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He laughed and tapped the table with his thumb. “What do your parents know that the rest of us don’t?”
That was the million-dollar question.
“I’m not sure.” I pushed the plate away, no longer hungry. “I’ve been thinking about it all night and I can’t, for the life of me, understand why they’re against me mating with Liza.”
“You know, you have plenty of money and resources to do a background check. Why don’t you do some digging on this girl?” Bryce shrugged. “Since your parents aren’t talking, maybe you can get to the bottom of it.”
“Yeah, maybe.” I sat back in the chair and took a deep breath, then stared at the ceiling. I didn’t have any better ideas. It couldn’t hurt to do some digging and get a better understanding of my future mate’s past. Especially since my parents felt so strongly about me not pursuing her.
“So, what’s the plan? Are you going to let fate work its magic or do you have a grander plan to show her that you’re the Romeo to her Juliet, the Jack to her Rose, the Jim to her Pam?” Bryce glanced at his phone, probably texting one of the handful of girls he dated casually.
“You watch way too much television.” But I grinned. “Actually, I could use your help.”
Chapter 5
Liza
“Hold on a minute.” I raised my finger, letting the driver of the red convertible know that I was almost done pumping gas. He’d already slammed his horn, but I couldn’t make the pump spew faster.
The man threw his hands in the air as if I was making his bad day even worse, but I could’ve told him a thing or two about bad days. I had no control over the amount of traffic at the gas station, so he needed to lay off my ass and move along.
My parents had called me over to their house this morning, meaning I wasn’t in the best of moods. A forced visit with the fam never boded well. They had, no doubt, heard the rumors about what happened at the country club last night. Based on the way my mom had stuttered into the phone, they were concerned. Not just the kind of concern you had when you worried about your child’s grade in math class. This was a whole other level of stress.
I didn’t blame them. Our family wasn’t exactly high class, barely middle class, and the rumors that had circulated in a few short hours had solidified that fact.
“Miss, are you done?” The driver of the convertible tapped his fingers on his steering wheel and hung his head out the window.
“Does it look to you like I’m done?” The fucking nozzle was still in my tank, and I still had my hand on the trigger.
Asshole.
A small twinge of guilt washed over me. It wasn’t fair for me to take my stress out on this guy, not any more than it was fair of him to be a prick, but I’d only managed a few hours of sleep the night before. I’d tossed and turned all night. Maybe if the impatient driver saw the dark circles under my eyes, he’d take pity on me and back his attitude the fuck up.
I finished pumping and replaced the gas cap before hopping in my car. I gave him a sarcastic wave as I drove off toward my childhood home. Going home was always annoying. I was on my own now. Last thing I wanted was to go backward.
Ty Keller’s face popped into my mind, and I jerked the wheel to the right, almost driving off the road. Not because I was startled, but because the picture of him in my mind made me want to jerk something.
Why did he have to be so goddamn handsome? The reaction I’d had the night before was completely unlike me. Yes, I’d had little crushes as a teenager, and I knew the difference between a hot guy and one that had been hit with the ugly stick too many times, but Ty had attributes. So many fucking attributes. How was a girl supposed to remain immune?
He was on a completely different level. His jet-black hair was just a bit too long, too shiny, too everything. That alone was enough to cause any woman to stumble over her words. But when you combined that with his striking gray eyes and chiseled jawline, it was like any form of rational thought I’d ever had dissolved.
He’d cast a spell on me, or some other magic was in play, and that scared the absolute shit out of me. I didn’t need any distractions in my life, especially not one as powerful as Ty Keller. I needed to focus on myself and make sure my catering business didn’t suffer due to my inability to function like a normal person, thanks to my encounter with Ty last night.
Sabrina seemed to think everything would go smoothly from this point forward. “You’ve met your fated mate, the hardest part is over,” she’d said as though she had firsthand knowledge of the process.
I didn’t believe it; not for a second. Apparently, neither did my parents.
I pulled up to my childhood home. It was a small ranch-style house with white vinyl siding that Dad had upgraded years ago after a wind storm, and blue shutters at each of the windows. The front yard was full of memories where I had spent countless hours playing tag with my siblings, digging for worms, and chasing the neighborhood cats.
The memory that stood out the most was of me running around with a red bucket collecting tulips from my mom’s garden. I could still picture how bright and yellow they were against the lush green grass and the warmth of the summer sun on my skin.
If only things were still that simple. Life had a way of kicking you in the ass. Just when you thought things were on the upswing, you had to meet your fated mate in front of the entire pack. I’d been wearing a waitress uniform, for fuck’s sake.
“Hey!” I called from the front foyer. “I’m here.”
The clicking of nails on the floor alerted me to an incoming attack from Chip, the family dog. He jumped up, balanced his front legs on my shin, and whined, pawing like he was trying to climb me, ready to be held.
“Hello, boy. How are you? I’ve missed you.” I cuddled him and kissed the side of his face as he licked my chin. He seemed to have missed me. It was nice to be missed.
