“What do you mean you insulted her? What the hell? You cannot be that bad at flirting.”
I smirked. “Apparently, I am. I was talking shit about the party planner. I mentioned how much of a waste it was. I even insulted the decorations.”
He shrugged. “So?”
“She was the party planner.”
He burst into laughter. “Damn, that’s bad.”
“It was, but it wasn’t really that bad.”
“I know you are a novice at this dating thing, but trust me. That is bad. You insulted the woman.”
“I got her number,” I smiled.
“No, you didn’t?”
I grinned and nodded. “I did.”
“Do not try and convince me you’ve got game. You have no game.”
“I will not even try to convince you, but I did get her number. In fact, we hung out for a while on Sunday.”
“Did you have a sleepover on Saturday?” he asked and waggled his brows.
“No, asshole. I’m not you.”
“Then what happened?”
I quickly told him about her order to meet her at the park, which he laughed about. “It wasn’t bad.”
“You make it sound like you went for a root canal,” he said with a laugh.
“I have to admit, that’s what I thought it would be like at first. She talks a lot. And she moves a lot. She’s just a lot in general.”
He took another bite. “You are far from high energy.”
“I have energy,” I replied.
“I have never known you to be bubbly. Ever. Not even when you are drunk.”
“I do not claim to be bubbly. She’s bubbly. I just kind of effervesce in her presence.”
He laughed harder. “Stop. You’re going to make me choke.”
“We walked up to a spot on a hill and just sat there. Well, she talked, but we sat.”
“Tell me more about your lady.”
“She is not my lady,” I shot back.
“What did you do?”
“Nothing. We talked a little about her job. We talked about my love of ships. Normal stuff.”
“Wow. I’m impressed. Now that you have her number, you have to make a move.”
I shrugged. “Why?”
“Sometimes, I want to slap the shit out of you,” he mumbled.
“Why?”
He sighed, making a big show of wiping his hands. “Because you have no clue. Zero clue. How long have you been single?”
I thought about it. “I don’t know. Forever.”
He nodded. “How many dates have you been on in let’s say the last three months?”
I shrugged. “A couple.”
He groaned, sounding pained. “I go on a couple of dates a week. You sit at home. You aren’t getting any younger. You need to enjoy your youth. You need to date and have some fun.”
“You always say that.”
“I’m serious. You are in the prime of your life right now. You’ve got beauty, brains, and money.”
I wasn’t sure how to handle that statement. “Thanks. I think. You are not hitting on me, I hope.”
“I don’t want you, thanks. I’m saying, you have plenty of women that are more than happy to date you.”
“They want to date my checkbook.”
“I don’t believe that’s true for all of them,” he insisted.
“Not for Evie,” I said, her name rolling off my tongue.
“Evie,” he repeated her name. “You like her.”
“I don’t dislike her.”
“That’s high praise coming from you.”
I laughed. “She’s not bad. And do you know what the best part is?”
“What?”
“She didn’t know me. She thought I was one of the employees that worked on the ships.”
He raised his brows. “Are you sure? You don’t think it could be a trick to make you think she didn’t know you.”
“No, I don’t think so. I only gave her my full name after we met at the park.”
“Really? That’s weird.”
It was weird. “I guess it just didn’t come up. You know me. I’m not really very good at the people thing. She seemed to get it and didn’t pressure me.”
“Hell, this one is a keeper,” he joked.
“I think I’m going to offer to take her out on the boat,” I said.
He stopped chewing, his eyes going wide. “No shit?”
“Why not?”
“Take her.”
I studied him. “Why?” I asked, knowing he was up to no good. He had a plan.
He grinned. “Because no woman can resist a nice ride on a boat. You can offer her some of your fancy wine. Serve her expensive cheese. She’ll crawl into bed with you so fast, you won’t know what to do.”
“I’ll know what to do,” I growled. “I’m not that out of practice.”
“Then act fast. I saw her. She’s gorgeous. Those curves. Another rich man is going to take advantage of that woman if you don’t get in there.”