The Bargain by Christine S. Feldman

okay?”
    She rolled her eyes. “Oh, please. I know exactly what you’re going to say. Something about the way she fills out her clothes, right? Or maybe about her bedroom skills? This is your profound bit of wisdom for me?”
    “No.”
    “No?”
    “Sure, men like a woman with a good body. Don’t women like a man with a good body?”
    She folded her arms across her chest. “I’m sure you already know the answer to that question.”
    “Well, thank you, Shannon. I’m flattered you think of me that way.”
    “No, wait, I didn’t mean — ”
    “But a great body alone will get you nowhere,” he continued, unable to keep from grinning at the discomfited look on her face. “Oh, it’ll get you some attention, but in order to hold it, you need something else.”
    The waiter appeared then with their lunches, and Michael sat back so he could slide his burger in front of him. “Enjoy,” the young man offered, setting Shannon’s salad down before her.
    Michael picked up his burger with both hands and took a large bite. He glanced at Shannon while he chewed. She didn’t touch her salad but only watched him expectantly. He took another bite and chewed it very deliberately.
    “Well?” she asked impatiently.
    There was something about her that made him unable to resist teasing her. “What?”
    “Unless your super secret tip to lure a guy in has something to do with that burger, you haven’t given me much to work with.”
    “Oh, that. All right, here it is.” He set the burger down and leaned closer to her, lowering his voice to a conspiratorial whisper as he did so. He didn’t think she realized she leaned in, too. “The secret thing that men find irresistible has nothing to do with looks or clothes or the latest hairstyles. The thing no man can truly resist is confidence.”
    “Confidence.”
    He leaned back again and took another bite. “Yes.”
    “That’s it?”
    “Hey, don’t knock it. A man sees a woman who walks like she knows she’s got it all, and he can’t resist going after her to find out if it’s true. I’m telling you, there is nothing sexier, and I’ve known quite a few sexy women in my life. Next time you go to some big party or something with lots of people, take a really good look around at the women who are the center of attention. More often than not you’ll see they aren’t knockouts, at least not in the classical sense. They’ve got something much, much better.”
    “Confidence,” she repeated again, sounding less than confident as she said it.
    “Yes,” he agreed. “And I won’t lie to you, it’s hard to fake if you don’t already have it to begin with.”
    “So, in other words, I’m screwed yet again.”
    He knew what she was thinking.
Thanks for nothing.
“No,” he said, more gently this time as he sensed her rising frustration. “It just means you’re going to have to work to bring it out a little more. But, deep down, you’ve got it. You just need to set it free.”
    She made a derisive sound beneath her breath and finally began picking at her salad.
    Michael was no stranger to flattery, but it rankled him that she seemed to assume that was all his words were. “What? You think I’m just blowing smoke here?”
    “Well, what am I supposed to think? You saw me in there the other day. I turned into a bumbling mute the moment Drew appeared, and that was actually one of my better days.”
    She looked so forlorn sitting across from him. He had an inexplicable urge to make her feel better about herself. “So you’re awkward in social situations. We can work on that. But, trust me, Shannon, you’ve got moxie to spare.”
    Those blue-green eyes of hers looked up at him in surprise. They were nice eyes when they weren’t full of hostility or suspicion. Very nice.
    Michael lost his train of thought for a moment and had to force it back on track. Confidence, he reminded himself. That was what they were talking about. “I mean it,” he continued finally, feeling