by Violet Duke
And now here she was an hour and a half later, dealing with an altogether different aggravating male.
“I find it…curious that you left your top man-quation item off the photo you took with Lia’s phone,” teased Isaac.
Yeah. Not happening. She spun around and headed back to her bag. Walmart was still open, she could always simply buy a new phone.
But her normally sweet best friend didn’t let up this time.
He was across the room and on her in an instant, effectively caging her against the wall, his body just barely touching hers from chest to…yeah.
Holy hell.
This was the most intimate their bodies had been since they broke up. Sure, they still hugged and gave each other pecks on the cheek. And they lounged around on the couch together all the time, of course.
But this… He wasn’t even touching her and she could feel him over every inch of her skin.
“The list wasn’t in any hierarchical order,” she defended in complete, evasive honesty.
“Hmm.”
Sometimes, his being so quiet was deafening.
“So in the grand scheme of things, where exactly does ‘kisses like Isaac’ land?” he questioned, eyes dancing.
She snatched her phone back before he could see the rest of her list. Isaac focusing on the stuff about him was good. Embarrassing, but distracting enough that he’d forget all about what he’d been looking for in the first place—the one other man-quation characteristic she’d purposefully kept out of the frame in the photo of her list she’d texted to Sienna and Lia.
“Fine! You’re a good kisser,” she admitted. “Happy?”
Suddenly, his eyes weren’t teasing anymore. “Not really. Because ‘good’ doesn’t even begin to describe your kisses, honey.” His voice graveled. “My kisses may not top your list, but your kisses sure as hell top mine.”
Good lord, Xoey was doing her best not to hyperventilate and pass out.
Eventually, she was able to slow her pulse rate down enough to string enough words together to reveal softly, “I meant what I said about the list not having an ordering system.” Her breathing was still going haywire over how close he was. “But the reason why your kiss was on the top was because it was the first thing I thought about when I envisioned the perfect man.”
Heat flared in his gaze.
Before he could reply, however, she turned and…ran.
“You better get home and get packed,” she called over her shoulder, determinedly keeping her voice light and way the heck back in the friend zone. “I’ll be by tomorrow afternoon at three on the dot to drive you to the airport.”
And with that, she rushed out of there like she was on fire.
Which wasn’t too far off from the truth.
CHAPTER SEVEN
“TELL ME WHY Xoey had ‘a high-powered suit’ listed as one of her perfect man characteristics. That doesn’t sound like anyone she’s dated.”
Isaac slung a towel over the treadmill bar Dani had been running on and nodded her over to the only empty corner of the gym at the moment. He steered them over to a bench by the various tethered floor-to-ceiling punching bags he’d set up there for the advanced fighters.
The ‘upside down bowling pin’ and ‘Mr. Peanut’ double-ended bags, as Xoey affectionately named them—to his dismay—were usually fully occupied at this time of day, but the fighters were all over at the ring giving last-minute pointers to Tyler, one of their young guys that was going to have his first big open invitational in Vegas this weekend.
Since Isaac was heading over to Vegas with Tyler and his trainer this afternoon, he was letting all the other guys get their time in with the kid before they left for the airport.
Isaac had been all set to call up Dani when he’d heard the commotion on the floor. Lia had just entered the gym with Dani, and all the fighters had made a huge ruckus, practically dragging the quiet little martial arts queen over to talk with Tyler, and leaving an amused Dani to go work out on her own.
Isaac then waited an entire fourteen and a half minutes for Dani to finish her treadmill run before he’d made his way over to start his interrogation.
“You don’t know about the suit?” Dani seemed genuinely surprised.
Dammit, it burned his gut that there was something Dani knew about Xoey that he didn’t. “Wouldn’t be asking if I did. She’s told me about all the guys she’s dated seriously and none of them fit that bill. Is it some sort of secret?”
“I guess not. The other girls and I have talked about it a few times and Xoey never went out of her way to hide it or anything”
“So you can tell me about it? About the guy?”
