Boyfriend Lessons
Автор
Sophia Singh Sasson
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23
One
“So you just left?” Caitlyn Lattimore said incredulously. She was used to Alice’s crazy dating experiences, but this one made her sit up in the pool lounger.
Alice slid her oversize sunglasses on top of her wavy blond hair, refilled her chardonnay glass and topped off Caitlyn, who had barely touched her first glass.
“The man ordered two appetizers, lobster for dinner and a bottle of wine from the reserve list. Then he pulls ‘the left my wallet at home’ crap. No, thank you. I told him I was going to the bathroom and then asked the waitress if I could escape through the kitchen door because he was a creep.”
Her dating stories get scarier by the day.
Alice grabbed the bottle of suntan lotion and rubbed her arms. “I need to find a better dating site.”
Caitlyn reached for the sunblock. It was early June, and the sun was strong. One touch of UV and her skin would turn shades browner. She had a number of Lattimore events to attend in the next month, and her makeup artist had just spent days perfecting the right shade of foundation for her. Alice called them rich girl problems, and Caitlyn agreed. She’d won the lottery when the Lattimores adopted her twenty-four years ago. Even now, they were sitting by the sparkling blue pool of the Lattimore ranch, their wine bottle perfectly chilled and a staff member readily available should they need anything else. Alice called it the Ritz Lattimore, but it was home for Caitlyn, one she loved not because of the luxuries, but because her family lived here.
“I wish I had your chutzpah. If that had happened to me, I’d have paid the bill and spent the night seething.” Caitlyn said.
“Darlin’, for that to happen to you, you’d need to actually go out on a date. To leave this gilded cage and venture into the smog and filth we mortals call the real world.”
“You sound just like Alexa.”
Alexa had left Royal for New York City, and then Miami, when she went to college and never looked back. She’d been home recently, though, for Victor Grandin’s funeral.
Alice raised a brow. “I was sorry to hear about Layla’s grandfather dying. Victor Grandin was such a pillar in this community.”
“He was. Alexa came home for the funeral and I suspect Layla would like Alexa to stay permanently, because her cutthroat lawyering skills will help our two families.”
“Is this about that letter that came at the funeral? You never told me the full story.”
Caitlyn’s stomach roiled. “Turns out Heath Thurston is making a claim against the oil rights to the land beneath the Grandin and Lattimore ranches.” It wasn’t the claim that worried Caitlyn but the effect it was having on her family.
Alice leaned forward. “See, this is what happens when we don’t see each other for a month—I miss all the juicy gossip.”
“It’s more than gossip. Those oil rights include the land that the Lattimore mansion is built on. Heath claims Daniel Grandin fathered Heath’s late half-sister, Ashley, and that Daniel’s dad gave Heath’s mother Cynthia the oil rights. He says he found some of his mother’s papers supporting the claim.”
Alice’s mouth hung open. Even she was speechless after that. The thought of what losing their family home would do to her siblings had consumed Caitlyn every second for the last month, since Victor Grandin’s funeral.
“How did Ashley die?”
“In a car crash that also included her mother, Cynthia.”
“Why did Victor Grandin Sr. give Cynthia the oil rights and not Ashley?”
“We don’t know. And my grandfather signed the document, too, so he knew about it. Now he doesn’t remember a thing, so Victor Grandin Jr. hired a private investigator for the two families to look into why they might have signed over the oil rights for our lands, and whether Daniel really fathered Cynthia’s child.”
Alice sat back, speechless once again. “Have you ever met Heath or his twin brother, Nolan?”
Caitlyn shook her head.
“I went to high school with them. They are hot. I’m talking freshly seared steak hot. I’d forgotten about Nolan, he left Royal but if he’s back, that changes the dating scene.” She wiggled her eyebrows at Caitlyn. “They’re both single.”
Caitlyn smiled. “There’s enough drama in my family without me trying to date the men trying to destroy our ranch.”
Caitlyn chewed on her lip. Alice was right about one thing—she needed to get a life; she was tired of her image as the quiet, shy woman who startled when a man sneezed next to her. Even though the last part was right. “Maybe I should sign up for one of these dating sites. Not all of yours have been that bad. What happened to the guy who sent you flowers and took you to meet his family?”
“He was fine, a bit boring in the sex department but I was willing to deal with that until he took a call with his mother while he was on top of me.”
Caitlyn had just taken a sip of her wine, and it went flying out of her mouth, spraying all over the pool lounger. She covered her mouth in embarrassment.
Alice smiled and handed her one of the rolled hand towels from a basket on the table. Caitlyn wiped her mouth and the pool lounger. “You know not to do that to me when I’m drinking,” Caitlyn said, laughing.
“Sorry, I forgot about that endearing habit of yours.”
“The guy actually talked to his mom while you were in the middle of having sex?”
Alice nodded. “What’s worse is he talked to her for a good two minutes, and wanted to continue on like it didn’t make a difference.”
“How could you not tell me about this?”
“That happened on the day of the Grandin funeral. I was so embarrassed I couldn’t even think about it.” Alice shook her head. “You and I need to meet men in real life. It’s hard to suss out the creep factor online. It’s singles’ night at the Lone Star nightclub. How about we get all dressed up and go?”
I’d rather face down a pack of hungry wolves.
“You know that’s not my scene. There aren’t enough cocktails in the world to get me comfortable enough to talk to a strange man. It seems safer to start out with online chatting.”
Alice shook her head. “Dating sites are not for you, darlin’. You need someone who’s vetted, get some practice in before you go out into the world of vultures and mamas’ boys.”
