Page 36 of Wrench
¡°Thank you, Samantha,¡± he said, pulling his hand away to crouch beside Buddy,
pulling his leash from his jeans. With his back toward me, he said, ¡°You didn¡¯t ask me.¡±
¡°Didn¡¯t ask you¡ what?¡±
¡°What I do to unwind.¡±
I narrowed my eyes. ¡°Oh. Then, uhh¡ what do you do, Isaac, to unwind?¡±
¡°Give me your number and I¡¯ll tell you.¡±
The second he crossed that boundary, my seductive demeanor changed. Images of
Travis, Gina, and my dad¡¯s expression when I knocked on his door after driving home
from Sturgis all circled in my mind. I didn¡¯t know this man and he was definitely the
playboy type. Why would I run headfirst into a situation knowing I¡¯d get hurt?
He must have been able to sense I was filling with anxiety because he took a step back
and said, ¡°Hey, if not, that¡¯s fine.¡±
¡°No, it¡¯s not that I don¡¯t want to, it's just¡¡± It¡¯s just that I¡¯m broken inside, I thought.
¡°It¡¯s just that, it¡¯s not against policy to see clients outside of work, but it is frowned upon,
and they just rehired me¡ probably shouldn¡¯t¡¡±
Total lie. Everyone in my office would be thrilled for me. Argh, what am I doing? Two
minutes earlier I was ready to dry hump him and now I was rejecting him?
¡°Don¡¯t worry about it,¡± he said and grabbed Buddy¡¯s leash in his hand. ¡°Anyway, I hope
you find something to help you unwind.¡±
When he left me alone with my thoughts, I stood frozen in my spot. This was self-
sabotage. Lizzie and Ellen were right. I needed a rebound to forget Travis and it needed to
be someone better than Travis. And Isaac¡ well¡ he was the hottest man I¡¯d seen off the
television.
Then, on autopilot, I grabbed a pen and wrote my number on a piece of paper.
Not wasting any time, I bounced off my toes and ran out of my office. I had to go after
him. Lizzie, Ellen, and Kelly were all standing behind the reception desk and when they
saw me zoom around the corner with determination, they all squealed. Thankfully, he
was only turning on his engine when I opened the entrance to the clinic and waved at
him.
His window rolled down and he smiled at me. For the first time, I noticed how straight