She shook her head. “No. If she hasn’t told you about him, there has to be a reason.”
“Dani, tell me something. Please.”
“Why do you want to know so bad?” She eyed him speculatively.
“Do you really need me to answer that?” he replied quietly.
She sighed. “No.” After a few long seconds of lip-gnawing, she said, “Okay, but non-specifics only.”
“I’ll take it.”
“I guess you already figured out that there weren’t just three exes responsible for her, you know, ‘ohs.’”
He’d assumed, but hated hearing the confirmation. He didn’t like thinking about anyone connecting with her the way that he had.
“So he was a fourth ex?” he concluded.
“No, actually, not an ex—it was just one night. Unbeknownst to her at the time, he’d just been in it to hit and quit it. And also, not the fourth, either, but rather…her first. As in ‘her first.’”
Shit.
Dani nodded sadly at his horrified expression. “Yeah. He took her virginity and then disappeared without a trace.”
Instantly, Isaac felt his hands flexing, clenching into fists as rage filled his veins. “I’ll kill him.” His voice was barely recognizable, barely human. The man had done one of the worst things a guy could do…to his Xoey. “Give me a name and I’ll go beat the living shit out of him right now.” A crazed frenzy was pumping bloodthirsty adrenaline through his muscles. Every gory MMA fight he’d ever committed to memory paled in comparison to what his imagination was envisioning for this dead man walking.
A small comforting hand gripping his wrist abruptly managed to bring the blood rushing in his ears down a bit, until he could actually hear the sounds in his gym again.
“It’s in the past, Isaac. Almost a decade ago, back in college.”
“But clearly, she hasn’t moved on.” He hated that, too.
Dani’s eyes filled with sympathy then. “I don’t know so much that it’s about her not having moved on, but her not having gotten closure. She’d been devastated. On her part, she’d felt something real.”
Settling back down on the bench, she pulled him down to sit with her, presumably to get him to stop looking ready to bolt and arbitrarily start attacking every guy with a suit in a ten-mile radius. “My dad had hired her to waitress that year so I’d gotten to know her pretty well. She wasn’t as flirtatious as she is now. Just as fun, but…I don’t know, her view on love used to be different then, I think. I know for a fact, she wouldn’t have given up her virginity carelessly.”
“Are you sure the asshole didn’t drug her or something?”
“He didn’t. She’d been drunk, yes, but she went into it thinking there was something special starting between them. Afterward, she kept talking about this connection she’d felt with him, something about the way he’d looked at her.”
“Does she still believe that? The guy clearly played her,” growled Isaac. “He preyed on an innocent young co-ed virgin.”
“To be fair, I’m fairly certain he didn’t know she was a virgin. He was apparently really drunk as well. And you know how much of a spontaneous, freefall spirit Xoey is, especially when it comes to something she believes in. She’d been that way back then as well. In fact, I distinctly remember I’d been shocked as hell that she’d be
en saving herself.”
Christ. More blind hate filled him. “For marriage?”
“No. Just…the right guy.”
Mr. Right.
This explained so much. But filled him with just as many questions as answers. “Why are you so sure she’s not still hung up on the guy?”
“I’m not. But I know she purposely hasn’t dated anyone like him since. She didn’t date for a long time after. But when she did, it was always with guys like Aidan.”
Rylan’s drummer.
Aidan was a good guy for sure, but Isaac still couldn’t help gritting his teeth around him, or trying to rearrange the guy’s knuckles a little when they’d shake hands. Apparently, just before there’d been an Isaac and Xoey, there’d been an Aidan and Xoey. Well, almost. The two had been flirting pretty hot and heavily for months before Isaac entered the picture.
To be fair, you couldn’t even tell that was the case now. They were friendly, yes, but there was no chemistry between them anymore. Even he could see that. Still, Isaac always felt a twinge of jealousy when he’d see the two laughing over something.
