Page 11 of Wrong Place, Wright Time
"I see. So she’s the reason you didn't make it to my show?"
"Yeah," I say as I finish chewing. “I was with her"
"And now he's pussy whipped," Theo points out, to which Darren laughs.
"I'm so glad I never touch those things. They sound so dangerous."
“Right?” Theo agrees. “One good fuck and you’re sucked right in.”
“It’s not like that,” I say, finding their summation amusing. “It’s her. There’s something about her that’s…different to everyone else. I crave her, but I have no idea how to win her.”
“Uh oh,” Darren says for the second time this visit. “That’s not a problem you’ve encountered before.
“I’m aware. Which is what’s got me so off balance. It’s normally not this hard to get a date with someone.”
“Well, you gotone,” Theo points out. “How did that come about?”
“It just happened.” I shrug. “She came to the bar, thinking we were meeting there before the show, so we had a drink, got talking and then…”
“One thing led to another and now you’re her snatch-slave for all eternity,” Darren teases, making me almost choke on the mouthful of coffee I just took.
“This isn’t helping, guys. I’m actually at a loss of what to do here. I mean, normally when I like a woman, I can shower her with attention—flowers, dinner, gifts—and it’s cruisey. But with Isla…the woman’s a Wright. That family has more money than God. So what can I, a wealthy bar owner, give her that she can’t already give herself?”
“Dick, for one thing,” Darren says as a matter of fact.
“I’m trying to be serious here, cousin.”
“So was I,” Darren says, somewhat indignant. Which is when the stoic Theo tilts his head to the side and shrugs.
“What about loyalty?” he starts. “I’ll bet that’s something she doesn’t have a lot of in her life.”
“Yesssss,” Darren says as if it’s almost a hiss. “That’s precisely what all of them are lacking. That family is full of nothing but snakes. It’s why Tanner and Ash bailed on their inheritance and made lives of their own. So if Isla is still caught up in the Wright Media machine, loyalty will literally be the one thing she’s never had.”
Sipping on my coffee, I give their insight a good amount of thought before I respond. “So, what you’re saying is that I just have to be there for her? I have to keep showing up, and never giving up and eventually she’ll see I’m the real deal.”
Theo and Darren exchange a look before they turn back to me and nod. “As long as she’s as interested in you as you are in her, it’ll be the one thing that can prove to her you’re not just another guy trying to raise his status in life by dating her.”
“I’d never do that,” I say, finding the idea of making something off someone else’s back distasteful.
“We know that,” Theo says. “But we’re not the ones you’ve gotta convince.”
Isla
The sun bathes my face in its warmth the moment I step out of my apartment building. And for a moment, I wish I owned a dog so I could take it to Central Park and toss a ball with it for hours, just forgetting the weight of the world and reveling in the simplicity of each other’s company for a bit. But that notion quickly dissipates when my phone chimes with about half a dozen reminders about meetings and report deadlines that demand my attention instead.
“Ugh,” I grunt, shoving my cell back into my coat pocket as I make my way to the waiting car.
“How about we walk instead?” the smooth voice that enjoys filling my dreams says to my left, causing me to whip around and almost collide with the man. Luckily, Banks is more aware of his surroundings than I am and quickly pulls his arms aside, thereby saving the two takeaway coffees he’s holding along with my cream peacoat.
“Good lord. Announce yourself to a girl next time?”
He grins. I melt. “Next time?”
“No. Not next time like I want you to keep showing up unexpected,” I blabber, feeling the heat rise in my cheeks as my tongue feels too thick in my mouth. “But next time, as in the next time you start talking to a woman when she doesn’t know you’re there. It’s a PSA from all women to you.”
He’s still grinning.
I’m still melting.
