“Tequila sounds good,” I say.
“They have a nice one,” Byron says.
“They keep it just for you?” Worth asks.
“It’s much worse than that. The Club gets it in. The Club sells it to Grizzly’s and then Grizzly’s charges me double to buy it back.”
I can’t help but chuckle. “That’s called entrepreneurship.”
We get a bottle of tequila, a tray of beers, and some shot glasses, and take the two trays over to a table. I’m not quite sure why we’ve not used the table service, but I’m not going to argue.
“Pool, anyone?” Fisher asks.
I shake my head. I’m terrible at pool and I don’t enjoy it. Plus, I’ve given myself a seat with a view to the entrance. I’m not moving unless it’s to greet Iris.
Leo joins Fisher for a game of pool, leaving the four of us at the table.
“Are you sure you didn’t recognize Iris?” Byron asks me. “You must have been in Grizzly’s at the same time.”
“I’m sure. If I’d seen her before, I would have known.”
“You think she looks a little different in New York?” he asks.
“Maybe. Probably. But this morning in the diner she looked exactly the same. But better. I know you think this is just about physical attraction. I’m not saying that’s not part of it. But it’s more than that. We… connected. Before we even spoke.” I stop talking because if I carry on, I’m going to say something that sounds pathetic. Something like how it was as if our souls connected before we’d even met, and I can’t let myself say that out loud. It doesn’t make logical sense. I get that.
“She’s pretty,” Bennett says.
“Yeah. She’s beautiful,” I reply. “And incredibly kind. And thoughtful.”
“Do you have a plan?” Byron asks.
“To win her over?” I ask.
Byron pulls in a breath. “Yeah, but also, what then? Okay, so maybe the two of you have this connection. Maybe she’s on board. You both want to be together. Then what?”
I haven’t really thought past seeing her again tonight. “Then what? What should my plan be?”
“I think you need a plan,” Byron says.
“But you didn’t have a plan. Fisher didn’t have a plan. You’ve managed to make it work.”
“So, this is it? This is the woman you want to spend the rest of your life with?” Worth asks.
It feels like a trick question. Of course it sounds ridiculous to say yes. I haven’t spent more than a couple of hours with the woman. We haven’t slept together. In so many ways we barely know each other. But I can’t help how I feel.
“I’ve never felt so strongly about a woman,” I say, skirting the question.
“Okay,” Bennett says. “So let’s play this out to the conclusion. You spend some more time with Iris. You figure out she’s the one. Do you move to Star Falls?”
Is he actually serious? I pull my eyebrows together. “I’m not sure I’m cut out for farm life,” I say.
“So you’re expecting her to move?” he says.
I shift a little in my seat. “She loves New York. She wanted to move to the city when she graduated high school.”
Byron’s eyes widen, like I’m missing something. “But she didn’t,” he says.
“Because her mother died and her brother and father needed her at the farm. I can get someone to help them out.”
