THE OTHER BOLEYN
Taylor found himself in a good mood the next morning. The previous night's Chamber dinner had started out questionably, but had then taken a turn for the better. Winn intrigued him. He still didn't learn as much about her as he'd liked, but never running out of things to talk about was a step in the right direction. So far all he knew was that she hailed from Abilene, she took her job seriously, and that she had texture issues with certain sea foods. They talked a lot about sushi and he'd told her about a great sushi place in town. "You'll love it, I promise. Best in Tulsa."
Their conversation had ended quickly after that and they'd parted ways. He had to admit, he wasn't ready to end the evening yet, but he figured she'd want to get home and get to bed. He knew she had to work in the morning and he didn't want to smother her, or at least make her feel like he was. For some reason, she struck him as the type who preferred to take things slowly. After all, she'd made it painfully clear in their first meeting that she more or less didn't have time for dating, so...
Still, though. Who'd won out at the dinner last night? Certainly not Patrick. Taylor smiled to himself, lost in his thoughts as his head stayed buried in his phone. He and his brothers were in the alleyway beside 3CG, getting a little fresh air. They had begun their break talking about chord progressions and drum beats for a song they were writing when conversation trailed off and Taylor ended up more interested in his phone. He snapped back into reality, apparently having missed an entire conversation, because Zac was saying to Isaac, "Ike, you don't even have a type. Your type is female. Period."
Isaac Hanson looked at his younger brother, offended. "That's not true. I have--I have standards..."
Zac laughed. "Yeah, right. Okay, so the waitress at Mexicali, the production assistant at the news station, the bartender at the Tavern, and the...one...two...three bank tellers from the bank--"
"From the same bank," Taylor suddenly interjected.
"What do any of them have in common?" Zac finished.
Ike crossed his arms in thought. The answer to Zac's question was taking way too long. "Well...I mean, Cindy and Petra were both--"
"No," Zac said.
"Sandra and Michelle BOTH--"
"No," Zac said again. "This. Exactly this. They're all female. That's it."
"They were all beautiful."
"And female."
"I like beautiful women. That's a type."
"No, it isn't," Zac replied.
Ike scowled. "Please. I have a type."
"Okay," Zac challenged. "Enlighten us. Be my guest."
Ike fell silent. His head was turned outside the alleyway and Taylor suddenly grew bored with the conversation. As he found his head back in his phone, his older brother began to speak. "Red hair. Brown boots. And a coat that hugs all the right places."
"That's awfully specific," Zac retorted.
"Yeah, because she just walked right into my line of sight."
This caused Taylor's head to jerk up and his heart sank when he spied Winn across the street. A grin spread across Ike's face as he noticed her. Zac glanced at Taylor, then back at Ike. "Ike, uh, I don't think she's your type..."
Ike turned to look at him. "Of course she is, don't you see her? She's gorgeous. And redheaded. You know what they say about redheads..."
Zac was beginning to look as uncomfortable as Taylor felt. "Yeah, I dunno...I can't really see you with a redhead..."
"Well, lucky for me, that's not up to you," Ike said. "And she looks like she's having a hard time carrying all that stuff." He turned and grinned at his brothers. "Duty calls, boys. Can't ignore a damsel in distress."
And then, before he could be stopped, Ike made his way quickly across the street.
Zac had fallen silent as he and Taylor watched Ike interact with her. They couldn't be heard but they were both smiling as Ike took some of the load off her hands and followed her into her office. "Well, that's all she wrote," Taylor muttered in defeat.
Zac shot a look at him. "What does that mean?"
Taylor scoffed. "Come on. You know as well as I do the moment he sinks his talons into her, it's all over. As long as he's involved, I don't have a chance in hell."
"Did you not ask her out?"
Taylor was silent as he looked back at Zac with guilt and regret.
Zac raised his eyebrows. "Are you fucking kidding? How do you expect anything to happen if you don't make a move, man?"
Taylor sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "I don't know, I just--things have been going relatively well, I've been getting to know her, I just thought--"
"Well you're not giving up, are you?"
"It doesn't matter. She doesn't like me, anyway."
"How do you know?"
"I can just tell. Doesn't take a rocket scientist to know when a woman's not interested."
