Chapter 25
“These would look so cute on your front porch.” I gestured to a set of Adirondack chairs on display outside a storefront.
Callie chuckled as she looked at me. “I don’t even have a front porch yet, Mo.”
“But you will.” I grinned. “And when you do, these would be great to sit in to look at that perfect view of the beach you’re going to have.”
“You’re the expert.”
Callie and I just finished getting our nails done and were now walking around downtown Bayport early Saturday afternoon. She wanted to go out to do something since Lucas had gone golfing with Wes and Gabe that morning, so we were doing some shopping.
We stopped in one of the clothing boutiques, and we both did some damage before forcing ourselves to leave. As we walked out, Callie’s phone chimed with an incoming message. “They’re done golfing, and Luke wants to know if we want to meet at Harbor House for lunch.”
My stomach grumbled at the mention of my favorite diner. “I’m game.”
Callie and I decided to walk up the boardwalk to Harbor House, taking advantage of the nice weather—it was November, and nice days were becoming more and more scarce. When we rounded the corner toward the entrance, Lucas and Gabe stood outside, waiting for us.
Lucas looked at the bags in Callie’s hands with a chuckle before meeting her gaze. “What did you buy, baby?”
“Stuff.” She shrugged with a smile. “I may have gotten you a present or two.”
“Oh?” he playfully questioned as he slipped his arm around her waist.
She nodded with a chuckle. “How was golf?”
“Wes kicked both of our asses,” Gabe answered.
“As usual,” Lucas added.
“Speaking of, where is the resident pain in the ass?” I asked.
“He had a lunch date,” Gabe replied. “That’s why he made such an early tee time.”
“Hm,” I hummed, fighting back a smile. “Interesting. And I suppose a diner wasn’t good enough for a lunch date?”
“He was meeting her a couple blocks over at that new sushi place, Kabuki,” Lucas said.
Thank you. It was moments like this that made me more grateful than I already was that our friends didn’t know about our secret or the game we played. They’d never give up information so easily if they did.
Lucas and Callie turned and walked inside the diner. Gabe held the door open and gestured for me to go ahead. “Uh…actually, I’m still full from breakfast, and I have a presentation to give Monday for a new project at work that I want to try and finish up before we go out tonight.”
“You sure?”
“Yeah. Go eat. I’ll meet up with you guys later at The Sandbar.”
“Okay.” Gabe smiled. “See ya later.”
I turned, made my way to the boardwalk, and started toward Kabuki.
A lunch date. I shook my head with a laugh.
He thinks he’s being slick. Wes taking this woman to lunch instead of dinner was his attempt to throw me off to make it seem more casual to him.
But I knew better. He may not be looking for anything serious, but if he took the time to take a woman out for any kind of meal, he was trying to charm her because he wanted her in some capacity.
How big or how small didn’t matter to me.
Ever since Wes’s little stunt with that singing telegram, sabotaging had become our thing. We’d grown smarter and more strategic over time, but it was never smart or strategic enough. And we didn’t do it every time; we had to keep the other on their toes so they didn’t know when to expect it.
And after each sabotage, we always ended up in bed together; it was like an unspoken reward for the sabotager to claim their victory.
I couldn’t care less about Wes or his dating life and the flings he had.
And I sure as hell knew there was no merit to that stupid pact we’d made—that was ludicrous.
So why participate in this childish game?
Because it was just…what we did. And it’s not as if we didn’t get anything out of it.
Sure, I had no semblance of a dating life at all anymore—Wes made sure of that—but I still had my needs taken care of in the end, so I couldn’t complain too much.
And I knew he would back off if I ever wanted to end the game.
I’d back off, too, if he wanted to end it, but let’s be real, this was Wesley Callahan.
There was no way in hell he would ever want to settle down.
There seemed to be a shift in our dynamic over the last few months as well.
And, dare I say…it was a good one. We were still the same when it came to our silly disputes, staying on brand with our verbal sparring matches and the way we would aggravate each other.
Nothing appeared out of the ordinary to anyone else, but for us, the disdain that once seeped into every interaction we’d ever had seemed to have slowly dissipated over time.
No one else knew what the two of us had been up to for the last several months. Having that secret between us connected us in a way only the two of us understood and offered a certain level of amity we’d never had with one another before.
I walked into Kabuki and looked around the inside dining area of the restaurant.
It wasn’t until I glanced through the floor-to-ceiling window that made up the back wall that I spotted the back of Wes’s head.
He was seated across from a beautiful strawberry-blonde woman at a small table on the terrace overlooking the water.
The lunch hour didn’t seem too busy, but plenty of others were around where I could blend in. And luckily, there was an open table on the terrace away from his that looked as though it would give me a good enough view.
“May I help you?”
I glanced over at the hostess and smiled. “Can I take that table out there on the terrace? I want to take advantage of the nice weather.”
“Of course.” The woman smiled. “Can I bring you a drink?”
“A cucumber Collins with some hard seltzer would be great.” The woman nodded and gestured for me to go ahead, telling me she’d send someone out to me.
I made my way out to the terrace and the open table. When I sat, I smiled as I slung my bags over the back of the chair; as I suspected, the seat offered me a good view of Wes’s table, keeping me within earshot while also relatively hidden from view.
After my drink was delivered, I kept my eyes on Wes, catching pieces of his casual conversation while I drummed my fingers against the table in thought. The downside of learning about these dates at the last minute was coming up with a disruption on the fly.
My thought process was interrupted when a young girl approached my table; she looked ten, maybe eleven. I glanced over and smiled, seeing her holding a box of candy bars. “Would you like to buy some chocolate?”
