“When you put it that way…”
“What’s so special about her? Not that it’s unique for you to get the hots for a woman while claiming she’s ‘inspiring’ you. You’re so cliché.”
“Says the man paying for his girlfriend’s existence.”
“Aren’t we all, in the end?”
Zack scoffed again.
“And she said she’d rather be friends with you? You’re sure she’s not a lesbian, huh?”
“She’s bi. She’s gotta be.” Zack slammed his glass down on a wicker table. “Which means I have a chance.”
“To be fair to her,” Seth continued, “it’s about time you got some other friends. Maybe having a female friend will do you a world of good. Give you some perspective about the fairer sex and how you keep fucking up your relationships.”
“I’m not…”
A horn sounded in the distance. Zack leaped up, his sandals smacking against the deck of his yacht as he raced to the bow and shielded his eyes from the sun. Sure enough, a familiar vessel, a similar make and model to his own, cruised into the harbor. The horn sounded again.
“Aha!” Zack hopped down and jerked his thumb over his shoulder. “Uncle Roy’s here.”
Seth picked up his sketchbook. “Clearly, my signal to get the hell out of here.”
“Come on. He hasn’t seen us in months.”
“He hasn’t seen you in months.” Seth kept a careful eye on the approaching vessel. Soon, the empty dock space next to the Priss & Moan would be full with another boat. One called Retirement Fund. It wasn’t a joke.
Zack waved his uncle into port and was greeted with a hearty shake of the old man’s fist. It’s about time he got here. Zack’s reason for slumming it on his yacht that day instead of being holed up in his studio had to do with Uncle Roy’s homecoming. The man had left for the Caribbean shortly after Christmas and had promised to be back before hurricane season. Well, hurricane season was quickly approaching, but Zack hadn’t received word from his uncle until two nights before. “Coming back to port, son. Same place?”
Nobody was more at home on the water or on his boat than Roy Feldman. And nobody understood Zack in that old money family more than his Uncle Roy.
They were often mistaken for father and son, and it suited them both fine. They even had the same exact style when it came to hanging out at the yacht, although Roy Feldman’s long, wild white hair gave him a look that made him more vagabond than rightful heir to a billion-dollar steel empire.
“Hey, son!” That loud, grisly voice boomed through the marina as Retirement Fund came to a full stop next to Priss & Moan. Seth finished packing up his things. Zack, however, raced to the port side of his yacht. “Water’s great! Make sure you go for a spin!”
As soon as the boat was situated, a plank that connected both boats was lowered. Zack didn’t hesitate. He leaped onto this uncle’s deck and smacked him on the back.
“How was Barbados?”
“Beautiful. Both the weather and the women.”
“Both haven’t been so bad here, either.”
Uncle and nephew shared the usual knowing look. “In all honesty,” Roy continued, “I’m a mess that I have to be back in the States already. But I need to do some repairs and upkeep, and by the time I’ll be finished… bah. We’ll be well into autumn.”
“Knowing you, you’ll be sailing around the Mediterranean by Thanksgiving.”
“God willing, son!”
Seth held up his hand in farewell before disembarking his friend’s boat. “See you,” he said. “And welcome home, Roy.”
Uncle Roy put his hands on his hips. “Who the hell is that?”
“Seth. My friend.”
“Think you need some lady friends, son.”
“Working on it.”
Roy clapped his nephew on the bicep and went to work taking care of his vessel. Zack hopped right in to help. “So tell me what’s been going on! Thought you’d be married by now.”
“Can’t say I’ve met anyone worth marrying yet.”
“You’ve got a boat and millions of dollars. Soon enough.”
“I’ve met many beautiful women who are more than happy to make use of both, Uncle.”
“You’re making use of many of their assets, yes?”
