Page 47 of Tricking an Introvert

"Yeah, I guess?" She glanced at the crowd. Crowds weren't her thing. But they seemed chill enough.

Most of the ladies wore jeans, or denim shorts, though one was in a white maxi dress. The guys donned terrible beige cargo shorts and flip-flops, sunglasses, polo shirts. They seemed normal enough. Definitely sketch-worthy.

"I'll bring her back to the city when she wants to go," Cole promised. "If that's okay with you," he added, looking at her.

She was so very far out of her comfort zone they'd left “okay” a mile away, but she shrugged. Because she wasn't actually feeling stressed out. Not in the way she used to before the latest fantasy con. The prospect of meeting that many new people should have been exhausting and terrifying. Somehow, it wasn't. If she was entirely transparent about her own feelings, right now all she recognized was excitement.

Cole had told her he wanted her to be part of his life. He was introducing her to his friends—friends he rarely saw, but friends all the same.

This felt like more than a night out of town, more than a gala or a restaurant, more than a walk in the park.

It felt like a beginning.

“Hey, everyone. The lady’s here. This is Tessa Michaels, a talented artist from NYC. Tessa, you know Michael. This is Richelle, a lawyer.”

“I work in the city too. How are you doing?”

She shook her hand. “Good, thanks. The air’s pretty nice here. It felt hotter in the city.”

“Right? I love coming here for the weekend. This is Elise, my sister, and Brooke—”

“I’m the help’s daughter,” the girl in the dress announced, with a humongous grin. “Most of them got over it in middle school, though.”

“I beg your pardon! I was over it way before middle school, if you recall,” a guy with long hair protested. “When I figured out your mom made much better sandwiches than my housekeeper back in preschool. Zachary,” he introduced himself.

“Nice to meet you. Also, I’ll probably forget all of your names within five minutes, max.”

The procession moved inside, heading for a reasonably sized, almost comfortable study with dark wood and leather furniture. Tessa imagined that most rooms in this place felt like ballrooms.

"Did anyone call for food? I'm starving."

"Pizza's coming," Cole said, sitting right next to Tessa on one of the bigger brown sofas.

"You remember I'm vegetarian, right?" a beautiful, tall, and slender woman with some Asian features stated. She waved toward Tessa. "Xue Wilcox. We’ve heard so much about you. I totally stalked your website. Damn, girl."

They were so easy to talk to, and going out of their way to include her. By the end of the evening, she did remember most of their names, and she'd exchanged phone numbers with all of them.

Which didn't mean she knew what this evening had been about. After the last of Cole's guests had left, she turned to him.

"So, why are we in the Hamptons?"

Cole tilted his head, leading her back to the study.

They'd left the room in disarray, boxes of pizzas on coffee tables, half-empty drinks abandoned. Instinctively, she started picking up.

"Oh, leave that. Seriously. The housekeeper is territorial when it comes to her job. If she doesn't have anything to do, she'll question why we didn't let her tidy."

Tessa snorted. "How the other half lives, I guess."

Cole sighed. "Yeah, I guess. But tonight was about how I live."

He poured a flute of champagne for her, and a brandy for him.

"Chatting with Michael and your brother, I realized I might have been a bit of a self-centered ass. I barged into your life and claimed a place there, without even trying to figure out what we were doing. I made it all about me, turning up when I could. Other than meeting my damn mother—for my benefit—I haven't really shown you my life, my friends. Mom is out of town, so I gathered my friends. Most of us grew up together, then went to different schools all over the world. We don't meet much, but they're my people. When I have free time, this is what I do. Chill with them. I thought a million times how I'm supposed to say I want to include you in my life. This could be a start."

Oh. That sounded…serious. She bit her lip and looked away.

"I pushed. Too hard, too fast. I came to see you every single day because I love being with you, and when you took a step back, at first, I thought it could be because you didn't feel the same way. If that's the case, that's fine. I can drive you back home any time, and stay away. If not… if there is a chance that you stepped back because you thought I wasn't being serious, that I was just playing with you and getting ready to step out the moment it was convenient for me, I should tell you the truth. I should tell you that the moment I saw you smile at yourself in that dark bar, you were a light, a beacon calling me. I'd tell you I couldn't stay away. I'd tell you I never wanted to—not once. I'd tell you I missed you every day I haven't spent with you. I'd tell you I'd been falling for you for so long, and only realized what was happening when I hit the ground. I'd tell you I want nothing more than to spend every day getting to know your smart, beautiful, talented mind."

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