Several minutes later, Ike bounded back into the alleyway, beaming. "So her name is Winnie--"
"Winn," Taylor corrected quietly. "Her name is Winn. She hates Winnie."
"Right..." Ike said, his eyes narrowing. "Anyway, guess who got her phone number?" He flashed a First Class Finance business card at them.
"So you got her office number, so what?" Taylor said. "Big deal."
"Ooh," Ike teased. "Sounds like someone's jealous."
Taylor scowled at him. "I think it's time to get back to work."
Zac shook his head in disbelief. "You're such a dick, man."
"Why?" Ike asked, offended. "What the hell did I do?"
Ignoring him, Taylor and Zac made their way back inside, their older brother trailing quietly behind them.
---------------------------------------------------------------
Meeting Isaac was brief, but he'd certainly made an impression on Winn in that short amount of time. He was a gentleman. She was a sucker for a gentleman. He had come all the way across the street just to help her carry in some office supplies she'd picked up on her lunch break. It didn't cross her mind until later, thinking about her past conversations with Taylor and now this interaction with Isaac, that it seemed like the Hanson brothers watched her quite frequently from across the street. She wasn't sure how she felt about that.
But still, the sentiment was nice of him and, to her surprise, she found her mind on him for most of the rest of the day. He had a fantastic smile. And that smile was now ingrained in her brain with no chance of removing itself anytime soon.
AND she had gotten his phone number.
Suddenly, she couldn't wait to get off work. She was afraid this would happen. However, when she got home, she couldn't bring it upon herself to call him. Or even text him. Contact him just mere hours after meeting him? That was absurd. But she couldn't stop thinking about him. About that smile. And how nice he was. And--and charming. Much more charming than Patrick had been. Isaac had come across the street and immediately started taking things out of her hands. "Let me help you with that," he'd said. And then he'd introduced himself. Of course she knew who he was, but she went with it anyway. To her own surprise, she didn't even correct him when he called her Winnie. Maybe she was just too caught up in the moment to worry about it. Or maybe she liked the way it sounded when he said it. Was that even possible?
They'd walked past the curious eyes of her three employees and into the back room of the office where the supplies were kept where they lay them down on the conference table and he'd said to her, "Forgive me for being forward but I gotta admit, I couldn't help myself but come across the street out of nowhere like that. I just had to meet you. You're just so--do you know how beautiful you are?"
And then she had blushed, barely able to keep it together. The truth was, it had been over a year since she'd heard that from anyone--and the last person to say anything like that to her was her ex, worthless as he turned out to be. They had chatted briefly after that. He told her he would like to get to know her a little more, whenever she got a free moment. And then he'd given her his phone number. She stupidly had given him a business card with her office number on it, never bothering to write her personal number on it. Isaac had either not caught it or chose not to say anything about it. That right there charmed the pants right off of her.
Now here she sat, alone at home, with a free moment. Hell, she had an entire free evening. She had gotten so far as to program his number in her phone when she stopped and stared at it and thought about Taylor.
Winn didn't know why the thought of Taylor all of a sudden sent pangs of guilt soaring through her body. Was this weird? Did SHE think it was weird, herself? It wasn't like she had an obligation to Taylor. After all, he'd never given her his number. He never asked her on a date. Not even out for lunch or coffee. And that sushi talk last night? All he had to do was ask her to have sushi with him. It wasn't difficult. She could have caved and turned her back on her own personal traditions and asked him out herself. But she figured if he hadn't done it by that point, he wasn't going to do it at all. She had to face the facts. They got along, they had a lot in common, and he was great to hang out with. But maybe he just wasn't interested like that. Maybe just friends was where their relationship was meant to stay. And besides, getting to know Isaac was--well, he was Taylor's brother. He shouldn't mind that. Should he?
Winn was so desperately bored it was sickening. Tina had been right when she'd told her the day she met Taylor that she needed to get out more. She was beginning to understand the warning now. She was feeling the loneliness and the cabin fever. However, she was also exhausted. It was early November and they were preparing for growth season--the season in which every person in the local area would be applying for loans and renewing the ones they had to prepare for Christmas. It was their busiest season and they were open for business six days a week with later hours. She couldn't be interested in a man right now. Not right now. She couldn't start anything with anybody. Not in a brand new struggling office at growth season where she had no time to dedicate to anything but work.