“So you’re saying Xoey overcorrected by dating someone completely opposite from her first.”
Dani shrugged. “Pretty much. And then as you and I both know, she’s dated a bunch of other guys since, of all types.”
“Except for the slick suit type.”
“Yup.”
He gave Dani a bleak look. “I hate not being able to fix this, to help her. And I really hate that she didn’t tell me. He obviously hurt her. Badly. Why would she keep this from me?”
Dani patted his hand gently. “I think that’s precisely why she didn’t tell you, sweetie. Don’t read anything into it. You’re her best friend.”
That surprised him, coming from Dani.
She laughed at his surprised silence. “It’s okay. I’m totally fine relinquishing my role to such a worthy successor. Honestly, I think you’re better at it than I ever was. You get her in ways I never really did. Surprising as that is to me.”
“Because I’m the exact opposite of her? ‘Boring’ to her fun?” he guessed with an amused brow quirk, not offended in the least. It was the truth, after all.
She chuckled. “I think ‘more serious’ is a better description. You’re also quiet, the antithesis of Xoey. And…calm; you’re very unruffled—while Xoey’s personality is all about the ruffles. You always have this composed intensity, always listening more than talking.” She grinned. “But your mind is just as quick as hers, so you two are well-matched in that regard.”
Tilting her head, she concluded as if realizing it for the first time, “You’re the yin to her yang.”
It was virtually impossible to be in martial arts and not learn a bit about Chinese philosophy, especially the concept of yin and yang. “So I’m the shade to her sun?”
“Exactly. And she’s…the jelly to your peanut butter.”
Isaac barked out a laugh. “I’m taking that as a compliment.”
“As it was intended. You each have qualities that can better be appreciated around the other. She shines brighter because of your existence. And you—”
“Taste better? Go down easier without milk?” He grinned.
Laughing, she landed on, “You’re more complete with her. Both of you are.”
The slight dip in her smile then tugged at his heart. “Hey sweetie, none of that.”
“You two belong together,” she said quietly.
“I know,” he replied, just as quietly. “But Xoey doesn’t. Not yet.” He didn’t want to think of the possibility of her never figuring it out. “And until she does realize it, or in the awful event that she never does, I just want to make sure she’s happy.”
Dani sighed, and asserted with feeling, “Which makes you a demigod among men.”
Interesting twist to the saying. “Too rough around the edges to be a prince?”
“Not at all. You’re better than a prince. Demigods are practically immortal. And I truly believe you’ll outlive all these guys she’s dating.”
He shook his head. “I’ve said it before, Luke is a lucky guy.”
“And Xoey’s a lucky girl.” With one more squeeze of his hand, Dani checked her watch and stood up. “I actually have to get going. Luke wants me to try some new chocolates at the shop.” The soft, lovestruck look she got whenever she thought about Luke transformed her face. Grabbing her bag, she gave him a parting, “And remember what I said, Xoey’s fine. Don’t go playing the avenging angel.”
“I’d have to be able to find the guy first,” he grumbled. Making it clear in no uncertain terms that he was going to try to do just that.
Another resigned sigh escaped her as she slung her gym bag on her shoulder. “I told you, he just vanished. She doesn’t even have a last name.” Dani checked the time again and gave him a quick hug. “I really have to run, and you have a plane to catch pretty soon. Have a safe trip. Wish Tyler luck for us. Luke and I will be over at one of the Sullivans’ watching the televised fights—probably Brian and Tessa’s place.”
She gave him another weighted look. “I’ll be sure to tell Connor to keep his phone on him at all times for the next few weeks, just in case you decide to do something crazy that would require an attorney. Mind you, that’s not an endorsement, but just my accepting reality. We all know your judgment gets compromised when it comes to Xoey.”
She said it more like a compliment than anything else and he hugged her back.
“Keep Xoey out of trouble while I’m gone.”
Her incredulous laughter at his impossible request was her only reply as she left.