Caitlyn nearly spit out her drink again. “I’ll skip the mama’s boy, but I could use someone who has the backbone to withstand the Lattimore siblings. The last time I went out on a date, Jonathan asked if he could have the guy’s Social Security number to run a background check. The time before that, Jayden followed me to the restaurant where I was meeting a blind date. He didn’t like the look of the guy, so he stayed parked on the street the entire time I was at dinner and followed us home.”
Alice put her hand to her heart. “Your brothers are super sweet.”
“No, they’re overprotective. They don’t pull that stuff with Alexa.”
“Because she moved away.” Alice took a sip of her wine. “I do have a nice, decent guy with whom you can practice your flirting skills.” Alice smiled cheekily, and Caitlyn narrowed her eyes.
“There has to be something wrong with him or you would’ve dated him.”
Alice laughed. “That would be really weird. I’m talking about Russ.”
Caitlyn raised a brow. “Your brother, Russ? I thought you said he wasn’t into serious dating.”
Alice shifted on the lounger. “He’s not, which is why he’d be the perfect person to practice your conversational skills. You two really haven’t hung out, so he’s like a strange man.”
Caitlyn bit her lip. She didn’t want to offend Alice, but she’d never felt a spark with her brother, Russ. He was a nice enough guy, but he was just so white. Not that she had a problem dating white men. Her biological mother was white, but in the last couple of years she’d struggled with her identity, along with most of the country. Despite her closeness with Alice, her best friend didn’t understand Caitlyn’s struggle with being a woman of color. Alice had never been asked where she was from, as if her brown skin automatically meant that she was exotic or foreign. Caitlyn had struggled with that over the last two years, debating her own identity. Was she Black, white, both or neither? Whenever a form asked what her race or ethnicity was, she left it blank, because none of the categories fit her. That was the one thing she and Jax had in common. Her ex-boyfriend was also biracial, and he’d understood some of the things she’d struggled with. Yet it hadn’t worked out with him, either. Maybe she really was a lost cause.
“Caitlyn, what’s the harm? It’s just Russ, and you could use the practice.”
“I don’t know.... Have you asked Russ?”
Alice shook her head reluctantly. “Look, he’s coming home after months of travel. I was going to have dinner with him on Friday. Why don’t you come? It’ll just be the three of us. Low-key. No pressure. I’ll be there to back you up and fill in if you stammer over your words or spit out your wine.”
Caitlyn threw her dirty hand towel playfully at Alice. What do I have to lose? She was bored by the endless conversations about the fate of the Grandin and Lattimore ranches in her house and of making excuses about why she didn’t date more. Ever since Layla Grandin and Josh Banks had gotten together, her family had been even more determined to see Caitlyn out and dating. She was tired of being pitied by her siblings. It was time to get over what had happened with Jax. It had been a year since they’d broken up. She’d been on a few dates since then—all failures, thanks to the scars Jax had left. She knew intellectually that Jax was just a bad dating experience, but it clung to her, haunted her thoughts at the most inappropriate times. It was time to replace those memories, even if it was with something meaningless.
“Come on, Caitlyn, what’s the worst that can happen?”
She sighed. That I’ll hate Russ but you’ll fall in love with the idea of me and Russ and it’ll affect our friendship.
“I’ll order Italian from your favorite place,” Alice said coaxingly.
“I’ll come to dinner. As a friend. I’m not dating Russ.”
Alice beamed. “Who said anything about dating? Think of it as a practice session.”
“You’ve got to be kidding me.” Alice glared at her phone.
“Trouble?” Caitlyn asked as she arranged the cutlery on Alice’s table. Alice lived in a charming row house in the center of Royal. She had decorated it in a comfortable cottage style with soft pastel colors and wood furniture. Caitlyn had come early to help Alice with dinner preparations. She enjoyed the easy way she could make a salad in Alice’s kitchen. At her house, the staff took it as an affront if she prepared her own food, feeling that they weren’t meeting her standards.
“Russ is late, and he’s bringing a friend to dinner.”
Caitlyn smiled. While Russ was supposed to be her practice date tonight, it would serve Alice right if he brought another woman home with him. Caitlyn had suspected, but she now knew, that Alice hadn’t told Russ she was setting them up.
“I’ll set another place at the table,” Caitlyn volunteered, her voice sugary sweet. “Don’t worry, you have enough food to feed the entire block.” If Russ was bringing a woman, Caitlyn could sit back and watch the two of them interact and take notes. The churning in her stomach slowed, and she opened a bottle of wine and poured two glasses. She didn’t like to drink when she was anxious, but the evening was looking up.
“How dare Russ bring a woman.” Alice seethed.
“Did you tell him he was here to give me boyfriend lessons?” Even as she said the words, Caitlyn realized how ridiculous the idea had been all along. There was no such thing as practicing dating skills. Was there?
She took a large sip from her glass, picturing herself taking notes as she watched Russ and his date converse during dinner as if she were sitting in a classroom. The idea made her giggle.
A half hour later, when the doorbell rang, both Alice and Caitlyn had polished off equal parts of an entire bottle of Bordeaux, and Caitlyn was looking forward to the evening.
Alice opened the door and greeted her brother. Caitlyn waited patiently on the gray leather couch, not wanting to interrupt the inevitable whispered shouting of Alice berating Russ for spoiling the date setup that he didn’t know he was participating in. She felt bad for Russ and even worse for his poor date, who would have no idea what she had done to incur Alice’s passive-aggressive wrath.
“I can’t believe it’s you!” Alice’s squeals made Caitlyn sit up.
Before she could react, they all walked in, and Caitlyn nearly choked on her drink as she caught sight of the most beautiful man that she’d ever seen.