“What’s it for?”
“For my gymnastics team to get my new competition leotard.”
Before I could respond, the waiter rushed over. “I’m so sorry. She asked if she could leave the box at the front with the hostess until the end of the day, and when she came back from checking with our manager, she was gone.”
I smiled…and then an idea struck. A low-down, dirty idea. “No worries.” I waved him off. “She’s not bothering me. I’ll send her inside once I get some chocolate.” The man nodded, and when he disappeared back inside, I looked at the girl and smiled. “Where are your parents?”
“My mom is working at the salon next door. She’s friends with the owner here, and he told her I could come over to try to sell some of my candy.”
“How much are they?”
She grinned. “One dollar a bar.”
“And how many bars do you have in the box right now?”
“Seventy-five. I already sold twenty-five.”
“I’ll tell you what…” I reached back, dipping my hand inside my purse and pulling out my wallet. “If you can help me play a fun little joke on someone, I’ll buy that whole box.”
The girl’s eyes lit up with a grin. “Okay!”
“Awesome.” I smiled. “Now, tell me…how good are you at fake crying?”
Ten minutes later, after running through a game plan, I watched the girl walk toward Wes and his lunch date. The woman was speaking to him animatedly about something, but I saw her trail off as her eyes drifted over to the girl when she approached.
That’s when I pulled out my phone. I had a feeling this was going to be damn good, and I wanted to commemorate the moment.
Wes was mid-sip of his drink when he glanced over at the young girl now standing beside his chair with tears in her eyes. “Daddy!” she wailed before flinging her arms around his neck.
I heard him choke on the sip he’d just taken as his eyes went wide with horror. “I—excuse me?”
“I miss you so much!” the girl sniffled as she stepped back, wiping the tears from her cheeks only for them to be replaced by more.
“I—” Wes let out a nervous laugh. “I have no idea who you are. Where are your parents?”
“Mommy misses you,” she sniveled. “Why did you send us away?”
His eyes widened more. “Send you—what?”
“Mommy is so sad all of the time,” her voice cracked. “She cries for you every night.”
I saw Wes’s eyes shift from the girl to the tables nearby, watching as other diners gave him odd looks and whispered to one another.
Then, he looked at his date. The poor woman’s eyes were as wide as saucers, flickering between him and the young girl, almost as if she were trying to see the resemblance that didn’t exist.
“I’m so sorry,” he said nervously before looking back at the girl. “Look, kid, you’ve mistaken me for someone else.”
“You never call anymore,” she continued. “And you haven’t seen me in so long. It was my wish when I blew out my candles on my birthday,” her breath hitched, “for my daddy to show up, but you never came,” she wept loudly.
I laughed at my table, holding my phone as I videoed the exchange between Wes and my little paid actress.
This girl is good. I dropped my phone with a loud snort when she flung her arms back around Wes’s neck, clinging to him as he stiffened uncomfortably.
The look on his face was priceless as he frantically glanced around for what I assumed to be this random child’s parents while trying to calm her down so she stopped creating a scene.
However, my moment of true victory came when his date stood from her chair. “I’m going to let you handle this…”
“Ava, wait!” He looked at her pleadingly—I think it was more to help him than for her to stay for their date.
“I don’t want to be a part of whatever this is.” Her eyes darted around to the on-lookers before she quickly walked away.
The second the woman disappeared inside, my little actress’s tears instantly stopped.
She smiled at Wes as she wiped her cheeks, and without another word, she turned, skipping merrily back across the terrace toward me.
His wide-eyed gaze followed her, and the moment it locked on mine, I could barely contain my laughter.
I rested my chin on my hand, scrunching my nose with a smile as I offered a dainty wave.
When the girl returned, I slipped a wad of cash into her hands, my box of candy bars resting on my lap. “You were amazing.”
She grinned. “Thanks, lady.”
She skipped off back inside, and I looked over to see Wes approaching me, his hands stuffed into his pockets. I grabbed one of the candy bars and peeled it open.
“We’re paying children to do our dirty work for us now?” he sneered. “That’s low, even for you.”
“You’re just mad you didn’t think of it first.” I bit into a piece of chocolate, grinning up at him smugly.
“That was humiliating!” he hissed. “And the birthday wish? Really?”
I slapped the table with a laugh. “That was a nice touch, right?” I stood from my chair, grabbing my bags and my box of candy bars. “Anyway, you’re welcome,” I said as I headed back inside, making my way toward the exit.
Wes trailed behind me. “For what?”
“She didn’t appear quite prissy enough for you.” I chuckled as we stepped outside onto the sidewalk.
“Prissy enough?” he questioned. “You think I need someone prissy…so, someone like you then?”
“I am not prissy.”
“Sure, Princess. Whatever you say.”
I walked along the cobblestone streets in the heart of Bayport, sipping a latte on my way to the shop. Lampposts were wrapped in evergreen garland and twinkling lights, and storefronts were decorated with wreaths and “on sale” signs for their early Christmas deals.
I couldn’t believe it was already December. This past year felt like it flew by.
When I entered the shop, I glanced around at the jewelry displayed in the cases. I walked over to one in particular, staring down at the array of diamonds and gemstones, their facets glittering beneath the case lighting.
I heard the bell above the door ring and looked over to see Lucas step inside, offering a smile when he saw me. “Hey,” he said as he approached. “Thanks for meeting me.”
“No problem. Planning on buying out the place for Callie for Christmas?” I quipped.
“No.” He chuckled sheepishly. “I, uh…I wanted your help designing something for her.”
“Oh, fancy,” I said with a grin. “What are you doing? A necklace? Bracelet?”
“A ring.”