Chapter 17
SAGE
brADLEY: Hi there, NewAndPretty. Thanks for accepting my message request. Hope you don’t mind me texting you through the app. I saw you were on and wanted to say hello.
SAGE: Hi, Bradley. Not at all. To be honest, I was on because I’m about to meet a date, and I was checking to see if he was here yet.
brADLEY: A date? Don’t tell me I’ve lost my shot.
SAGE: It’s a first date! :P
brADLEY: I hope it goes well, but not too well.
SAGE: Thanks, I think? Ha-ha.
brADLEY: Beach date?
SAGE: No, a cute Mexican place near the beach.
brADLEY: I love Mexican food.
SAGE: Me too.
brADLEY: Maybe on our date, I’ll take you to Mexico in my private jet.
SAGE: Private jet? Wow.
brADLEY: What can I say? I’m a man who likes the finer things in life.
SAGE: Cool. That sounds great. Can we chat later? I have to go. Would be kinda rude to stand up my date, chatting with you.
brADLEY: I wouldn’t mind.
SAGE: My date might.
brADLEY: Until we chat again. I hope I can get to know you soon.
SAGE: Thanks, Bradley. Have a nice evening.
I close out of the app quickly, even though my heart is racing.
Bradley messaged me last night, and according to his profile, he is more my type than anyone I’ve messaged in the last week on the app.
However, no matter how much I want to chat with the gorgeous blond banker, I have a date with Chad, and I am determined to see if we will have a good connection.
Not because he looks that promising on the app, but because going on dates is a way to get my mind off Dalton and his weird ways.
I can’t figure the guy out, and I am determined to convince myself that I don’t want to either.
I look around the patio of the Los Almos restaurant and attempt to locate my date, Chad.
He said he’d be wearing a red shirt and blue jeans and that it would be easy to find him because he looked exactly like his photos, which I hoped wasn’t true, since he was sticking his tongue out in one photo and making a funny face in the other.
I took that to mean he has a good sense of humor, and hopefully, that is correct.
We’ve only exchanged a few messages, but he was the first guy to send me a message, so I feel like maybe that was a sign—and the fact that he owns a helicopter and a castle in the French countryside doesn’t hurt.
I know it is unlikely that he will be the one, but dating is a numbers game.
The man I am most excited to meet is Bradley, as there is something really fun and personable about him, but he hasn’t asked me on a date. Not that we’d spoken much as yet.
“Sagey, is that you?” a nasal, high-pitched voice calls from the far end of the restaurant.
I look to the back, hoping it’s not Chad. My heart drops when I see the bright red shirt, looking like a fire engine, on the man who is waving madly at me. I slowly make my way over to Chad. He’s got a huge smile on his face as I approach, and I try to plaster a similar smile on my own face.
I’m annoyed with myself because I didn’t think to ask whether his photos were recent. Based on his receding, thinning hair and how much older he looks than in his photo, I am pretty confident the top photo on his profile isn’t accurate.
He lets out a low whistle as I walk over, and I regret wearing the short dress that I have on.
“Sagey, you look absolutely amazing.” He grins as he looks me up and down.
“The name’s Sage,” I correct him. “There’s no Y.”
“I know there’s no Y, but I like the name Sagey a little bit more.”
He cocks his head to the side and licks his lips, but before I can call him out for being a pig, he pops a mint into his mouth. So, maybe his lips were just dry, and he isn’t an absolute creep.
“You are one of the most beautiful women I’ve ever met in my life, Sagey.”
I press my lips together because, obviously, I’m not going to argue with the man over the fact that that’s not my name.
I reach my hand out to shake his hand, but instead, he steps forward and wraps me into his arms, pressing me closely into his body.
I try not to throw up as he rubs my lower back and breathes in like he’s trying to steal my essence.
“You’re even more stunning than you look in your photograph,” he says as he finally steps back. “Man, did I get lucky.” He looks like he wants to high-five himself. “My luck is finally changing.”
“Yeah, I can see how you would feel that,” I say as I continue standing there. I give him a once-over in the same inscrutable way that he looked me up and down. “I wish I could say the same, Chad.” I don’t want to be rude, but I can’t let him think anything between us is ever going to happen.
