Blair sat at a corner table in the downstairs bar of Red, the new cozily romantic Perry Street boutique hotel, drinking Absolut and tonic and trying not to watch the coverage of Fashion Week on the Metro Channel. It seemed like every time she looked up they were showing the same clip of Serena prancing around the runway at the Les Best show wearing her school uniform and that stupid I LOVEAARONT-shirt. Even in the bar, she could hear people murmuring, ?Who is she?? and ?Who?s Aaron?? It was enough to drive Blair right up the red velvet?covered wall. ?I wore my Yale tie this time,? Owen announced with a sly grin as he strode through the door wearing a tan Burberry trench coat and a black wool fedora hat that made him look even more manly and dashing than when she?d first met him. He slid into the red velvet?covered bench next to Blair and kissed her on the cheek. His face was damp and cold from the storm, and the feel of it against her face made her whole body tingle. ?Hello, gorgeous.? Instantly Blair forgot all about Serena. She was with a sexy older man who called her ?gorgeous.?So there. ?Hi.? She twisted her ruby ring around and around on her ring finger. ?I?m sorry I dragged you out on a night like this. I was just so . . .bored .? The cocktail waitress came over and Owen ordered a Bombay Sapphire martini straight up. He pulled a pack of Marlboro Lights from his pocket, put two cigarettes in his mouth, lit them both and passed one to Blair. His black eyebrows furrowed with brooding concern as he gazed at her with his piercingly bright blue eyes. ?You?re not in any trouble, are you?? Trouble?Blair took a drag off her cigarette and considered her answer. If you could call having a crush on your older, married Yale alum interviewer trouble, then yes, she was interrible trouble. ?Maybe,? she replied coyly. ?Are you?? The waitress brought Owen his martini. He ate the green olive floating inside it and then wiped his mouth with a cocktail napkin. A trace of dark five o?clock shadow cloaked his sharply defined chin. ?I was in a breakfast meeting this morning, eating Cheerios with five other lawyers, and I was thinking about you,? he admitted. Blair ran her fingernail over her fishnet-stockinged knee. ?Really?? she asked, immediately wishing her voice didn?t sound quite so eager and hopeful. Owen raised his glass to his lips, his blue eyes smoldering. ?Yeah. I?ve been so crazy busy this week, but I promise I?ll get that report over to the guys at Yale ASAP.? ?Oh,? Blair responded disappointedly. She twirled her little brown cocktail straw around in her drink. For once she hadn?t even been thinking about Yale. Being with Owen made h............