With a glance at the clock, he saw he had another hour still before Xoey picked him up to take him to the airport. For a minute, he seriously contemplated calling up Connor’s investigator at the firm to do some digging. But even Jay, the scarily gifted investigator Isaac would never want to be on the run from, couldn’t find a ghost.
Which is exactly what Xoey’s first was. A ghost. Isaac couldn’t fight him, couldn’t exorcise him from her memories.
…Or her heart.
Where he suspected the biggest ghostly imprint remained.
He thought back to what Dani had said about Xoey not having gotten any closure with her ghost. And before he realized he was doing it, he found his fingers dialing Quinn’s phone number.
“Don’t you have a flight to catch?” came the smiling, but busy-sounding reply after the first ring. Having known her since college, Isaac couldn’t remember a time when she’d ever sounded like she wasn’t running three marathons at once. At least not until she’d met the calming force of her husband Rylan.
“Hello to you too, babe. Hey, have you found a blind date for Xoey yet?”
That made the distraction he’d heard in her voice disappear completely as she replied, “No…why?”
“I kept in touch with some of the guys we went to business school with. Need some help?”
“Are you serious?” She sounded flabbergasted.
Was he?
For Xoey? “Yes.”
CHAPTER EIGHT
QUINN ACTUALLY DID well with this one.
So far, Bachelor #3 was blowing Bachelor #1 and #2 out of the water.
Xoey was admittedly surprised. With Quinn’s penchant of scaring men within an inch of their testicles, she’d expected her not to have any prospects.
The guy was definitely a looker.
In a weird, déjà vu way.
When she’d first answered her door at the start of the date, Xoey had felt transported back in time.
Not because he looked anything at all like the guy who’d been responsible for her first oh. He didn’t. But he did have a similar air about him. She couldn’t put her finger on it.
The designer suit for one. The intelligent gaze behind sexy frameless glasses, definitely. And the lean muscled physique was almost dead-on…something she realized now, didn’t do much for her anymore.
Didn’t take a genius
to figure out why.
She doggedly smothered back the image of Isaac’s larger, ripped fighter’s body that flashed in her head suddenly.
Focus back on your date, Xo.
The guy was seriously gorgeous. In that confident, polished, bigwig-in-the-big-city sort of way.
He was textbook perfect.
Well, until he started talking about money and work, that is.
It was a steady descent without a parachute from the moment they pulled into the valet area of the restaurant—the new Italian place that had opened up at the south edge of town—and he told her he’d brought his BMW tonight instead of his Mercedes ‘just for her.’
Ugh.
But she tried to remain optimistic.
The date went back on track afterward, all things considered. The first four, maybe five minutes were absolutely great. He’d held out his hand for her as they crossed the parking lot to the restaurant, which she’d been pleasantly surprised over.
When their fingers interlaced, however, she was suddenly hit with the realization that when Isaac used to hold her hand, he’d always do this thing where his thumb would brush over the knuckle of her index finger.
It was sweet.
With Bachelor #3, her thumb was resting on the knuckle of his index finger.
It was weird.
Strange how one simple shift could mean the difference between a comforting fit and an awkward grip she had been all too eager to let go of when they got inside.
And that’s when things went really downhill.
…Because her date had been just as eager to let go of her hand. In favor of her ass.
At which point, Xoey had turned around, flashed the brightest smile she could muster and slipped her purse off her elbow into his now air-palming hand. “You’re such a gentleman,” she cooed, with an Oscar-worthy sugary sweet simper. “I don’t know too many guys who’d offer to hold a girl’s purse for her.”
Her hot-red purse did look rather great with his charcoal suit.
But the guy wasn’t quick with the clues.
Because when the hostess showed them to their table, instead of sitting across from her in the booth, he slid in right beside her, sandwiching her against the wall. Usually, this was pretty low on her list of pet peeves, but with Mr. Octopus Hands, she bumped it way the heck up her list.