Chapter 8
Clare
Nothing In Common
I wanted to scream. I wanted to hit something. I wanted to cry.
All of these emotions were going to drive me insane. That kiss in the coffee shop had meant nothing, or at least that was what Wes had said. But for me, I felt something between us. I had sworn he had felt it too. The problem was, Wes was so damn stuck on his ex he couldn’t see his hand in front of his face.
I pulled up to his building, luckily finding a space, and put the car in park.
“Well, this was fun,” I said sarcastically.
Wes drew in a slow breath and let it out even slower. Like what he was about to say was going to be painful.
“Thanks for taking me home last night, staying, breakfast, and this little errand.”
I raised a brow.
He let out a soft chuckle. “And for pretending to be my girlfriend. I know you think it’s wrong, me trying to break up Mandy and Ron.”
Lifting my shoulder, I said, “Love makes you do crazy things.”
Wes let his gaze drop to my mouth for the briefest of moments then he looked away “Okay, well, I guess I’ll see you around.”
He opened the car door and then leaned in, that brilliant smile of his on full display.
“Hey, out of curiosity, who the hell is your boss? It blows my mind he lets you drive his McLaren GT.”
With a smug smile, I replied, “Oh, I’m the executive assistant for the president and CEO of the Boston Red Sox.”
Wes started laughing. “Right. Seriously, Clare, who do you work for.”
“Seriously, Wes, the Boston Red Sox.”
His smile faded.
“Wow, if I only knew that by telling you where I worked you’d finally stop talking. If you could please shut the door now.”
A stunned Wes took a step back, then shut the door. Feeling like a million bucks again, I pulled out into traffic while singing Kelly Clarkson’s song, “Stronger” with a huge smile on my face.
? ? ?
When the doorbell rang, I drew in a quick breath and let it out. “This is going to be fun! Don’t think about dickhead, or the two kisses that left you breathless.”
I made my way to the door and opened it to see Alex standing there with a bouquet of flowers.
“Hi!” I said as I motioned for him to come in.
“These are for you,” he said, handing them to me.
I buried my face in the flowers and inhaled. “They smell lovely. Let me put them in a vase.”
Alex slipped his hands into the pockets of his black dress pants. He had on a black sweater with a white collared shirt underneath it. No jacket at all. His dark blond hair was styled perfectly, and he smelled like he put just a bit too much cologne on.
I wrinkled my nose, then rubbed it to keep from sneezing.
Opening the cabinet and finding my one and only vase, I pulled it out and filled it with water. “Make yourself at home while I take care of these.”
“Will do,” he replied, peeking into the bathroom, then walking over to the living room. “That is some view of Fenway Park.”
“Thanks!” I replied, carrying the vase of flowers over to the kitchen table. “I like it.”
“Are you, um, a big baseball fan?”
I laughed and set the flowers in the middle of the table. Anyone who lived in Boston was a Sox fan. “I sure am. From the time my father first brought me to a game when I was five.”
He nodded and looked back out the window. “I don’t care for baseball.”
I stared at him, shook my head, then stared at him some more. “You don’t like the Boston Red Sox?”
“I don’t like baseball at all. Or football. Really, any sports. Give me a play or opera any day over sports.”
Forcing a smile, I excused myself by saying that I needed to use the bathroom before we left. Once I was in the bathroom, I let my mouth drop open.
“Holy shit,” I softly whispered. “He doesn’t like the Sox?”
I had grabbed my phone on the way into the bathroom while Alex continued to glare at the stadium across the street. I pulled up Rory’s name.
Me: HOW COULD YOU?!
It didn’t take her long to text back.
Rory: How could I what?!!?
Me: Set me up with a guy who doesn’t like the RED SOX.
The three dots started. Stopped. Started again.
I paced back and forth in my small bathroom.
Rory: I had NO IDEA! I’m so sorry! But he is a really great guy. You can get past that.
Glaring at my phone, I huffed.
Me: He doesn’t like ANY SPORTS. You do remember I have season tickets to the Sox and the Patriots. While he wants to go to the opera, I want to go eat hotdogs and popcorn and drink beer!
Rory: It is healthy to have things in common and to have your own interests, you know.
She was right about that. I could get past this. It was okay.
Me: You’re right.
With one more look in the mirror, and a quick adjustment of my hair, I had it half pulled back, half down, I turned and opened the door.
“Oh good, you’re ready. We need to leave if you want to make our dinner reservations.”
“I’m dressed, okay?”
I had on dress pants and a cashmere sweater in baby blue.