Except that right this second, she wasn't at work. And Isaac Hanson had given her his phone number with the expectation that she would use it. It wasn't like he'd put a time frame on it. But still. Would he think she was crazy, contacting him so soon?
Win took a deep breath and texted him anyway. "Hey, it's me. Just realized that I didn't give you my number earlier. So here it is."
And then she held her breath. Surprisingly, she didn't have to hold it for long. He texted her back. She couldn't wipe the smile off her face. "Winnie? Hey, I'm glad you texted me."
Winn bit her lip, feeling like a giddy school girl again. "I go by Winn," she texted. "Just Winn."
"Ok cool. Hold on a second."
Immediately, she felt bad. She had disturbed him. Caught him at a bad time. Interrupted him. She knew she shouldn't have contacted him so soon. Dammit, she needed a hobby.
Suddenly her phone vibrated in her hand and her eyes widened, her palms breaking a sweat, her heart racing as she looked at her screen. He was calling her!
She answered apologetically. "Hey. Look, I'm so sorry if I disturbed you. I don't want you to think that I'm--"
Isaac chuckled. "It's okay, don't worry. I'm actually glad you texted me. I, uh, didn't get your number earlier and I wanted to call you..."
Winn smiled, his words a pleasant surprise. "You did?"
"Yeah. Of course I did. We didn't have much time to talk earlier."
"Oh. Um, well...uh, do you have time now?"
"Wouldn't be calling if I didn't."
Suddenly she had no idea what to say. Her mouth went dry. This never happened with Taylor. There were never awkward silences.
"So, Winn," Isaac continued. "Where are you right now?"
"I'm at home, as always."
"Well look at that, we already have something in common. I just walked into my apartment."
Her heart pounded every time he spoke. He continued, "And as a matter of fact, I have absolutely no plans tonight. Wanna make some?"
"What?" She wasn't sure she heard him correctly.
He laughed again. "Plans. Wanna make some plans, I mean. Nothing major, just something a little impromptu. Drinks maybe? We can meet in an hour?"
Winn blinked her eyes at her living room wall. Drinks? In an hour? On a work night? It was already late...no. She couldn't. She just couldn't. She was handpicked and specifically uprooted and relocated JUST to fix this office. She couldn't be distracted. It just couldn't happen. "Um..."
Isaac seemed to immediately pick up on her hesitance. "Too soon?"
She tucked her feet underneath her on her couch and muted the TV. "I just--I just transferred here from Abilene a month ago. I have an office that I have to correct, we're just beginning the busiest season of the year--I'm not sure I really have time for spontaneity."
"How do you have a life without a little spontaneity? Isn't that boring?"
She opened her mouth to speak and then closed it. He had a point. "I just think tonight isn't the best night to be spontaneous."
"Okay. No problem. We'll just sit here and talk, then."
Winn immediately felt bad. He WANTED to spend time with her. That hadn't happened to her in awhile. Was she being rude for turning him down? "Um, are you sure?"
"Pour yourself a drink."
She was taken aback by this sudden, random command. "What?"
"Pour yourself a drink. I'll pour myself one. Then we'll sit here and talk over drinks. No pressure."
Winn bit her lip and smiled into the phone. There was obviously a little romance to this guy. "Um, what are you drinking?"
"Maker's Mark. On the rocks. It's my favorite. You?"
"Oh!" In her thoughts, she'd completely forgotten to oblige him. She felt a little silly, it wasn't like he'd actually know or not if she was drinking anything. But she crossed into the kitchen and poured herself a glass of wine anyway.
Isaac chuckled at her forgetfulness. "I'll wait."
"It's okay. I didn't have to go far."
"So what's your poison?"
"Nothing special. Just wine."
"White or red?"
She didn't know why she turned red every time he said something to her. Did she really like him this much? She thought she really liked Taylor, but Isaac--well he just knew how to charm the pants right off of her without even actually trying. "Chardonnay," she answered.
"Okay," he replied. "Not bad."
"Well, it's not whiskey," she flirted.
"It certainly isn't." He paused and she could hear the ice clinking in his glass. "So, Winnie--"
"Winn," she corrected.
"Winn. My apologies. Tell me what's underneath that gorgeous exterior."