Zack briefly thought of Rachel, who hadn’t seemed like she wanted anything to do with him. Yet… she had been flirting, right? What was her deal, anyway? Most women were more than happy to hear him out. Wasn’t like Zack didn’t know what a catch he was. He had all the money and prestige of his family without any of the responsibilities. What was better than that? I’m a sensitive artist with a bod he takes to the gym and a shitton of money. The boat often turned women on, too. Why shouldn’t it? Zack took care of his boat more than he did himself!
“Could say that there’s a young woman I’ve been keeping my eye on. But she doesn’t seem too interested in me.”
His uncle stopped fussing with ropes long enough to wag a finger beneath Zack’s chin. “Every woman is interested, son. But it’s you job to present a part of yourself that she would be interested in.”
“You’ve got me there. I’ve been relying on the whole devilish good looks and fancy money shit for so long, though.”
“Then offer her something else! Believe it or not, not every woman is impressed by money and a big dick. Or even that art stuff you do.”
“That ‘art stuff’ gets me more women than anything else.”
“Yes, and how many of them stick around for the other stuff?”
Zack laughed. “This is why you’re a better dad than my real one.”
“Someone had to teach you about the birds and the bees when you were a kid. Might as well have been your good ol’ Uncle Roy.”
Zack remembered that day well. I was ten. He still had color in his hair. Next thing I knew, he was using ropes and pulleys to demonstrate how sex worked, and it was a miracle I was still able to lose my virginity.
“Give her something else to be interested in, huh?” Zack thought about that. What was the only thing that had piqued Rachel’s interest in him?
“Guess you know where to find me if you wanna be my friend.”
Oh. He did.
***
The door to Opal’s Café flew open shortly before the place shut down for the evening. The young Indian barista jerked up from her till, mouth dropping as she quickly recognized Zack – and that he was sauntering up straight to her without regard for the cold case.
“I need a favor,” he began, leaning against the counter. “That woman, Rachel, she’s your friend, right?”
No, Rachel was not in the café. Zack had checked before kicking the door open and marching in like he was in a movie. But his question had been enough to make the barista lose her voice.
“She told me I would know where to find her if I wanted to be her friend.” Zack winked. “I would very much like that. Starting with getting her number.”
The barista didn’t look too impressed with his demand. Fine. I can work with this. There wasn’t a woman in the city that Zachary Feldman could not charm.
Nonetheless, he met one of his matches that day. The barista wasn’t giving up her friend’s number to a strange man without a good convincing. Or five.
Chapter 6
It wasn’t the buzzing of her phone that woke Rachel up from her early evening nap (that she never even asked to take.) It was the commercial on her laptop that blasted at a way higher volume than the Bones reruns she was watching when she fell asleep on her bed.
“Fuck,” she muttered. “Did I sleep that long?” It was still daylight outside, but Rachel didn’t have to check the time on her phone to know that it was closer to eight than seven. This time of year? The sun in that position meant she drastically overslept.
But when she did check her phone to confirm her worst fears, she found more than the usual missed notifications.
She found a text from an unknown number.
“Hello, Rachel,” it began. “I’m ready to be your friend if you’re ready to be mine.”
“Ew!” Rachel tossed her phone back onto her bed. “What a fucking weirdo!” Even worse that he knew her name! What kind of freak? She needed to block that number right away.
Too bad she forgot. There were more pressing things for her to do, like drag her ass off her bed, turn off the TV show, and throw a frozen lasagna into the microwave for dinner. She had taken half the day off from translating to get caught up on other work. Instead, she ended up falling asleep, and now she would spend the rest of her evening playing online video games while shoving her platter of lasagna into her mouth.
Okay, so she had some baby spinach in the fridge too. Ooh, and baby carrots! That balanced things out, right?
Vaguely.
She grabbed her phone on her way to her desk. There was a follow-up to the text.
“Okay, so that was a weird opening message. I also realize that you have no idea who this is.” Oh my God, this guy was still going? Who gave him this number? How did he find it? “This is Zack. Remember me? Your friend from Opal’s gave me your number.”