Chapter 3
THREE
Travis
I release a large exhale once I’m back on the other side of the curtain and the eyes are off me. That was… intense. Having all those women screaming at me, checking out my body, bidding on me. I want to apologize on behalf of men to every woman who’s ever been catcalled in her life. The greasy feeling over my emotions is thicker than the oil spread over my chest.
Immediately, I hightail it out of the backstage area to find a bathroom to wipe the oil off my chest. As soon as I go inside, I grab a bunch of paper towels and wipe down my chest. The cheap brown paper only really smears the oil, and I realize that I have few options. Either button my shirt back up and ruin it from the oil soaking through, or leave it splayed open as though I’m some conceited jackass who routinely walks around with an oiled-up chest and an open shirt.
I opt for the latter only because this is my favorite flannel. I’ve had it for damn near a decade, and it’s been washed so many times that the flannel is soft and worked in perfectly.
Feeling defeated, I toss the paper towels into the garbage can with a curse and leave the bathroom.
The auction must be over because people are filing out of the room. Rather than pushing through the crowd like a salmon working its way upriver through a bunch of senior citizens, I stand off to the side, leaning against the wall, and wait for the rush to die down. I still have to go backstage to grab my belongings, plus I want to say goodbye to Grams.
Since I’m about a foot taller than most of the women here tonight, it only takes a couple of minutes for me to spot my grandma coming out of the room near the back of the pack. She notices me right away and smiles, probably because I stick out among the crowd like a flagpole.
Slowly, she makes her way over to me while she’s talking to another woman. Oh crap, it’s the woman who bid the highest on me. The woman I’m supposed to go on a date with.
What am I supposed to say to this woman? More than that, what am I supposed to do with this woman for a whole evening? I was so focused on having to participate in this auction that I haven’t given thought to how I might spend an entire evening with someone my grandma’s age. Dinner and a movie? Does dinner have to be at four thirty rather than seven or eight like I’d usually plan for a date?
I blow out a breath and push my hand through my hair. I’m totally overthinking this. How hard can it be to spend four to six hours with someone’s grandma, right?
She looks friendly. A contagious smile on her lips, and she’s not ogling me like some of the women have. Her eyes are staring at me in the eyes. Yeah, I’ve got this.
“Sweetie, this is my friend Dorothy. She’s the one who won you tonight,” Grams says.
I hold my hand out between us. “Hi, Dorothy, it’s good to meet you.” I paste on a smile, the one Grams demanded of us from a young age. First impressions are the most important, she’d say.
“So good to meet you. I’ve heard so much about you from your grandma.” She smiles sweetly and shakes my hand.
“Only believe half of what you hear. Grams is always embellishing on mine and my brothers’ accomplishments.”
Dorothy laughs and takes her hand back. “I’m sure that’s not true.”
“Guess you’ll find out for yourself. Any idea what you’d like to do for our evening out?” I try to keep my face neutral as though this is no big deal and I’m actually looking forward to it.
“You’ll have to ask my granddaughter about that. I bid on you for her.”
The smile slips from my face as my stomach plummets to the ground. This was a setup?
A quick glance in Grams’s direction and her smile confirms she had a hand in this. She has the same ecstatic smile that she had when we were little and she’d slip extra presents under the tree labeled from Santa, even though we all knew they weren’t.
Why would she do this? I may not have shared the particulars of what went down between Katherine and me a couple of years ago, but she knows it ended badly. And that I’ve had no interest in dating since.
“Let me find her so I can introduce you two.” Dorothy turns and looks through the small crowd, lifting her arm in a wave. “Oh, here she comes.”
I follow her line of sight and suck in a sharp breath when I spot the woman she must be talking about, because she’s one of the few here not collecting a social security check.
She has long blonde hair styled in waves and is wearing a blue sundress with small white flowers that stops a few inches above her knees. She wears very little makeup except maybe some mascara, and her lips are a glossy pink. As she gets closer, I can see her eyes are a deep green with hazel flecks in the middle. Her vibe is cute and sexy all rolled into one, and to my surprise, my dick perks up at the sight of her. It’s been a long time since that’s happened.
“Isla, come meet your date.” Dorothy motions for her granddaughter to join our group as though she weren’t already headed to us.
Once she’s standing next to her grandma, her eyes fall on me, but she says nothing.
“This is my beautiful Isla.” Dorothy puts her hand on Isla’s back, pushing slightly, and Isla jolts forward before finding her balance.
Isla looks over her shoulder at Dorothy, clearly confused as to what exactly is going on.
Grams nudges me with her elbow, and I look at her. She nods toward Isla.
“Hi, Isla.” I stick my hand out to greet her, and her palm slides into mine.
As soon as her skin touches mine, her cheeks pinken in the most adorable way, and our grandmothers become a captive audience, watching our interaction with bated breath.
“Nice to meet you.”
Our hands drop, and we stand in awkward silence for a few beats before Grams clears her throat.
“You two should probably discuss when you’re going to go out. Why don’t we leave them alone to figure it out, Dorothy?” Grams interlocks her arm with Dorothy’s, and the two shuffle off with matching conspiratorial grins.
I shift in place and dip my head, palming the back of my neck. “Well, that wasn’t too obvious, was it?”
Isla raises her hands in front of her. “I swear I had no idea what my grandma was up to until it was too late.”
My eyebrow arches. “Oh, the idea of having to spend an evening with me is horrifying?” I tease.
Her eyes widen, and her face grows a deeper shade of red. “Oh my god, no, I didn’t mean it like that. Of course not. You’re… I mean, look at you. Obviously, it’s no hardship. I’m sure any girl would be thrilled to go on a date with you.”
Despite the fact that I was teasing and not fishing for a compliment, my chest puffs out a little at her words.
“Just not you.” I slide my hands into my pockets, and when her gaze dips to my chest, I remember that my shirt is hanging open.
“Um… no, it’s not that. I’m just embarrassed that my grandma felt she had to buy me a date.”
I chuckle. “Don’t worry about it. I’m pretty sure my grandma forced me to do this bachelor auction for the same reason.”
Her shoulders relax a bit at the confession that we’re in this together. “Really?”
“Think so. The question is whether the two of them were in on it together or not.”
We turn to see the two little old ladies standing farther up the hall, watching our interaction. They turn around quickly when they spot us looking at them.
“Do you want to exchange numbers to set something up?” I ask her.
“Sure.” She digs into her crossbody purse and pulls out a phone with a purple sparkly case. “Why don’t you add your contact?” Isla passes me her phone.
I do as she asks and hand it back to her. “I’d add you to my phone, but my stuff is all still backstage. Speaking of, I should probably go grab it.”
“Yeah, of course. Okay, I’ll text you and we can figure something out.” She puts her phone back in her purse, and we stand there awkwardly.
“Looking forward to it. It was nice meeting you.” I nod and step toward backstage.
“You too. Have a good night.” She really has a nice smile. Not too toothy or creepy. Sweet and genuine.
“You too.” I’m by no means a ladies man, but damn, I usually have more game than the lame-ass I’m being.
I head down the hall in search of my stuff.
After finding my bag, I realize that I’m actually looking forward to seeing Isla again. She’s beautiful, and she seems like a kind, low-drama person.
Could there be an actual connection between us? I’m afraid to even hope for it.