She felt herself blushing. "Um..."
Isaac chuckled. "I'm sorry. That came out wrong. Tell me about yourself."
"I'm afraid there isn't much to tell. I lead a relatively boring life."
"Oh, I highly doubt that."
"Prepare for a snooze fest," she warned.
"Just talk."
She couldn't keep the smile off of her face. "Um, well. Okay. I was born and raised in Abilene, Texas. Oldest of three kids. Graduated high school, went to college...here I am. Nothing exciting, nothing outrageous. Nothing like how you grew up."
"So you have a degree?"
"A useless one. But I have one."
"In what?"
"Liberal Arts."
"Hm. Well I can see where you find that useless."
"Gee, thanks."
She could hear the smile in his voice. "I'm sorry. It's not like you're utilizing it anyway, though, right?"
Winn sighed. "Yeah. You're right. I just feel like I wasted four years of my life, you know?"
"Well did you enjoy it? College, I mean. Did you enjoy studying Liberal Arts?"
"Yeah, I loved it."
"So it was worth it, right?"
"I mean, I guess so..."
"Okay, then. So what happened after college?"
"You're talking to it."
"I didn't realize you were that young..."
"Are you calling me old?"
"No!" He said defensively all of a sudden. "Not at all!"
Winn had to giggle. That was cute. "Well I'm not that young. I'm thirty. So it's okay."
"Why don't we just drop that subject?"
She laughed. "I've only ever worked for First Class. Got the job right out of high school. It's all I've ever done. See? Nothing fancy. Tell me about you."
"As if you don't know."
"That's a little pretentious, don't you think?"
"I didn't mean for it to come across like--"
"Well it did."
She heard the clinking of ice against the glass again. "Okay, then."
There was an awkward silence. Winn wanted to feel bad, but she couldn't. She'd learned at an early age, and especially living alone, that you couldn't let people walk all over you. She called life as she saw it. Sometimes it was both a blessing and a curse. Finally she broke the silence. "The truth is, I DO know. I've been a fan since the beginning. I was even at Hanson Day this past May."
"So...you conveniently end up in an office across from our studio..."
"I swear to god I had absolutely nothing to do with that, whatsoever. All my company did was tell me where they were relocating me to. It just happened to be one hell of a coincidence. I swear, I'll give you my supervisor's number and you can call him. And my former supervisor, too, back in Texas. They'll tell you. I even took the stickers and decals off of my car before I drove here."
Isaac began to laugh. "Okay, okay. I get it, you've redeemed yourself."
"Now it's your turn."
"For what?"
"To redeem yourself for that pretentious response."
"I remember you."
Winn fell silent mid-giggle. "Do what?"
"I remember you. From Hanson Day. I mean, I didn't realize it till after I'd already left your office. You stood on my side of the stage. I couldn't miss that red hair even if I tried. I wanted to talk to you after the show but you were already gone. Your bangs are longer now."
"Um--" Winn was speechless. Almost. "Well I only went to stand in line for the after party..."
"Could you imagine me just walking out there and pulling you from a crowd?"
"Oh," she said in realization. "I guess you're right."
"But that was then and now here we are. Talking over drinks."
"Yeah," she agreed as she sipped her wine. "So here we are. So what are you doing when you're not doing the music thing or sitting alone in your apartment?"
"I'm not normally sitting alone in my apartment."
Her face fell. "Oh."
"Hopefully someday soon you'll be sitting here having a drink with me and I won't be sitting alone in my apartment when I AM here."
"You're not alone now," she offered.
"Touche."
"Seriously. What intrigues you?"
"Mystery," he said, without skipping a beat. "I like a little mystery. I like to learn and discover things. I like figuring out what makes people tick. Everyone's different."
"You like mind games."
"That's a harsh way of putting it."
"But that's essentially what it is. In a sense, I mean."
"I have a feeling you're gonna be trouble."
"I have a feeling you already are." She immediately felt the tension after she made her last statement and it wasn't necessarily bad tension. It was tension that scared her. Tension she probably shouldn't have felt.
She heard the clinking of ice against the glass again. "You think I'm trouble?" He said quietly.
"I see the potential," she said as quietly as he did.
"Is that a bad thing?"
