“What do you think?”
“I don’t know. I’m all jumbled up.” I made the crazy sign with my finger twirling circles at the side of my head.
“Maybe I should have asked how do you feel about him?”
“Oh, that’s easy. I feel like I want to jump him.” We both started laughing.
“Do it.” She gave me a little shove on my shoulder. “What are you waiting for?”
“Oh, I have.” We both laughed harder.
“And?”
“He still said the same thing.” Our laughter died down.
“That man needs to sort his shit out,” Regina declared, finishing her cup of wine and pouring both of us more. “And maybe you need to steer clear of that hot mess while he does it.”
“I’m trying to.” I shook my head and enjoyed another sip of wine.
“I know what you need.” Her eyes lit up. “A distraction. Who else is there you can play with?” I scrunched up my nose, indicating my lack of good alternatives. “I don’t buy that,” Regina dismissed me. “You’re gorgeous. You must have guys lining up after you.”
“Well, there is this one other guy. He’s like Liam’s opposite. He works in the city so he’s only here on weekends.”
“What’s his name?”
“Theo.”
“Are you talking about Theo Bartright?”
“Yeah, do you know him?” I didn’t want to make assumptions, but I hadn’t guessed that they’d run in the same circles. From my experience, locals didn’t mix much with the extremely wealthy who came to Naugatuck to play in their clubs and on their yachts. The friendships my brother had formed as a kid, not to mention my romance with Liam, were exceptions to the rule.
“Um, yeah.” Regina talked as if I were a dummy. “The 30-year-old ba-gillionaire? Looks like Jude Law?”
“I don’t think he looks like Jude Law. He doesn’t even have blue eyes.”
“I heard he owns his own island in the Bahamas.”
“Really?”
“It’s next to Johnny Depp’s. Girl, go play with him.”
“That’s what Liam told me to do.” I set down my fork.
“So? What are you waiting for?”
I didn’t have a good answer for that question. How many more people did I need telling me to date Theo? Apparently he was quite a catch. No wonder Whitney was going after him so hard. Maybe I should give him more of a chance. I’d been so caught up in Liam I’d barely given him a moment’s thought.
Regina excused herself at eight, explaining she had to wake up at four a.m. most days to open the coffee shop. I thanked her profusely for being my very first dinner guest. She gave me a big hug.
“I’m so glad you’re doing all this.” She gestured around at the apartment and the studio below. “What an adventure.”
“It is,” I agreed. “I’m excited about it, too.” And talking with her about it, a fellow female entrepreneur, I really felt it.
The next day I bought myself an armchair at a local store. It couldn’t fold at all. I sat in it that night, enjoying the solid, permanence of it. My phone dinged with a text.
* * *
Theo: Would love to see you this weekend.
* * *
Hmm. Speak of the devil.
* * *
Sophie: Sure. Want to come see my dance studio?
* * *
Theo: I’d love to. And can I take you to dinner?
* * *
Sophie: OK
* * *
It didn’t exactly fill me with butterflies and set my pulse to racing like I felt with Liam, but maybe that was a good thing. Maybe Liam was too extreme, like he’d told me. I tended toward intense emotions, too. Maybe I needed a good, solid 5 on the emotional spectrum to even me out.
My phone dinged again and I looked, expecting more from Theo.
* * *
Liam: How was your night?
* * *
What, did he have a second sense? Some sort of an alarm system that warned him if another man was moving in?
* * *
Sophie: Fun. Regina Cooke came over for dinner.
* * *
Liam: Cool, I didn’t know you two were friends.
* * *
Sophie: New friends. She works two doors down.
* * *
Liam: I’m working tomorrow but can I come do some work Saturday?
* * *
Sophie: Yup.
* * *
I turned off my phone. I was sick of texting Liam and talking about flooring. My feelings for the man went far deeper than home repair work. It all felt like foreplay only I was beginning to doubt there’d ever be anything more between us. Together, it felt like we clicked on such a real level. Sexually, we obviously erupted in fire, but that just seemed like an extension of the way we connected across the board.
He’d been acting hot and cold to me, no doubt, but spending time around him again reminded me what a good guy he was. How hard he worked, as a firefighter, plus a carpenter, plus doing inspections, too. The way he took care
of his mom, never making a big deal about it. The violence he’d weathered as a child, but he never felt sorry for himself. Everyone liked Liam, so easy to talk to, such a good sense of humor, helpful and kind. Even as he confused the hell out of me, I loved being around him.
But he seemed to think he was a bad person. Was it just the sex? I had to agree, what we did together was new for me. And dark. I never thought I’d like domination and pain. But with him, I was intrigued. And it seemed like lots of people did that kind of stuff. We were two consenting adults. But he seemed to see himself as some kind of monster. Maybe there was more to him than I knew?
I tossed and turned in bed that night and the next, wanting resolution of any sort. Even if it meant severing contact with Liam, as painful as it sounded, at least I wouldn’t be in limbo. I thought about him all the time, wanted to talk to him, share things like Eloise’s latest drawing or the new armchair I’d bought.
I wanted to see how he was doing, too, and hear about his day. Back as an 18-year-old, I’d loved his mom. She’d struck me as the opposite of mine, so warm and welcoming. I’d love to see her again. But if I couldn’t, I couldn’t, and I was starting to feel like I needed to know for sure one way or another.
Midafternoon on Saturday Liam came by. He’d spent the morning napping after his shift down at the station. When he showed up at the studio, he had that freshly showered look and smell. I had to practically tie my hands behind my back to stop myself from putting my arms around him. Funny how seeing him seemed to make me think about getting tied up.
“How are you, Sophie?” The way he looked at me when he spoke, it nearly turned me to mush. His eyes burned so hot. I felt myself swaying toward him, as if pulled by a magnetic force.