by Natalie Ann
“You’re a good judge of character,” she said back, winking at him.
“So, my mother,” he started out saying, “she has this thing that all her sons should be settled down by now.”
“There is more than you and Bode ”
“My youngest brother, Coy. He’s a dentist on the island. Anyway, she is relentless at times with her insistence that at our age she was done having kids and yet she doesn’t have one grandchild and not even one in sight.”
“I hope you aren’t asking me to produce a child for you,” she said, tilting her head. “That might be a bit much for just the second meeting.”
“No,” he said back and grinned. “It’s not that dire. But she’s on multiple committees and there is this big fundraiser in two weeks. I’ve been avoiding her calls because every time she calls me it’s to set me up with someone. She ambushed me in my office last week.”
“And she has someone she wants you to take to this fundraising event.”
She knew what he was talking about. The clinic on the island always had this event to raise money for healthcare and medicine for those that might not have the best insurance or no insurance at all. The lower income working class of the island, not the Bonds of the island or those that had second homes.
No, it was to help people like her and Sidney who had insurance but not great insurance and didn’t use it unless they had to.
“No. Well, she did want me to go to dinner and meet a friend’s daughter and I told her no. But then she said they decided to auction off men at the event this year.”
“Really?” she said. She’d never gone to the event before. Not that she’d have the kind of money to bid on a man. “Like a date I hope. Not like a slave. Though honestly I wouldn’t mind having someone come and do some yardwork for me. Maybe I should see if my landlords would add that as a perk.”
He started to laugh. “I don’t think that qualifies as work the landlord would do. But, yes, a date. Buy a date with a Bond. She was going to put my and my brothers’ names on the list since we are all single. I jokingly told her it was sexist and she should at least hit up our female cousins too. I thought that would be enough to get her to drop her harebrained idea.”
“She jumped right on it and decided it was great, didn’t she?”
“Right on the first try,” he said.
She put the clippers down and picked up the scissors. “If you are asking me to buy you that night I’m afraid that is a little out of my price range.”
“No. Not that,” he said. “I said I was seeing someone to get out of it. That it was new and, well, I kind of said her name was Amanda.”
Her arms dropped down. “So you want me to lie to your mother?”
“Not really a lie. I came to ask you on a date. To bring you to the fundraiser. It’s not a lie really, if you go with me.”
Interesting. “And if I said no?”
“Then I’m most likely going up for auction,” he said letting out a sigh.
She had no idea what emotion was taking over her body. She didn’t want to say it was jealousy, but damn, if she was going to let some other woman win a date with him for the night.
“We wouldn’t want you to get in trouble with your mother for lying, would we?”
“So, you’ll do it?” he asked, somewhat surprised.
“On one condition,” she said.
“Anything.”
“I’m a pretty upfront person. I don’t like to lie or mislead people. You said you were seeing someone. You’re skirting the line by saying that even though you saw me at the house and now here.”
“So, you want to go on more than one date before the event in a few weeks?”
“Yes,” she said. “Maybe I won’t be able to be in your presence for more than an hour. It was only forty-five minutes last time. This thirty. Or less,” she said. “Since I’m almost done. You didn’t have much to cut and I like your hair a little longer on top.”
“Me too,” he admitted.
7
What He Wanted
This couldn’t have worked out any better in his mind.
Not only was he not going to be lying to his mother, which he kind of had no problem doing since he avoided her all the time to get out of these situations. Little white lies in his book. But he was getting an actual date—or more—beforehand.
“So, you didn’t need a haircut and lied to me?” she said.
Shit. Not a good way to start this. “No. I did. I do like it longer on top, but I like it shorter on the sides. Just like you did it. I wish it grew the same speed all over my head, but it never seems too.”
“You just notice it more because it’s so short there.”
“Probably. But it looks great. Much better than when I get a random person at the other place.”
“Thanks, I think,” she said and dusted off his shoulders. “I’ve got time to wash it now if you want. With men’s hair I normally cut it dry when it’s short like this, then wash.”
“I’m good,” he said.
“Gel or anything in it?” she asked.
“Please no.”
She started to laugh. “I figured as much. It’s too soft for that.” She ran her hands through his hair a bit more, letting it fall off to the side. “If you put a bit of texturing cream in it when it’s wet, it’d have more control.”
“I hate sticky stuff.”
“It’s not sticky,” she said. “It makes it soft but keeps it tame.”
She pulled the smock off of him and he reached for the money in his wallet. “Maybe I don’t like to always be tame.”
“Now you’re just trying to brag. You’re nothing like that.”
“I think I’m insulted.”
“You know I’m right,” she said back. “You’re annoyed your mother is doing this, but you don’t really want to hurt her feelings or show her up. Maybe not embarrass her. That’s manners and a good upbringing.”
Amanda had his ticket and he wasn’t sure he liked that. “That doesn’t mean I don’t like to be a little wild.”
