Round Sixteen #2
“It’s basically eleven o’clock! The restaurant closed at ten, so unless you went to the trouble of following her all the way back to Barlespy and walking her to her door, that leaves an hour you can’t quite account for.”
“Are you fucking serious right now? You turn up in my town, become the world’s most annoying neighbor, badger me at every fucking turn about every damn thing you can think of, nag me to date, and now you’re mad that I dated?!”
“I’m not mad that you dated! I’m mad that I expected better of you.”
“What the hell did you expect of me, Magnolia? I told you I wasn’t looking for love. Jesus. I told you I wasn’t interested!”
“And you convinced Brienne that she wasn’t looking for love, too? Then… what? You screwed in the back of your car?”
“No.” He drops his hands and leans forward, sneering.
“That’s a crime, and I try my best not to commit those.
Brienne was nice, by the way. We enjoyed pasta and a glass of wine each.
” His eyes flicker toward the table. Toward my folder.
“You’re supposed to be taking notes, aren’t you? Debrief. Prepare for our next date.”
“Your next date with Brienne?” I’m irritated with myself.
Annoyed by how easily this man leads me to rage.
“You broke her, huh? She was nice, Billy! Of all the women I could set the ‘never gonna fall in love again’ guy up with, I thought she could bring you around. Instead, you convinced her a fast bang somewhere secret was the prize?”
“You’re making assumptions about my life.
Which is so fuckin’ weird, since you don’t even know me.
” He shoves away from the wall and blows past me, swinging his fridge open and snatching out a can of soda.
Slamming the door shut, he spins and cracks the seal.
“This whole thing was your idea. Your business, your package, your insistence. I didn’t wanna go out, but you refused to take no for an answer, and then you told my kid he could hang out with you tonight, which made it impossible for me to refuse without shattering his heart. ”
“Yeah, b—”
“And then!” he snarls, vicious and loud. “You get mad at me for doing the thing you told me to do.”
“I told you to date! We even talked about how you knew she wasn’t coming to get laid.”
“Yeah, and part of that conversation was about how I was only interested in a warm body to spend an hour with.” He stalks toward me, stopping only when his chest clashes against mine and his eyes sparkle with rage.
“You put your own hand in a bear trap, Magnolia, and now you’re crying because the trap grabbed on.
I didn’t get laid though, just so you know. ”
“You…” I swallow the thick, choking lump of nerves from the base of my throat. “What?”
“But I want you to admit you’re only ten percent pissed at the idea I would besmirch your glittering business name.
The other ninety percent is mad cos you wish it was you I spent that hour in the back of my car with.
” He tips his chin to the left. “Put that in your notes. Roll around in it a bit. Digest it, and then do something about it. Brienne and I ate our dinner and drank our wine, then we went for a walk and chatted for an hour. Which was really kinda fucking nice, since we didn’t argue once the whole time. We talked about my kid, and about you—”
“M-me? How… you…” I lick my lips. “You talked about me?”
“We talked about the concept of love experts. About dating in general. We discussed what it was like to be a thirty-three-year-old widow and single dad, me, and a thirty-year-old single business owner who has never been married, her. We talked about Aria, which wasn’t as aggravating as I expected it would be, since Brienne and Aria had never met, which made the conversation less exhausting and weird.
We talked about all sorts of shit, and then we acknowledged we would not find love tonight, but that we’d found friendship.
Then we exchanged phone numbers and promised to say hey sometimes. ”
“Y-you didn’t have s—”
“We didn’t have sex.” His lips curve into a smug, self-satisfied grin.
“But it warms my cold, dead heart to see you all worked up about it. I’ve made my offer, Magnolia, so you know where I stand.
If you find yourself awake late at night and feeling a little lonely…
” He brings his free hand up and strokes the ball of my shoulder.
“You’re beautiful, and I’m intolerant of pretense and time wasting.
Also, Brienne and I agreed to tell the world we’re head over heels in love if it finally frees me from this ridiculous fucking program.
That way, your hundred percent success rate remains intact…
on paper, anyway.” His eyes, so green and bright and confident, flicker between mine.
“You would’ve kissed me in my room earlier if Jeremy hadn’t interrupted us. ”
He licks his lips, slow and seductive and just tempting enough to make me forget my convictions.
“This doesn’t have to be weird,” he rasps. “We’re both curious, especially twenty-five years after being torn apart through no fault of our own. I was a complete gentleman for four whole hours tonight, because I knew your sterling reputation mattered to you.”
He inches closer, his hot breath fanning across my lips.
“I got to touch you that first night you came back to town. Fuck knows, professionally, I wasn’t allowed to like it.
But personally…” He wraps his hand around the back of my arm and tugs me closer.
“I enjoyed the hell out of it. We’re all alone right now, Magnolia.
The house is dark, and I don’t have to be awake for another eight hours… ”
My phone bleats with an incoming text and startles me a whole foot off the floor. My breath catches in my lungs, and when it comes out again on a gasp, I swear it’s loud enough to wake the little boy upstairs.
“Magnolia—”
“I’m going home.” My heart thunders out of control, slamming against my diaphragm and burning in my veins.
I spin out of his grasp and snatch up my files.
I walk a wide circle, all to avoid him grabbing me a second time, then I charge through the doorway and into the living room.
I sweep up my phone and spy the texts on the screen; a whole barrage from the group chat I’d rather not check, and the newest one, the one that arrived just a moment ago, from Brienne herself.
He was so sweet! I’m on the road and heading home now, but I’ll check in with you tomorrow to discuss.
Billy follows me into the living room, tugging on his tie and dragging the silky knot open. “Don’t leave.”
“You might not need to be awake for another eight hours, but I have to get up in five.”
“Five?” His face screws with concentration. “Why the hell would you need to be awake at four in the damn morning?”
“Because I have to work. That’s how I pay my bills.” I draw a shuddering breath and hug my files to my chest. I leave the TV right where I paused it, Kevin and Whitney’s happiness finally finding them, then I charge toward the front door and swing it wide before he can stop me.
And by stop me, I mean he might convince me to kiss him back.
I jog down the porch steps, the fabric of my dress flapping around my legs, then I hit the grass and charge full speed toward home.
“Magnolia?”
My eyes burn as I glance back and spy the man standing in his doorway, one arm resting against the frame, a can of orange fizzy in his other hand.
Damn him and his smirk, because he watches me stumble across the boundary garden, and chuckles when my dress catches in the lavender. He allows the silence to hang, heady and impenetrable, until finally, he tips his chin. “Goodbye.”