“What do you mean by that?” he says, looking confused.
“I mean, you don’t really look like your photo.” I try to be kind and polite.
“I swear to God, Scout’s honor, that photo is all me. No filters, no nothing.”
“I’m not saying the photo wasn’t you at some point in time, but how recently was it taken?”
“I don’t know.” He shakes his head, laughing, and takes a seat. “Please, Sagey, sit down.”
I reluctantly take a seat because I don’t know what else to do. Before I can say anything else, a waitress walks up with a huge smile on her face.
“Welcome. Nice to see y’all today. My name is Gidget. Is this your first time at Los Almos?”
“I come here all the time,” Chad says. “What about you, Sagey?”
“This is my first time,” I say through gritted teeth. I debate whether or not I should leave, but I feel awkward doing so.
“Well, have a look at the menu. Do you guys know what you want to drink?” the waitress says as she grins at us.
“I’ll have a margarita,” he says, “and she’ll have a strawberry daiquiri.”
“Excuse me?” How dare he order for me?
“What?” He grins. “I thought you said you liked strawberry daiquiris.”
Then I remember our conversation about daiquiris and whether we preferred strawberry, mango, or kiwi.
I nod. “Yeah, a strawberry daiquiri works.”
“See? I listen to you, baby.”
“So, about that photo,” I prod, not trying to be mean, but trying to get to the bottom of it.
“What about it, honey bunny?”
Chad is making me cringe inside. I try to ignore his cutesy names. The man has officially lost it.
“How long ago was that photo taken?”
“Time is just a construct that human beings have made. I don’t know when it was taken. It could have been taken last week. It could have been taken last year. It could have been taken five years ago. Shoot, for all I know, it could have been taken when I was a little boy.”
“It obviously wasn’t taken when you were a little boy because you look significantly older in that photo.” I cross my arms and lean forward. “Look, Chad, I’m just curious. Are you really thirty-five?”
I tell myself that if he lies, I’m going to leave because I know there’s no way on God’s green earth that this man is thirty-five.
“Okay, you got me. I’m not exactly thirty-five, but I will tell you there’s a reason why I don’t give my age.
And that reason is …” He looks up at me, his blue eyes sparkling.
“Well, if people knew my name and my age, they could Google me and find out just how many billions I’m worth.
And I’m not looking for women who are hoping to find a middle-aged man with money, like me. I’m looking for—”
“How old are you exactly, Chad?” I say, interrupting him.
“Well, now, as I said, time is just a construct—”
“No.”
“Fine, I’m fifty-five, but I’m a young fifty-five. I’ve been told that I don’t look a day over twenty-five.” He grins and flexes his muscles. “Don’t blame me because I look like Chris Hemsworth’s younger and better-looking brother.”
“I hate to break this to you, but whoever said that to you lied.”
He sits back and starts laughing. I’m surprised at that. I thought he would be offended.
“I like me an honest gal,” he says, grinning. “And you seem to be one of the most honest I’ve ever met on this app.”
“Really?” I say.
My phone beeps, and I look down at the screen. I got a message from Bradley on the app. I don’t want to be rude. I don’t want to read it, but I can’t stop myself from opening it up.
His message reads: Having fun on your date yet, or thinking about me?
I can’t help but smile and quickly close the phone.
“So, what would you like to eat?” Chad points at the menu. “I know you said you love some Mexican food. Maybe on our next date, I’ll fly you to Cancun, if you’re lucky.”
As I look down at the menu, my stomach growls.
I know this date is going nowhere, but I don’t know if he knows this date is going nowhere, and I’m hungry—really, really hungry.
And even though I’m super disappointed that this is my first date, I’m also practical.
If I’m here, I might as well get something to eat.
“I think I might get the fajitas or maybe the cheese enchiladas.”
“Cheese. I know cheese will have you bloated.”
“What?”
“Are you sure you want that before we go back to my place?”
“Chad, I want to be really clear about something, and I hope you don’t take this the wrong way, but I won’t be going back to your place, and I don’t think we’ll be going on a second date, and you can do with that what you will.