“Says the guy that was very polite when he walked through my house and had coffee and cookies with me.”
“You’ve got your own manners. Heck, Bode thinks you’re some granny when I said I was given the cookies and coffee.”
“Let’s say I was raised with some manners too. It’s nice to welcome people in your home even if you wish they weren’t there.”
“I knew you didn’t want me there,” he said, wrinkling his nose. “You thought I was going to kick your roommates out.”
“I had a little fear they’d be on their own, but it didn’t happen.”
“I’d never do that. Not without giving a lot of notice, but in this case there were no worries. And now I’m taking up your time. So how about we go on that date this weekend? Saturday night work for you?”
She told him how much his haircut was and he added a healthy tip on it. She pulled her phone out and looked at it, then said, “I should be done around four on Saturday. Any time after five would work.”
“And will you give me your number?”
She smiled and read it off, he put it in his own phone, then shot her off a text. “There’s mine. You’ll hear from me soon.”
He decided not to overstay his welcome once again since she was working and he got what he wanted anyway.
When he was in his car, his phone rang and he saw it was his mother and wanted to grind his teeth, but didn’t Amanda point out he didn’t like to hurt his mother’s feelings? She was right.
He might avoid her and give her shit, but he was as respectful of it as he could be.
“Hi, Mom,” he said when he started his SUV, putting her through Bluetooth.
“Drew,” she said. “How have you been?”
“Busy. Just got a haircut,” he added.
“That’s good. Your sides were getting a little long when I saw you last week.”
That made him feel better that his mother noticed it and he
wasn’t really using it as an excuse to seek Amanda out.
“They were.”
“I wanted you boys to come to dinner on Sunday. We haven’t had you all over together in a while.”
He grinned. “You want to hit them with the fundraiser again, don’t you?”
Bode was livid but had no way to get out of it. He’d thought he had some breathing room but it seemed his mother was dead set on getting her boys in this event.
“I do. Coy had no problem with it, but he has always been the most accommodating.”
Drew snorted. “He’s your baby and rarely tells you no.”
“Be that as it may, he said fine. He’d gladly do it for a good cause and since his practice is next to the clinic, he’d like some of the money allocated there as dental hygiene is just as important and can cause other health issues.”
“He has you so buffaloed. He only agreed so he could get some of the money and you know it.”
She laughed on the other line. “Whatever works,” she said. “So, are you still seeing this Amanda woman?”
Talk about perfect timing. “I am. We’re going out on Saturday night.”
“Lovely,” his mother said. “You can fill us in about her on dinner Sunday.”
“Or not,” he said. “I stopped giving details of my dating life in high school.”
“Very well. I’ll see you and your brothers on Sunday for dinner around two.”
“Bye, Mom.”
He drove the few miles back to the office and heard slamming coming from the back of the building when he walked in the door. “What’s going on?” he asked to the room in general.
There were three realtors in the office today. They employed six in this office plus Connie and some other finance staff, but the other three were most likely out on visits. They didn’t just show property on the island but all over Massachusetts. They had offices in Boston, Plymouth, and a few on the Cape. But he liked being on the island. So did Bode.
They also owned a lot of rental properties in those areas too, forcing him to go out and do visits there at some point. Bode was taking on a lot managing all the work and labor for anything that needed to be done. Not to mention the construction of new builds his side of the business did.
Now he understood why his father had the property management company.
“Bode’s in a mood,” Diane, one of the realtors, said. “There has been slamming and drills running back there and no one wants to check it out.”
All the Bond men were big, but Bode was the biggest through years of construction. He didn’t do as much physical work now as he used to, but when he was happy, sad, or miserable, he put himself to work.
Drew walked to the back of the building and saw wood laid out on the floor and some on the wall. Looked like shelves were being installed. Not a bad thing.
“New project.”
“Asshole,” Bode said to him.
“What did I do?”
“You know damn well what you did. How the hell did you get out of this fundraiser?”
He started to laugh. “I said I was seeing someone. Mom didn’t tell you?”
“No.”
“You told me to do it.”
“So you lied to Mom?” Bode asked.
“Nope. I’ve got a date on Saturday night with someone. It wasn’t a lie.”
Bode narrowed his eyes. “Who?”
“Does it matter?”
“It does if you don’t want me to tell Mom that you’re making this up to get out of it.”
He laughed. “You can tell her if you want, but it’s not a lie.”
He loved seeing his brother all riled up. “Does she have a sister? I’m desperate. I don’t want to do this shit. I don’t even like wearing anything more than jeans and flannel. She told me I had to put a suit on.”
“She makes us go to this event every year and we always dress up. Don’t use that as an excuse.”
“Sister?” he asked again. “Or are you making this person up? I can make someone up too and then she can come down with the flu that night. I think I’ll do it.”
“I don’t know if she has a sister or not. I didn’t ask. She has roommates.”
