" He took a long sip from his Scotch,
"I'm here to make a deal. If it goes down-well, old Phil here is going to be rich. Very rich."
She stared at him. She detested braggarts. You won't be boasting like that in the morning. Then she noticed that he was looking her over like a shrewd gambler inspecting a filly before a race.
"You're a very attractive woman. But you know that already, don't you?"
She winced. "Is that your idea of a clever remark?"
"Take it any way you like."
The hook was in, she knew, although he was trying not to show it.
"Well," she said, stifling a yawn, "time for me to be getting back upstairs."
"Whats-a-matter?" He pretended to be surprised. "It's early!" He showed her his watch. "Just eleven-fifteen." He paused. Now he'll go for it.
"What do you say we move someplace… you know… a little more comfortable?" He grinned.
She studied him coldly. "My room-is that what you're thinking?"
He shook his head, opened his palm, showed her his key. "I was thinking of old sixteen-sixty-four."
"Sorry. It's been fun." Her rejection caught him short. "What's the matter? Janekhad an edge to his voice. "Have I offended her?"
There was you? Did I do something wrong. she reached for his hand, rubbed her finger across his wedding band.
"This, my friend, is where I draw the line."
"Oh, that old thing."
"Yeah, that old thing."
She let his hand drop. He stared at her, deflated.
"All I meant was, you know… "
Now he's sputtering."
"Yeah? What did you mean?"
"Just a drink, from the minibar. No obligation, no expectation. You can leave whenever you want." He showed her a sincere expression, then raised his hand as if taking an oath. "Honest Injun!" His smile did not disarm her. It wouldn't evenfool his mother.
"Well -.." She pretended she was considering his offer. He peered at her eagerly. "Well," she said again. "All right. Just one drink."
In "old 1664" she moved to take control.
"Lie back," she told him. "Loosen your tie. Take off your shoes. Get comfortable." She took his key from his hand, unlocked the minibar, set to work. Dietz, amused, reclined on his bed and watched. observed.
"You make a very attractive bartender," he o Hey." Wow! The Great Seducer!
"I worked my way through law school tending bar." She turned slightly, slipped the KO drops into his drink, then turned back and handed him his glass.
He looked at it like it was poison. "What's this?"
"Gelsey's Special. Drink it. It'll make you feel good."
He sniffed at it, made a face. "I'm more of a straight Scotch guy myself."
"What's the matter? Afraid of something new?"
"Not really… "
She studied him. "I didn't figure you for a stick in the mud, Phil.
The taunt upset him. "I'm not a stick in the mud."
"A little stodgy, then?"
"Not stodgy at all."
"Good." She grinned. "I like an adventuresome man."
"I just prefer-" "Come on, Phil. Drink up," she said kindly. "You might like it.
Wouldn't that be a surprise?"
He hesitated for a moment, then clicked his glass against hers and quickly drank off half the potion.
Gotcha! All she had to do now was string him along a couple of minutes more.
"What do you think?"
"It's different, I'll say that for it.