He grinned. “You look beautiful and perfect, Clare.”
My cheeks heated as I reached for my coat on the hanger. I waited for Alex to take it and help me put it on, but he simply stood there.
I guess chivalry is dead except in romance movies and books.
As we rode down in the elevator, I looked over at him. “So, where are we going for dinner?”
“We’re going to The Capital Grille.”
My brows shot up. That was one of the most expensive restaurants in Boston.
“Oh, that sounds lovely.”
“Have you ever been?”
“No,” I said with a shake of my head. “I’ve heard it is amazing.”
“It is,” he replied when the elevator doors opened. I followed him out of the building and saw a black car waiting. “This is us.”
My eyes widened as I realized Alex had a driver. Was this his norm or was it to try and impress me?
Alex held the back door of the Range Rover open, and I quickly slid in with him following.
Once the door was shut, the driver pulled out.
“I know the head chef at the restaurant.”
“That’s nice. How did you meet him?”
He looked at me. “Her. We dated.”
My grin instantly fell. What the fuck was it with these men? Could they not let their past relationships go? And why was I the one stuck in the middle of them?
“Um…”
It was the only word I could get out.
Alex saw my perplexed face and laughed. “Oh, no, no. Nothing like that. She is happily married to the manager of the restaurant. That’s how they met. I’m friends with them both.”
I relaxed in my seat. “That’s a relief. I thought maybe you were bringing me there to make her…”
Shut up, Clare. Shut up!
“To make her what?” he asked, confusion written all over his face.
With a wave of my hand, I said, “Oh nothing. Just ignore me.”
Alex reached for my hand. “I know we talked a lot yesterday at Preston and Harmony’s house, but tell me a little more about yourself.”
“Well, I work for the Boston Red Sox as an executive assistant. I, unlike you, am a huge baseball fan. I love hiking, running, cats and dogs, and my favorite meal to eat is spaghetti with meatballs. I eat Swedish Fish all the time. As a matter of fact, I have a bag in my purse.”
He wrinkled his nose. “What is that?”
“They’re like licorice.”
“Ugh, I hate licorice.”
I blinked at him a few times. “Um, my favorite TV show is Friends. Favorite movie is Jumanji, but only the second and third one. The first one is good, but I like the new ones.”
He nodded.
“I’ve lived in Boston my whole life. My parents live in Boston. I have an older brother, Manny. He’s in the Marine Corps but is due to get out in just a few weeks.”
Alex was watching me and would give a little head bob or smile every now and then.
“What about you?”
“Well, I love flowers, the opera, Broadway musicals, I like to bike, fish are my go-to animals, I have a tank at my house. I don’t watch TV at all, so I don’t have a favorite TV show, and I haven’t seen a movie in maybe like ten years.”
It was my turn to give the head bob and smile. “You don’t watch TV at all? How do you decompress at night. Meditation? I love to meditate.”
He laughed. “No, no meditation for me. I usually make myself a drink, sit in my living room and listen to jazz music.”
No. No. Not the jazz music.
“Do you like jazz music.”
“You know, I’ve never really listened to it.” For more than five minutes.
“We’ll have to change that. I know a great jazz bar we can go to.”
Smiling, I said, “That sounds like fun.”
The car pulled up to the restaurant and Alex thanked the driver, told him he’d call him when he wanted him to come back, then he slipped out of the car. I slid over and waited for his hand to help me out, but he was staring up at the restaurant.
I stepped out of the car and shut the door. It wasn’t like I couldn’t do that on my own, but what happened to men being a gentleman? Maybe I had too high of expectations. No, it wasn’t a high expectation for me to think he should help me out of the car.
“Ready?” Alex asked.
“I am so ready. I’m starving.”
We were seated immediately at our table, and when the waiter walked up, Alex spoke. “I’ll have a glass of the house Sauvignon Blanc. And the lady will have?”
They both turned and looked at me. “I’ll have a Dirty Goose.”
“Then if you could bring us the oysters to start out with.”
The waiter nodded.
I went to speak but Alex kept going. “We’ll also start with a bowl of the clam chowder.”
“Oh, wait,” I said as I lifted up my hand to stop him from ordering. “I’m not a fan of clam chowder, what other soups do you have?”
“We have caramelized French onion soup, lobster bisque.”
Picking up the menu, I quickly looked at it. “I’ll take the onion soup, please.”
The waiter wrote it down, then looked back at Alex. “Do we know what we want for our main meal.”
He turned to me. “Would you mind if I ordered for us?”
