Just One Look (Castleton Hearts)

“I don’t want to force anyone to be friends with me,” I said.

“Theo doesn’t do anything she doesn’t want to do, so if she doesn’t want to hang out with you, you’ll know,” Paige said. That was a good point.

“Well, I think she’s sending me a pretty loud signal by not talking to me for a week,” I said.

Stormy the husky came over and set her head in my lap, and it made me think about Theo’s dog, Scout.

“Hi sweetie,” I said, petting her head.

“She thinks you have something for her. Don’t listen,” Paige said.

“I’m sorry, I don’t have any treats for you,” I told Stormy and her head perked up at the word “treat.”

“You’ve done it now,” Esme said, laughing.

Stormy wiggled and waited.

“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said that.”

I wasn’t sure what to do about the dog, who tilted her head up and let out what could only be called a plaintive wail.

“Christ,” Esme said, getting up.

“I’m sorry,” I said.

“It’s not your fault, she’s just dramatic,” Paige said over the howling dog.

“Come on, you need to take a minute,” Esme said, calling Stormy inside.

“Oops?” I told Paige, but she didn’t seem that bothered.

“She howls if the wind blows in the wrong direction, she’s fine.”

“Well now I know never to mention the ‘t’ word around her again.”

Paige grabbed my empty glass and filled it up with the pitcher that sat on the little table in front of us.

“Seducing people isn’t easy,” she said. “I should know. I had this whole plan to seduce Esme.” She’d told me how they got together, but I hadn’t heard this part. “There were steps, it was a whole thing.”

“It obviously worked out, so do you have any tips?” I asked.

“I mean, I did write some articles on how to succeed in dating, but they’re all kind of bullshit. Just figure out what she likes. Figure out what matters to her. Show her that you care about her, but don’t be too aggressive about it. Showing up randomly doesn’t hurt either.” That all sounded good. I could do that.

“I feel like I’m going to push too far and she’s going to tell me to fuck off,” I said.

Paige shrugged. “That’s the risk you have to take.”

I groaned. Why couldn’t this be easy?

“On the upside, you have tons and tons of money, so you might want to remind her of that. Appeal to her gold-digging side.”

I gave her a look.

“What? Use what you have. Tell her that you have lots of money and she won’t have to work so hard,” Paige said as Esme came back out.

“She’s going to need some time to get herself together,” she said, sitting back down.

“I was just telling our friend Kendra that she should flaunt her wealth to Theo and use that to seduce her,” Paige said, and Esme stared at her.

“Babe, that is such a bad idea,” Esme said. “How are you so bad at this?”

“I got you, didn’t I?” Paige said, smirking.

“Only because I let you,” Esme said, turning to me. “Follow her lead. If she’s sending you signals that she’s not in, then you’ve got to respect that. Let her come to you.”

That was more my speed. I would try one more time to see if I could get past Theo’s wall and if she pushed me out, I had to give up and let her be. I wasn’t a masochist; I didn’t want to go after someone who didn’t want me back.

“And if all else fails, show her your boobs,” Paige added, and Esme groaned.

I definitely wasn’t going to do that.

The next week gave me the perfect opportunity to speak to Theo when the bed was delivered. I’d seen the big white van with the store logo on the side parked next to the showroom, so I wasn’t shocked to see it in my driveway.

Theo was in the driver’s seat, and a guy who had to be her brother got out of the passenger seat. He had almost the exact same reddish hair, and a stocky build with beefy shoulders. He wore a white t-shirt that was stained with what I assumed was motor oil from his mechanic job.

I tried not to be too nervous both to see Theo, and for Theo to see my house.

“Hey, good to see you,” I said, hoping that wasn’t too much.

Theo slammed the door and walked over to me as her brother went to the back of the van to start unloading.

“You’ve got an extra set of hands today,” I said, my tone a little too cheerful. Dammit.

“Clint helps when he can,” she said as he came over with part of the frame.

“Oh, it’s um, upstairs,” I said, and he gave me a nod and went inside.

“I see it runs in the family,” I muttered.

“What?” Theo asked.

“Nothing.”

I offered to help, but she looked at me as if I had lost my mind, so I stayed out of the way as she and Clint brought all the pieces of the bed upstairs and then assembled it, setting the box spring and mattress on top.