If you don’t want to continue this date, you don’t have to.
I don’t want you to pay for my meal when I know this is going nowhere.
I just wanted to be really clear with you about that. ”
“What if I can change your mind?” he says, eyes twinkling.
He reaches down into his pocket and pulls out a black leather wallet. I see that it’s stuffed with cash. He pulls out a stack of hundred-dollar bills and puts it on the table.
“I’m rich, you know?”
“Okay.” I stare at him and shrug. “Good for you.”
“Look, I’m really rich.”
“I know that might impress a lot of women, and maybe at some point in my life, I was one of them, but you lied to me. You used a false photo. You lied about your age. And as much as I am looking for a rich man, which I am”—I can’t believe I am admitting that to him—“I’m not looking for a rich man I can’t find some sort of connection with. ”
“So, let me buy you dinner. Let’s see if we can make a connection.”
“I just …” I sigh as my phone beeps again.
I look down. Bradley sent me another message.
I decide to ignore it. “Chad, I just want you to know I am …” I pause because I have this strange feeling someone is staring at me.
I can’t shake the feeling, so I look around the restaurant, wondering if Lucia or Izzy is here.
I don’t see anyone I know, so I turn back to Chad.
I’m about to continue talking, but I can’t shake the uneasy feeling that someone is looking at me.
I look back around the restaurant again, and there, at the bar, I see Dalton. He’s got a drink in his hand.
He nods at me and offers me a smirk. Then he mouths, Good luck.
What are the chances that Dalton Leone would be at the restaurant at the same time I’m on a date?
Just my bad luck, especially with Chad looking like such an old man.
I don’t want Dalton to think I have no standards.
He doesn’t know that Chad lied about his profile picture.
He might be sitting there, thinking that I’m on a date with someone who looks like he is in his early seventies just because he has money.
“Would you excuse me a second?” I say to Chad, who is sipping his water slowly.
“Sure thing, sweetie.”
“Thanks.” I stand up, and I hurry over to the bar.
“I need to talk to you,” I growl at Dalton as I head toward the side of the room.
He stands up and follows me. We walk down a small corridor, and then I stop.
“I just want you to know one thing: this is not a date.”
“What? You and me?” He frowns. “I didn’t think it was a date. I’m just here, having a drink, and you are …”
“No, I mean, Chad and me, the guy over there.”
“Okay? I’m confused.”
“I’m saying, yes, this was a date, but I didn’t know Chad was, well, as old as he is.” I cross my arms. “Anyway, I don’t really owe you an explanation, but I didn’t want you sitting there, looking at me, thinking I was on this date by choice with this old-ass man.”
“Sure, Sage.”
“I mean, I knew I didn’t have to explain any of this to you.
” I sigh. “I just didn’t want you to think that I was such a person.
He lied to me on the app. Anyway, I know I’m not making sense, and I don’t want to be rude to Chad, even though he doesn’t really deserve my politeness, since he lied to me. ”
“I see. He lied, huh?”
“What are you doing here anyway?” I ask.
There’s a twisted smile on his face as he looks at me.
“Like I said, I’m having a drink.”
“You’re having a drink at the same place I happen to be.”
“Coincidences happen all the time in life, and this isn’t a big town. How would I have known you would be here?”
“Yeah, I suppose that’s true. Why do you look like you want to laugh?”
“I just think it’s really funny that we’re both here at the same time, but you seem to be spending more time with me than your actual date.”
“I’m not spending time with you. I just …”
“It’s going to make me think that you wish I were your date instead.”
“I do not wish you were my date instead, Dalton, far from it.”
“If you say so.” He offers me a grin. “Good luck.”
“I don’t need luck. I just …”
He leans forward and kisses me on the cheek.
“What was that for?”
“That was to inspire you to have the best evening ever.”
“You’re weird.”
“You’re only just realizing that?” he says with a wink. “Try not to have too much fun with Grandpa. Unless you love wrinkly balls.”
“You suck, Dalton Leone.” I can’t stop myself from giggling. “And with that, I’m off to let down your look-alike.” I smirk. “I bet looking at him is like looking in the mirror, huh?”