Scott stepped back for a minute, as my angry words penetrated, then he shook his head and held his hands up.
“I didn’t mean anything derogatory, Brock,” Scott said with a frown. “I know Victoria has her good qualities, but as far as I know, none of you ever saw those. So, it just confused me, that based on my relationship with her, and what you know about her, why you would want to date her.”
“I never really thought about it before. Like you said, when the two of you were together, there was really nothing that appealed to me,” I said, understanding where he was coming from, but wanting him to get where I was coming from too. “But, when I saw her that night at the bar, I saw her differently. She’s confident and sassy, and there was a spark between us. I wanted to see her again and find out if she was more than the uptight wench she projected, and I have to say, after hanging out with her a bit, there definitely is … And I like what I see.”
Scott nodded slightly, still somewhat puzzled.
“I wanted to tell you first, because I’m going to tell the guys tonight, and I didn’t want to blindside you with it. I know you guys are no longer an item, but out of respect for you, and the fact that you were engaged to her, I wanted to let you know upfront. I like her, and I’m going to continue to see her.” I regretted my words when I saw Scott flinch, and I knew he was assuming that I was referring to the fact that he and Gaby had started seeing each other behind my back. And although that wasn’t my intent, it was still a matter of contention between us, and I wasn’t about to lie and pretend that it wasn’t.
“I appreciate that,” he replied after a few moments.
I clapped him on the back and offered, “How about that beer now?”
Scott accepted the change of subject and followed me into the kitchen. When we finally entered the dining room, the rest of the guys were seated around the table. The poker chips were divvied out, the cards were on the table, and they looked up at us expectantly.
“You two done with your giggle party and ready to play cards?” TJ piped in, breaking the silence and causing the others to laugh.
Scott and I sat down, threw our money in the pot, and I said, “Let’s go.”
After the first few hands, and a couple beers, the jokes and jibes started rolling. Most of them courtesy of TJ, and his comedian in training, Craig. The two of them had me cracking up. I was still chuckling as I went to fix a plate and grab another beer.
I was coming back into the room when Brady asked, “So, Brock, when is Victoria going to start decorating?”
The room went from full of chatter and laughter, to silent as a tomb, and I looked around the room to find all eyes on me. Cal and TJ’s faces imitated Scott’s expression from earlier.
“Victoria, Victoria?” Cal asked incredulously.
“Scott’s Victoria?” TJ said at the same time.
I turned to address TJ.
“She is not Scott’s Victoria,” I responded with a growl, causing their surprise to turn to disbelief.
“Sounds like she’s doing more than decorating,” was TJ’s response.
“She’s working for you too?” Scott asked calmly, causing his friends to look at him suspiciously.
“You already knew this?” Cal asked.
Scott shook his head. “Brock told me that he’s dating her, he didn’t mention hiring her as well.”
Both heads swiveled back to me.
“Dating?” they asked in unison.
Brendan, Brady, and Craig sat back and watched our interaction, like it was a tennis match … heads turning to see what was going to happen next.
“Yes, I hired Victoria to redecorate my offices.” I shifted my gaze to Scott. “You’ve seen her house, she’s very talented.” He nodded in agreement. “And my business is growing, so I’ve been wanting to upgrade for a while. Things just kind of clicked when I went to pick her up for dinner and saw what she’d done with her place.”
“How long have you guys been dating?” TJ asked.
“Not long. We met up at the bar the other night, and at first she wanted nothing to do with me, but I wore her down.” This last was said with a grin, which caused Cal to look at me with speculation. “We’ve had coffee and dinner, and she’s been by the office to look at the space. That’s about it so far.”
“But she’s…” TJ began, but I stopped him with a sharp, “Don’t!”
He didn’t finish his sentence, and the expression on my face must have conveyed that I would not allow anyone to talk disparagingly about Victoria in my presence, because he simply nodded.
I knew from my time with Gaby that none of them had any love lost for Victoria, with the exception of Scott, and that Cal and TJ’s relationship with her had not been good, but I hoped that eventually, they would see her as I did. And if they didn’t, that was their problem, not mine.