“Seriously, though, I’ll cover your loss on that. It was my fault. How about I put money into your trading account?”
“No, I don’t take charity.”
It wasn’t odd that Josh wouldn’t let me pay his loss from that sale, yet he had no problem with me paying him to teach me. He was a proud guy and an honest one, which was probably why we had become such good friends.
Chapter Five
Delilah
“Hello,” I said as I answered the unknown number that had called me.
“Hey, it’s Brandon from the dating site.”
I was really glad he hadn’t said Dating the Rich; it still bugged me that the company was named that. If our mission was to match people up, I never understood why we would designate our clientele to rich men primarily. Or why we seemed to have hundreds of thousands of young girls who matched up with the rich guys. It wasn’t exactly the mission I would have if I wanted to help people find true love.
“It’s nice to be able to put a voice to a face,” I laughed.
“So I was thinking we should go get a bagel Saturday morning; how does that sound?” Brandon asked.
“Sounds like you’re trying to see if I’m real or not.”
“Oh, you’re on to me.”
“What if I didn’t want to meet you for a bagel or coffee or whatever it is you’re planning. What if I only go on nighttime dates? What was your plan, then?”
“Hmm, first I’d think you were some sort of vampire if you only went on nighttime dates. But I’d be happy to take you out at night if it meant your vampire skin could stay safe.”
“Oh, my gosh; I’m not a vampire.”
This guy was funnier than I’d thought he was going to be. I found myself smiling from ear-to-ear. I also felt like my face was bright red with embarrassment. It was a good thing we were doing a little date over the phone before actually meeting.
Dating and I hadn’t been a good mix since Spencer had passed away. I felt awkward and weird anytime someone even mentioned taking me out. I wanted to be smooth and cool like I was used to going on dates, but the truth was that I wasn’t used to it, at all.
Spencer had been the only guy I’d really dated as an adult. My ex-mother in-law setting me up had been about as close to a real date as I’d gotten since. I tried to take a few deep breaths to calm my nerves as Brandon and I continued to talk.
“Then, Saturday morning, nine o’clock at Bella’s Bagels. I’ll meet you there.”
“What happened to the days of guys picking girls up from their houses for dates? Am I getting so old that you guys don’t do that anymore?” I teased him.
“You wouldn’t let a strange man you’ve never met pick you up from your house,” he said. “I have confidence you’re smarter than that.”
It was the truth. I absolutely wasn’t going to let this guy pick me up from my house. Even though he seemed like a pretty decent guy, you just never knew who someone was until you met them. I’d watched crazy news stories about things happening to women, and I wasn’t going to let anything like that happen to me. I was a single mom and my son had already lost his father – no way was I going to get myself murdered by some lunatic.
My heart raced at the idea of meeting up with this guy. He seemed like a fun and interesting person. I was relieved that he wanted to do a morning date instead of a nighttime one. Morning dates were casual and easier to get out of quickly if need be. It was near impossible to make a quick escape if I agreed to go to dinner with a guy. At least I could plan to meet up with a friend for lunch so I had someone to talk over all the fun date details with.
“It’s a deal. I’ll meet you on Saturday.”
“By the way, your voice sounds just as sexy as that profile picture of yours,” Brandon said and my whole body froze with excitement. “See you Saturday.”
“Bye,” I managed to mumble before hanging up.
My toes tingled with excitement. It had been a long time since a guy had complimented me so well that it had actually thrown me off.
Brandon was handsome, witty, and apparently rich; he was nothing like the type of guy I normally went out with and everything that I’d dreamt of in a guy. The typical man I went out with lived at home with his mother and wanted to split the check. Of course, I never knew these things when I agreed to the dates, but it did seem to be a running theme in my dating history.
I was convinced Brandon and I weren’t going to hit it off that well in person. A bikini picture can catch a guy’s attention, but the real me was a little more boring in person – and I wore a lot more clothes. There wasn’t much of a chance he and I were going to be able to keep up this witty flirtatious banter, although a small part of me hoped we would hit it off.
***