I stared at him for what I was sure was an uncomfortable amount of time. The man hardly knew me yet wanted to order my meal for me. Hard. Pass.
“Actually, I do mind. If you could give me a few minutes to look at the menu.”
The waiter nodded. “No problem at all. I’ll get this put in and come back with your drinks.”
I smiled then turned to Alex when he walked off. “I’m sorry, I am not used to someone ordering for me.”
He coughed into his fist then moved in his seat uncomfortably. “No worries. I guess I thought since I know this restaurant so well you would trust my suggestions.”
“Well, for starters. I do not like oysters, not everyone loves them. And secondly, I appreciate that you’ve been here before, but I would still like to see what they have to offer and would love some suggestions from you.”
With a single head nod, he looked around the place without giving me any suggestions. I went back to reading the menu.
The waitress came back with our drinks. “Your appetizers will be out shortly. Are we ready to order?”
Alex looked at me. “Would you like to order first?”
“I’ll have the New York strip with the au poivre with courvoisier cream, medium well, please.”
“And for you, sir?”
“Yes, I’ll have the veal tomahawk chop.”
Thank God I didn’t let him order for me.
“Sides for the table?”
Alex looked at me. “Would you like a side? The lobster mac and cheese is really good.”
“That sounds good.”
“We’ll take that and the grilled asparagus.”
With another grin, the waiter said, “Great, I’ll get this in for you.”
Once she walked away, things felt different at the table. Alex seemed bothered that I hadn’t let him pick my food.
“So, why did you and the chef here break up?” I asked, setting my napkin over my lap.
He moved his drink to a different spot on the table. “We grew apart. She was making a name for herself here in Boston with her cooking, I was working long hours at the museum. We never found the time to be together. Plus, we didn’t have a lot in common.”
I nodded and took a drink of my Dirty Goose.
“Do you often drink vodka?”
Blinking a few times at his abrupt question, I cleared my throat. “Um…no.”
“Do you like wine?”
I let out a small laugh. “Honestly, if it was up to me, I’d just have a beer.”
“A beer? Mmm.”
Nodding, it was my turn to move around in my seat. I suddenly felt like I had done something very wrong. I hated to admit it, but Wes was right, Alex was not the type of guy I wanted to date. We had nothing in common. Nothing.
“What else do you do in your spare time when you’re not listening to jazz?”
He lit up like a Christmas tree. “Puzzles.”
I leaned forward. “What kind of puzzles?”
Frowning, he replied, “Jigsaw, what other kind are there?”
Shrugging, I said, “I don’t know. There are logic puzzles, Sudoku, math puzzles because you know you’re into math. Brain teasers.”
He stared at me like I had lost my mind.
“Just jigsaw puzzles.”
What had we talked about yesterday that had me so enthralled with this guy?
“Flowers, we both love flowers.” I wasn’t sure why I had said that out loud.
Alex smiled. “My father has a beautiful garden at his house. My mom is more into vegetables, Dad does flowers and trees. I think it’s interesting that you said your favorite flower was magnolia.”
“Really?” I asked as I rested my chin on fist. “Why is that?”
“Their symbolism is nobility, dignity, and love of nature. You mentioned earlier you loved to hike and run. Did you know that the magnolia tree was named after a French botanist, Pierre Magnolia, in the 1600s.”
I pressed my lips together in a tight line and shook my head. I had a feeling I was about to get a history lesson on the magnolia tree.
“Yes, the tree has more than eighty varieties.”
“Interesting. So you do know a lot about flowers.”
He laughed. “No, I looked it up after you said it was your favorite flower. I couldn’t find any when I went to the florist.”
“That’s very sweet of you.”
We fell into another lapse of silence until the soup and oysters came out.
By the time we had finished our dinner, neither of us could think of a single thing to say to each other. Clearly, we had used up all our conversation yesterday. We simply smiled when either of us looked at the other.
The check came and I offered to split it, which Alex declined. When we walked outside of the restaurant, it was clear that there wasn’t going to be another date. He knew it and I knew it.
The short ride back to my place was silent as well. So quiet that I was positive I could hear both of our hearts beating.
The driver pulled up to my building and Alex got out of the car. This time he reached his hand in and helped me out. A little too late, buddy.
“Thank you, Alex for the wonderful dinner. I had a nice time.”
He grinned then shook my hand. He actually shook my damn hand.
“Had a lovely time, Clare. Maybe I’ll see you around sometime.”
“Maybe, you never know.”
Alex turned and slipped into the car so fast I thought he was going to hurt himself.