“The cookie lady? You’re going on a date with an old lady.”
“That’s funny. I never said she was a granny. You said that, not me.”
“I’m going to laugh my ass off if she is some cougar you’re using to get Mom off your back.”
Again he wasn’t going to admit or deny anything. It was too much fun to see Bode like this and what his reaction would be when he met Amanda.
“I bet that is who bids on you for the night. You know how those ladies feel about young men in toolbelts. There you go. Tell Mom on Sunday that you’re wearing jeans and a toolbelt. Think of the bids. I think I’ll mention it myself.”
“You do and I’ll nail you to this wall,” Bode growled.
He shook his head and went back to his office and tried to figure out what kind of date he was going to take Amanda on. The cookie lady. He liked that.
8
High Hopes
“I can’t believe you’ve got a date,” Bri said to her Saturday afternoon. “For once you’ve got one and I don’t.”
“How come you don’t?” Amanda asked.
“Because Mark had plans. He doesn’t come to the island much anymore. I’m not sure if it’s the weather or what. I’m starting to think he’s pulling away. I offered to go to Boston this weekend but he said no.”
Amanda wondered if it was time to say that she thought Mark was married. All of them thought that but Bri.
No. Bri had to figure these things out on her own. She always looked for the wrong things with men and she never learned.
“You can relax and watch a movie then. Or go visit Sidney while she works. You know she likes it when we stop in and say hi.”
“I don’t want Mark to get upset if he finds out I was at a bar by myself.”
“Why do you care?” Amanda asked. “He doesn’t own you. You’ve got a right to go out with friends or visit a friend if he isn’t around.”
“I know. But going to a bar by myself. He might think I’m trying to pick someone up. I don’t want him mad at me.”
“First off. It’s your life. There is no ring on your finger.” She wouldn’t make a comment about one probably being on Mark’s. “Second of all. Even if there is one, no man should tell you you can’t be with your friends. You can go to a bar and not pick people up. What is going on with you, Bri?”
“I don’t know. Anyway, tell me about your date.”
It was the first Bri asked. She was always so focused on her own life before that she never asked about her friends.
“We are just going to dinner as far as I know. Nothing exciting.”
“Where are you going?” Bri asked. “What’s his name?”
And this was where Amanda was hoping to avoid things. “We are going to dinner at the Casino.”
“Oh fancy. Name?”
She took a deep breath. “Drew.”
“Does Drew have a last name?”
“Bond.”
“Really!? You too? That’s two of you ending up with a Bond.”
“I’m not ending up with anyone. I’m going on a date with him.”
She wasn’t going to explain how the date all came about and that it was more a game than anything else.
She didn’t have any high hopes of a relationship. She never did anymore.
She’d like to consider it as helping her landlord out. There, that sounded better in her mind than anything else.
Like she was attracted to Drew Bond’s good looks. That she was getting almost turned on while she was running her fingers through his hair and wishing they weren’t in the salon but in someplace more private.
“But it could be more,” Bri argued. “He came here to look at the house and now you’re going on a date with him. Do you think you’re falling for the legend of the island?”
�
�Please, Bri. You came here to find love, not the rest of us.”
“Why did you come here?” Bri asked. Bri had lived here for over a year and was just asking now. Again, she was more selfish than anything.
“I just wanted a new life. The island drew me in. Nothing more than that.”
That was the truth, somewhat. She wasn’t going to say she was running or hiding. It wasn’t that. She really just wanted to live somewhere else.
She’d find a place she thought she could make her home, stay for a while, then realize it wasn’t there, pick up and move once she had a job.
Had the lore of the island called her in some sense? Maybe it had because she’d lost all of the dreams she’d had for herself. Not that she’d ever say that to anyone.
“So, what are you wearing?” Bri asked, always one to change the subject back to superficial.
“I don’t know. I was thinking my black jeans and a nice sweater and heels.”
“I’ve got a sweet pair of black leather pants. You should totally wear them.”
“I don’t think so,” she argued.
“They aren’t real leather. More like that faux legging type, but you could pull it off. They’ve got pockets in them, so they are like leather-looking jeans.”
“That’s not me.”
“It could be you. Come on, let me show you. I bought them and never wore them. They are a little too long on me and I’m not as skinny as you.”
“Then why did you buy them?” she asked.
“Because one of my exes made a comment that he loved black leather pants and I wanted to surprise him with them. I ordered them online, but they just didn’t look good on me. They aren’t trashy, I swear.”
“I’ll look at them,” she conceded. Why not when she and Bri were having a nice female conversation, not one with Bri talking completely about herself.
They went upstairs to Bri’s room. She stood there while Bri found them in a drawer and handed them over. “See how soft they feel. They aren’t shiny either.”
“They actually look nice. Do you mind if I try them on?”
“Please do. I want to see if they look as hot on you as I wished they did on me.”