Confusion mars my face, so he continues gently rubbing his hands up and down my arms. “This thing between us feels like it could be something, and…” He looks to the sky then back to me. “I’m over my one-night stand part of life.” He watches me, but what the hell do I say to something like that? A man who doesn’t want to just jump in my pants and leave. One who seems to have his life together when I’m an utter hot mess. No job and recently cheated on doesn’t really scream wife material to someone like him.
Instead of saying something stupid, I keep my mouth shut and tug him towards the SUV.
Thomas holds the door open. I slide in and he shuts the door, then he makes his way around the SUV to open the door for James, who shakes his head.What in the fuck is happening? What was in that drink Ash gave me?
“Thomas refuses to let me get my own door, no matter how often I remind him that my arms work just fine,” James laughs.
“I’m proud of what I do and how I do it,” Thomas comments as he slides in the front seat and shifts the vehicle into Drive before pulling out onto the road. “Where to?”
“We will drop Alex off before going to my apartment.” Thomas nods, but James turns to me. “Where do you live?”
I fidget with my hands. “Uh, Cambridge Apartments, by…”
“We know where they are. That’s a nice location.” James says. Thomas chuckles, and I feel my ears heat.
“What is it?” I ask, unsure if I really want to know why Thomas is laughing.
James takes in my change in demeanor. “Oh no. It really is a nice location. I just bought an apartment near there. I pass your apartment every day on the way to work. That’s all.” He places a hand on mine, and I feel my knee-jerk anger start to simmer.
“He’s telling the truth, dear. I know exactly where your apartment is. Heck, I could probably drive there with my eyes closed. I won’t, of course. That’s dangerous.” Thomas laughs to himself again.
I take a moment to look around the lush SUV with the fancy gadgets in the front and more in the back row. The leather feels like silk as I graze my hand across it. This is the most expensive vehicle I’ve ever been in. And the first with a driver! I feel like I’m in a dream, or a movie.
This is all feeling very Pretty Woman.
“How long have you been driving James around?” I lean forward, to meet Thomas’s eyes in the mirror. I see James shake his head and laugh out of the corner of my eye.
Thomas lets out a deep chuckle that matches the pitch of his voice. “Years. We aren’t from here. The company started in New York, but I go where the boys go. So, I moved over to Minnesota with James, Ryder, and Alester when the company wanted to grow. I know how it sounds, three boys from New York working at a company large enough to start a chapter wherever they please must be pretentious assholes. But they’re great guys, they pay well, and they’re basically family now.”
James coughs and looks down, trying to stay out of the conversation. Thomas doesn’t pay him any attention and continues. “They are all great with my little girls, and my wife loves to take them under her wing as her additional grown children. I obviously don’t have boys myself, but if I did, I would hope they would act like them.” I watch him smile to himself in the mirror.
“Come on now, even Ryder?” James jokes, nudging Thomas’s shoulder slightly.
Thomas shakes his head at the thought, and I can’thelp but laugh with them even though I’ve only just met Ryder. He definitely gives off the wild child vibes. But I obviously enjoy that, given that Ashlyn is my best friend.
“Yes, even that boy.” He glances at James with a fond smile. “Ryder may be wild, but he’s full of heart. And in a world like this, we can use all of the heart we can get.”
I peek out my window. The amount of love in this car feels heavy compared to what I grew up with. I don’t think either of my parents would ever be this proud of me, and here Thomas is, not even related but giving off proud dad vibes. I think about how my dad up and left us the second my sister turned eighteen. He wanted to travel the world without the weight of a family tying him down. We haven’t spoken to him since.
Mom just throws herself at any event that comes up, trying to keep her mind off of the fact that Dad left, and wanting us to marry some rich man with ties to “high society,” whatever that means. She grew up poor. The kind of poor where food was sometimes an unknown, and she doesn’t want that for our futures. She takesstarving artistin the literal sense. Maybe one day she will believe in me.
James places his hand on my thigh, bringing me back to the now, and I turn my head to meet his stare. “Where’d you go?”
I sigh. “No-where I’d like to go again.” I rest my head on his shoulder. He lets my thigh go and makes soft swirls on my leg.
The SUV slows to a stop, and Thomas looks back atus. “We have arrived. Would you like me to circle the block?”
I giggle. “That’s not necessary. Thank you for the ride, Thomas. I’ve enjoyed your company.”
James places a hand on his chest. “I’m hurt! What about my company?”
I shove him playfully. “I think it’s pretty clear I’ve enjoyed your company too.”
Thomas chuckles, opening his door then James’s.
I reach for my door handle, but James pulls my hand into his. “Let me get it for you?”
“Okay,” I whisper, his mouth close to mine. He steps out and walks around the SUV, speaking quietly to Thomas, so all I can hear is mumbled voices through the vehicle. Then my door is opening, and James is offering me his hand again.