The car pulled out and I dropped my head back and groaned.
“That brutal, huh?”
I jumped and spun around to see Wes leaning against the building.
“What are you doing here?” I asked as I made my way over to him.
He smiled as he regarded me. “How was the date?”
My hands went to my hip. “How long have you been waiting for me?”
Winking, he replied, “Not long, I figured it wouldn’t be a long date.”
“I’m tired, Wes. I slept like shit last night thanks to you. The only thing I want to do is go upstairs, take a shower, and relax.”
He held up a bag. “I’ve got Ben amp; Jerry’s Cherry Garcia and a six pack of beer.”
I narrowed my eyes at him. “Why do you come bearing such gifts?”
He lifted one shoulder. “I feel bad about last night, and this morning with Mandy.”
“Is the ice cream laced with something?”
He pressed his hand to his heart. “You wound me, Clare.”
Glancing around, I focused back on him. “Is Mandy watching or something.”
The smile on his face faltered for the briefest of moments. “No, of course not. I’m just trying to be a friend here. I’m tired of us always bickering.”
I exhaled. “Fine, but I get to pick the movie.”
“I didn’t know a movie was required to eat ice cream.”
Laughing, I said, “Oh, you have so many things to learn, Wes.”
He grinned and held the door open for me.
Once we were in my apartment, I showed him where the bowls and spoons were.
“You don’t want to just eat it out of the container?” he asked as I took one high heel off then the other.
“I’m totally fine eating it out of the container if you are.”
“I’m a guy, Clare. That’s the only way I know how to eat Ben amp; Jerry’s.”
Laughing, I walked into my bedroom and shut the door. Quickly changing into yoga pants and my brother’s long-sleeve Boston Red Sox 2018 World Series shirt.
I slipped on my fuzzy slippers and made my way out to the living room. Wes was on the sofa, both ice creams on the table as he flipped through the stations.
“I know you said you wanted to pick the movie, but the second Jumanji is playing, and I really love that movie.”
My eyes went from Wes to the TV then back to Wes. “What?”
“If you’ve never seen this movie, you have to watch it. Kevin Hart is hilarious. I mean, they’re all funny. ‘What is this on my back?’” he started to laugh. “You’ll laugh your ass off, I promise, and something tells me you need to laugh.”
Smiling, I sat down and grabbed the blanket and put it over my legs. I reached for the ice cream and said, “I love Jumanji. The second and the third are my favorites.”
He turned to look at me. “Are you serious?”
I nodded. “Yep. ‘Where’s my phone? The fact that I’m not Instagramming this right now is insane.’”
Wes tossed his head back and laughed. “What are the odds we’d both like those movies?”
Taking a bite of my ice cream, I shrugged. Had I told him this was my favorite ice cream? Or that this was my favorite movie?
After staring at him for a moment too long, I focused on the dessert in my hand.
We both settled in with our ice cream and beer and ate in silence as we watched the movie. When Wes leaned over and took a bite of my ice cream, I didn’t say a word. He then offered for me to try the brownie something or other that he had.
“No, thanks. I’m a Cherry Garcia girl.”
When I couldn’t eat anymore ice cream, I took mine and Wes’s and put them in the freezer, grabbing us another beer before settling back on the sofa.
“Do you have another cover?” Wes asked.
“Here,” I said as I spread it out over both of us. “It’s big enough to share.”
It was then that I noticed how content I felt. At ease and happy, I hadn’t felt like this in a very long time.
I turned to look at Wes who was engrossed in the movie. Was it because it was Wes sitting here? Would I have felt this way had it been Alex?
Turning back to the movie, I bit down on my lip. No, because Alex would have wanted to drink wine and listen to jazz. Gag.
“Do you like jazz music?” I asked out of the blue.
He turned to me with a perplexed expression. “Random, but okay. Not really. I mean, I can go to a jazz bar if friends want to listen to it, but I can also do without it.”
I nodded and we both went back to watching the movie. Ten minutes later, I asked, “Do you drink wine?”
This time he kept his eyes on the TV. “Only when forced to.”
I couldn’t help but smile. Turning to face him, I asked, “Favorite TV show?”
He laughed. “That’s easy. Friends or S.W.A.T.”
Narrowing my eyes, I asked, “Who is our favorite friend?”
“You can’t ask me that. It would be like picking a favorite parent. I like them all for different reasons. If I had to pick who I would want to hang out with, though, I think it would be Joey. He seems like he’d be more fun than Ross or Chandler.”
