NORA #3
“So, what are you looking for then?” I asked. “A certain look? Personality? Job?”
“I don’t know if I have a specific type,” Theo said. “I’ve always been drawn to women with bigger personalities. Women who know what they want out of life.”
“That’s always a good thing to know,” I said lightly.
Even as I thought, Well, that probably rules me out. Since I’d only found out about an hour ago that I’d even have a job after this week.
He shifted slightly, absently watching Charlotte pat sand into place. “I guess I’ve also gravitated toward women with darker hair and brown eyes.”
My stomach did an unexpected little flip.
Did auburn hair count as dark? Because I already had the brown-eyes thing going for me…
Not that I should be mentally measuring myself against some imaginary list of his. Especially not when he was talking about dating other women.
I forced my attention back to Charlotte’s castle and took another bite of brownie, hoping he wouldn’t notice the way my pulse had suddenly picked up.
“What about you?” he asked, scooping up a handful of sand and adding it to Charlotte’s bucket. “Are you looking forward to Sunday? You and Miles seemed pretty cozy when I first got to the party Monday night. Any sparks flying that I should know about?”
“Nothing real.” I let out a small laugh. “I mean, we kissed on New Year’s Eve, but aside from seeing him at your birthday party in February, there’s not much going on.”
“Except for our double date,” he said lightly, “and the fact that you’re his plus-one for Ian and Maddie’s wedding next weekend.”
“Oh yes,” I said dryly. “His emergency date so he doesn’t have to show up alone.”
“Do you have any idea who he’s trying to impress?” Theo asked, tipping his head.
“Beats me.” I lifted a shoulder. “But from the way he talked about it, I’m guessing someone hurt him pretty badly.”
“You know our world is backwards when someone like Miles Hawthorne feels like he needs a fake girlfriend for a wedding.”
“For real,” I said. “But it should be fun. Miles is cool.”
“You wouldn’t have kissed him on New Year’s if you didn’t think so,” he said, smirking.
I rolled my eyes, heat creeping into my cheeks. “When the clock strikes twelve, you do what you have to do.”
“What about other guys?” he asked. “I feel like I remember seeing a bunch of guys tripping over themselves to talk to you at The Garden this winter.”
“You saw that?” I blinked, surprised he’d even been paying attention.
“Not to mention the fan club you had at all your gymnastics meets.” He nodded. “Seems like you’ve definitely got a lot of interest.” He arched an eyebrow as he picked up his brownie to take another bite.
“Too bad it never really goes anywhere.” I looked down, poking at the crumbs on my plate. “We talk, text for a bit, and then it usually just fizzles out.”
Like, once a guy gets past the big curly hair and flashy gymnastics routines, the interest fades.
The real me never quite lived up to the version they imagined.
“That sounds familiar,” he said with a quiet laugh. “Except, I guess I’m not even great at the texting thing.”
Somehow, I doubted we were even in the same ballpark. All Theo had to do was show up, and I was pretty sure most women would happily take it from there.
“At least you have your book club, right?” I said instead, choosing not to point out that his lack of success probably had less to do with dating skills and more to do with the fact that he wasn’t replying to the women lining up in his DMs.
“Right,” he said, smiling. “I get guy time at least.”
We fell quiet for a moment, watching Charlotte try to tip her bucket on her own. The sand started to collapse sideways, and Theo quickly leaned in to help, steadying it before lifting the bucket just enough to save the shape.
“You saved it!” Charlotte exclaimed, looking up at her dad with a grateful expression.
“It was a team effort,” he told her, shooting her a loving smile.
He brushed sand from his hands, then looked back at me. “I have an idea.”
“Yeah?” I asked, curious what it might be.
“Well, since we’re clearly not having much success on our own,” he said, watching Charlotte add sand to the bucket once more, “what do you say we try being each other’s wing people on Sunday?”
“Wing people?” I narrowed my eyes. “What exactly do you mean by that?”
“I was thinking that we could kind of keep an eye on each other throughout the date,” he said, tipping his head. “You can help me not be painfully awkward with Amanda, and I’ll make sure Miles doesn’t forget what an amazing woman he’s sitting next to.”
“That’s a tall order.” I chuckled, thinking it would take a lot to make me look special when Miles had hundreds, if not thousands, of women vying for his attention each week. “But sure, we can give it a shot.”
“So. Wing people?” he asked, lifting his glass of milk like he was ready to toast.
I nodded, tipping my glass against his. “Wing people.”
Hopefully, helping Theo put his best foot forward with another woman would help me remember that he definitely was off-limits where I was concerned.