“Exactly. That last date scarred me. I’ve been flying solo for months now. Man, would it be nice to just go into somethingknowing you’ll have a win. Why isn’t there a service like that? Dial-an-orgasm.”
“Maybe you should go to your brother’s club,” Tenley teases, and my whole body stills.
Beth cringes, a whole body reflex. “How dare you bring that up! We’re changing the subject. Isabelle, when was the last time you went on a date?”
Not quite the subject change you’re hoping for, Beth.“Gosh.” I laugh, wiping at my brow, then pick up my cocktail to battle my nerves. “I think it’s been a year now.”
“You haven’t been on a single date in a whole year?” Beth looks at me with wide eyes filled with dread, before leaning into Tenley. “Tenley, there’s no hope for us. She’s a stunning blonde, we’re billionaires, and between the three of us, we can’t find a decent man. What’s the world coming to?”
“Maybe we’ll have some luck at the ball next week,” Tenley says.
“Maybe Caleb has some pointers,” Beth says as Caleb drops into the seat beside me.
“Pointers about what?” Caleb asks, pulling her cocktail to him. He takes a sip, then winces as the sweet liquid hits his taste buds. “God, that’s awful.”
“That’s what you get for touching my drink,” Beth says, cleaning the rim from where her brother drank with a napkin.
“Pointers about dating,” I say with a chuckle.
Caleb freezes, eyes widening. “I don’t have pointers about dating.”
“Just about sleeping with your client?” Beth stirs her straw through her cocktail, eyes alight with amusement.
Caleb flicks his eyes back and forth between Tenley and me. “I need to go.”
We watch as Caleb disappears into the crowd. “So he’s official with Lex?” Tenley asks.
“One hundred percent, but it’s not family official yet,” Beth explains. “We don’t introduce anyone to the family unless we know for sure they’re the one. It’s a promise we made to each other after Caleb got duped by some attention-seeking scammer. Helps us avoid getting too deep with anyone too early. He asked Grams at dinner last weekend if he could have a plus one, so I think it’s getting serious. At least for Caleb is.”
“Hey, there.” I turn, startled by the new presence, and look over my shoulder.
A guy with brown hair and dark eyes is leaning over the backrest of the bench seat. He has a thick beard, and he’s wearing a short-sleeved, burgundy button-up shirt. No tattoos, though.
“Hello.” I smile, just enough to be friendly.
“Is there a password to get behind this rope to join you ladies, or could I tempt you into crossing over to my side for a dance?” he asks.
It’s always nice to know you’ve caught someone’s eye, especially to the point where they’ll talk to you. Even when my crush on Gage was all in my head, I wouldn’t have been able to entertain thoughts of another man. Gage is simply too demanding of a presence. But after the other night, it’s even less possible. There’s something between us, something I want to explore, and I feel confident in my assumption that Gage feels it too. I look back at Tenley and Beth, needing their quiet encouragement on how to proceed, when I notice something else behind them.
Gage rounds the bar with a smile that I’ve never seen on him. It’s devastating. The way it hooks on one side and transforms his grim features into a new kind of temptation. And it’s all directed at a woman with long dark hair as she launches into him.
With her arms around his neck, he envelops her frame, lifting her off the ground momentarily. The weight on my chest is crushing. I want to look away, but for some reason, I can’t. It’s at that moment he looks over her shoulder and locks eyes with mine.
Gage looks back down at the woman and, with a gentle hand on her shoulder, steers her toward a door behind them markedStaff Only.
“What do you say?” the guy asks again, pulling my attention back.
“I wouldn’t mind going for a spin if that’s an open offer?” Beth says, while my eyes are still locked on the closed door ahead of me.
“It would be my pleasure.”
Beth slides out of the booth, pinning me with a curious look as she passes.
My heart clenches in my chest as I wonder if I misread everything. Maybe he just saw me as another woman he hooks up with at the club. Maybe it wasn’t something that would ever exist outside of those walls. If Beth’s earlier admission is anything to go by, the Heart siblings have a code for falling in love, and maybe I was never in line to play the game.
Chapter eighteen
I stare down at the open text thread on my phone, chewing my lip as I deliberate.