Grinning like a fool, I asked, “Who would you rather sleep with? Monica, Rachel, or Phoebe?”
“Ohh…that’s a hard one. Which of the guys would you sleep with?”
I screwed up my face then laughed. “I don’t know! Maybe Ross?”
“Ross? Why?”
“He’s cute and smart and I don’t know. He just seems the sweetest of them all.” I hit his leg. “Now back to you. Who would you sleep with?”
His eyes darted down to my mouth, and I felt my heart freeze in my chest. Then they were back to staring into my own eyes.
“Okay, if had to pick, Rachel. She’s a good mix between Monica and Phoebe.”
I nodded. “Okay, I can see that.”
He turned back to the movie.
“Do you like puzzles?”
He frowned. “Fuck no. They take too long and require too much thinking. Give me a game of Monopoly or Pictionary and I’m there.”
I laughed, then suddenly asked. “Do you like oysters?”
He shivered. “God, no. The texture of them creeps me out.”
Oh no. No. No. No. No. Stop playing this game, Clare. Stop.
“Want another beer?” Wes asked, slipping out from the blanket.
“Sure,” I answered as I turned back and rested my feet on the coffee table. I closed my eyes and attempted to calm my beating heart. I was playing with fire. He was still in love with his ex, and no matter how much we had in common, Wes didn’t think of me as anything other than a friend.
When Wes walked back over to me, he handed me the beer then flopped down on the sofa, pulled the cover up, and continued watching the movie. I barely felt like I could move, let alone breathe. If I looked at him now, I’d want to kiss him. No, I’d want to crawl onto his lap and then kiss him.
Running my hand over my forehead, down my face to my neck, I drew in a breath. It was so hot in the apartment. I pulled the blanket off of me.
“Before I got out of your boss’s car, why didn’t you mention you worked for the Boston Red Sox?”
It suddenly felt like someone dropped a lead brick into my stomach. He was only here, being nice like this because he wanted something from me.
“I don’t know. I’ve worked there for so long it doesn’t seem like a big deal to me. I started when I got out of college.”
“Oh yeah,” he said. “You mentioned that part before. That you still worked at same place since you graduated college. That must be pretty damn cool.”
“It is. It’s also stressful sometimes.”
“I bet it is. That’s great that you worked your way up, Clare.”
I waited for him to ask about tickets or how he could meet the players. When he didn’t say anything else, I felt myself relax.
“I’m sorry I dragged you into this whole thing with Mandy. I don’t know what’s wrong with me.”
My mouth felt like cotton, but I somehow got the words out.
“You’re in love. Sometimes love makes you do crazy things.”
Wes looked at me for a long moment before saying, “I guess so.”
After that we both focused on watching the movie in comfortable silence. Once the movie was over, I looked over to see Wes was sound asleep.
Leaning closer to look at him, I couldn’t help but smile. His long black eyelashes were beautiful. Why was it men had such amazing lashes? His brown hair was a mess from him pushing his hands through it all the time, but it looked good messy. I wasn’t sure if it was a habit or something he did when he was nervous or was anxious. He seemed pretty relaxed all evening.
Then you had those lips of his. I briefly closed my eyes and thought about those lips on mine and how wonderful they had felt.
I sat back on the sofa and internally sighed. This was not fair. Of all the men in the world, why did I have to be attracted to Wes Ward?
My fingers came up to my mouth as I remembered his eyes on my lips early tonight.
Ugh. He doesn’t want you, Clare!
He wants another woman. Mandy. The cheater. With her perfect hair, perfect body, perfect makeup. She had looked at me like I was beneath Wes, and that had bothered me more than I wanted to admit.
Covering my face with my hands I willed myself to stop thinking about it. I stood, went to my bedroom and got a pillow. I put it on the sofa so that when he woke up, he could just lie down. I turned and picked up the beer bottles and ever so quietly put them in the recycle bin. Then I made my way to the bathroom. After brushing my teeth and washing my face, I decided to just sleep in the clothes I had on since I’d clearly gotten comfortable as soon as I got home.
One last check on Wes and I slipped into my bedroom and softly shut the door.
? ? ?
The ringing of my alarm caused me to bolt up in bed and I instantly winced. I had a terrible neck ache and sat up. Rolling my neck, I looked back at my pillow.
“Damn it.”
I must have given my favorite pillow to Wes last night. Swinging my legs to the side of the bed, I stood and stretched before I made my way out to the kitchen for a much-needed cup of tea.
