I shrugged. “Yes, you could’ve, but you’re not the one who derailed the pitch. So, are you ready to hear it the way it should’ve been?”
“Waiting with bated breath,” she said.
Our waiter appeared and introduced himself before filling both our wine glasses and bringing her the ice. She noticed the sparkling water then, too. “You remembered?”
“Of course I remembered. I remember everything about that night, but I can handle my tequila better than you.”
She rolled her eyes, but there was no real irritation in her expression. Once the waiter left and her drink was ready, she waved her hand in a rolling motion. “We’re wasting daylight here. Are you going to sell me on you or are we going to miss the sunset while you just sit there?”
“We’re not missing the sunset,” I promised, then launched into the pitch and nailed it.
I leaned back in my chair when I was done and I waggled my brows at her. “Not bad, right?”
Blinking as if she’d been in a daze, she shook her head and then nodded. The motion made no sense, and yet it made perfect sense to me. “Not bad? That was great. I’d have thrown my entire wallet at you if I had enough money in it to buy you.”
I laughed. “You wouldn’t have had to pay for me, but to everyone else, I’m not for sale. There isn’t enough money in anybody’s wallet to buy me.”
“You know what I meant.”
“Sure did, but I wanted you to know.” I picked up my glass and took a sip of the crisp, tangy wine. “Are you still pissed at me?”
She paused but then released a long breath and shook her head. “No. I haven’t got an elaborate apology dinner planned, but I am sorry.”
“So am I,” I said. “I shouldn’t have reacted that way.”
“I should’ve explained myself better,” she replied. “It doesn’t matter anymore, but I wasn’t flirting with him. I just didn’t want to give him any reason to kill your deal just because I’d offended him.”
I felt like she’d whacked me over the head with a skillet. “You thought you had to flirt with him to save the deal?”
“Well, not flirt with him, but not shoot him down either,” she explained. “Men can be a sensitive bunch. It seemed pointless to upset the balance in the room before you’d even started, so I just went with him.”
“A sensitive bunch, huh? You might be right about that.” I planted my face in my palm and groaned. “Fuck. I really didn’t see that coming. It never even crossed my mind that you were only playing along because he was an asshole who thought he was entitled to your attention.”
She shrugged. “Why would it have crossed your mind? It’s never happened to you before, has it?”
“I’ve been flirted with,” I protested, but when she sent me a look that saidcut the bullshit, I cut it out. “No, it’s never happened to me like that before.”
“Exactly. You had no reason to think that was what was happening. Does this mean you believe me, though?”
“I believe you,” I said without even needing to think about it. “Somehow, I doubt you’re about to start lying to me now.”
“Good, because I’m not,” she said, then sat back and looked around. “It really is beautiful here. Should we order? I’m starving.”
“Don’t worry, the food is on its way,” I said, winking. “I’m connected around here now. We don’t need to order. The chef has our meal under control.”
As it turned out, he more than had it under control. Sharing plate after sharing plate started coming out, and each was more delicious than the last. He’d delivered on his promise to make it one of the best meals I’d ever had.
Much later, once we’d polished off way more food than I’d thought we would, I turned to Isabella after we got up. “Walk on the beach?”
“Sure.”
We took off our shoes and left them on the patio. The top layer of sand was still warm beneath our feet. The moon was high over the waves, and even though she thought I knew nothing about romance, I could recognize that this was a romantic scene.
“How’s Marley?” she asked. “Any pre-wedding jitters?”
I chuckled. “Marley? No. I don’t think he knows what it feels like to be jittery.”
She paused. “I used to think the same about you.”