When I opened the door, Wes was standing in my kitchen in nothing but a towel. I let out a scream and he jumped and let out a scream himself.
“What are you doing in my kitchen naked!”
He glanced down at the towel. “I’m not naked, I’m wrapped up in a towel. Why did you scream?”
I blinked several times as I attempted to clear the sleep from my eyes. “I live here, jackass! Alone! I wasn’t expecting you to be standing here…like…this,” I said as I swept my hand in the direction of him.
“Sorry about that,” he said with that smirk I swore he only saved for me. “I really needed a shower. How do you feel about taking a cooking class with me?”
Stumbling my way over to the Keurig, I put my tea pod in, placed my mug in the right spot, and started it. Turning around, I leaned against the counter.
“Why would I want to take a cooking class with you?”
His face blushed.
“Oh God, does this have something to do with Mandy?”
Holding up his hands, Wes said, “It does. Her planner said she has a cooking class set up with what’s his face.”
I chewed on my cheek to keep from screaming it was a bad idea. But it would allow me to spend more time with Wes, and I was clearly pathetic enough to stoop this low.
“Here’s my plan. You and I show up at some random places together.” He put air quotes around the word random. “With the way Mandy reacted to you yesterday at the coffee shop, it is bound to make her realize she’s making a mistake by marrying this guy.”
Shaking my head, I brought my fingers up to my temples and rubbed. “You aren’t making any sense.”
“It’s perfect, Clare. You and I show up at places where I know Mandy will be. Not too many because we don’t want her catching on to the plan or figuring out that I’m the one who found her planner.”
“Of course not,” I deadpanned.
“I mean, I should have thought of this before. The more she sees me with you, the more she’ll want me back.”
“Wes,” I said as I slapped my forehead. “Why don’t you just tell her you’re still in love with her and you want another chance.”
He swallowed hard. “I did do that. When she slept with me then snuck out in the middle of the night. She needs to see what she’s missing.”
I was dumbfounded. “Maybe she isn’t missing anything? Wes, she really seemed like she was in love with this Ron guy.”
“Fine, if she’s in love with him, then her running into us won’t matter at all, right?”
“Besides the fact that we’re lying about us being a couple.”
“Then let’s not lie.”
Confused, I asked, “What do you mean?”
Wes took a step closer to me and cupped my face within his hands. “Let’s date.”
“Are you insane? Have you totally lost your mind, Wes?”
He smiled. “I think so.”
“You want me to date you so that you can win your ex back and not feel guilty that you’re lying about this plan?”
“Yes.”
I closed my eyes for a moment. “Wes, this isn’t going to turn out the way you think it will.”
“Maybe not, but I’m finding I like spending time with you. So unless you don’t like spending time with me…”
I tried to ignore the way his hands felt on my face or how he said he liked spending time with me. I wanted to tell him I was falling for him. That the person who was going to be hurt in the end was only going to be me. But I couldn’t. I kept telling him to be honest with Mandy when I couldn’t be honest with him. Or with myself. I knew this was an awful plan and also knew that I should walk away and not look back…but I couldn’t.
Sighing, I said, “If I do this, you are going to owe me so big.”
A wide grin erupted on his face, and he kissed me on the forehead. “I will totally owe you. I’ll do anything you want me to do.”
I lifted a brow. “Anything?”
“Anything.”
“I want to meet Brady Thompson.”
He looked so confused as he dropped his hands and took a step back. His head fell back, and he laughed his ass off before finally getting himself under control. “You’re joking, right? The guy doesn’t even live in Boston. He’s not even a football player anymore! I think he’s in Georgia or something like that. Hell, you work for the Boston Red Sox, you have a better chance of making that happen than I do!”
I shrugged. “That is the deal. If you want to date me, I need to meet Brady Thompson.”
Rolling his eyes, Wes groaned and turned away from me. He appeared to be thinking of something, then spun back around and smiled that boyish smile he didn’t often give people. My heart tumbled around in my chest.
Pointing to me, he asked, “You want to meet Brady Thompson?”
With my hands on my hips, I nodded. “Yes.”
“So if I introduce you, you’ll do this for me?”
There was no way in hell it would happen, so I felt confident in saying I’d do it. “If you can introduce me to Brady Thompson, and it doesn’t have to be in person, it can be on Zoom, then yes, I’ll play your stupid dating game. But for the record, I think this is going to end badly.”
For me.
Wes wore a triumphant smile. “I need to go get dressed, I have calls I need to make.”
I took my mug of tea and walked back into the bedroom. “Hurry up! I need to take a shower and get to work!”