"I don't know."
"Have dinner with me."
Her eyes widened. She didn't know if was the wine or the late night hours or what, but it was bad enough she was already feeling an attraction for him in such a short amount of time. She wasn't sure going out with him at all was a good idea. However, her curiosity was killing her and she just--well she kept remembering what Tina said. She needed to get out. And maybe having dinner with Isaac wouldn't be so bad, right?
As if feeling like he needed to seal the deal, he continued, "We can schedule it for the weekend so you're not feeling burdened by work. I'm a patient man. I can wait a few more days. But I'm not THAT patient."
Winn wasn't sure what that meant but she chose to ignore it. Instead, against her better judgment, she caught herself nodding into the phone. "Um, okay," she agreed. "Saturday night would be good for me."
"Fantastic," he said enthusiastically. "Awesome.'
As the conversation turned to Tulsa restaurants, a subject which Winn pretty much had no idea about, her mind began to wander. Suddenly she thought of Taylor for a second. There were those familiar pangs of guilt again.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Isaac sat in the dimly-lit living room of the apartment that his buddies lovingly called his "bachelor pad." The black leather arm chair he sat in was deep and he slouched comfortably in it with his ankle crossed over his knee. His glass of whiskey dangled from his hand as his arm extended over the arm of the chair and he looked across the room, studying the abstract art on the wall across from him. The apartment was silent, as it always was. He had hung up with Winn ten minutes ago but he couldn't find it in himself to move. He was trying to assess the situation. Trying to let it register.
This one felt different. He was madly attracted to her--but that was normal. He never had any problem getting whatever woman he wanted so that wasn't the issue, either. The issue was, he couldn't seem to keep them. He was noticing that he was getting into his thirties now and his views on life, especially the dating scene, were starting to alter as the years passed. It was becoming exhausting, keeping up with his playboy persona. It wasn't necessarily something he was proud of, but if a beautiful woman wanted to spend some time with him, who was he to deny her? Was it his fault that there just happened to be a plethora of them? All the time?
But this one--Winn--she was different. He found himself actually wanting to know more about her than how she looked underneath her dress. She'd turned him down for drinks and called him pretentious. Women just didn't turn him down and they certainly didn't call him on his shit. Something told him that he would have to tread lightly with this one.
Isaac still felt like he didn't know a damn thing about her. Sure, they had talked, but he hadn't really learned anything. He wanted to know what made her tick. He wanted to know what excited her. He wanted to know what triggered the emotions that she didn't dare share freely in public. Most importantly, he wanted to know what HE could do to turn her on. She had no idea how sexy she was, that much was obvious. And he wanted to be the one to show her.
Damn, this was a bad idea. Sitting there, letting his mind wander. He couldn't help himself as he undressed her in his fantasies as he sat there, swirling what was left of his whiskey around in his glass. He tried to hear her voice saying his name in ecstasy and his eyes narrowed at the thought when, all of a sudden, his brain derailed and took a crashing tumble off the tracks--
Why in the hell did Taylor know her name?
Taylor found himself in a good mood the next morning. The previous night's Chamber dinner had started out questionably, but had then taken a turn for the better. Winn intrigued him. He still didn't learn as much about her as he'd liked, but never running out of things to talk about was a step in the right direction. So far all he knew was that she hailed from Abilene, she took her job seriously, and that she had texture issues with certain sea foods. They talked a lot about sushi and he'd told her about a great sushi place in town. "You'll love it, I promise. Best in Tulsa."
Their conversation had ended quickly after that and they'd parted ways. He had to admit, he wasn't ready to end the evening yet, but he figured she'd want to get home and get to bed. He knew she had to work in the morning and he didn't want to smother her, or at least make her feel like he was. For some reason, she struck him as the type who preferred to take things slowly. After all, she'd made it painfully clear in their first meeting that she more or less didn't have time for dating, so...
Still, though. Who'd won out at the dinner last night? Certainly not Patrick. Taylor smiled to himself, lost in his thoughts as his head stayed buried in his phone. He and his brothers were in the alleyway beside 3CG, getting a little fresh air. They had begun their break talking about chord progressions and drum beats for a song they were writing when conversation trailed off and Taylor ended up more interested in his phone. He snapped back into reality, apparently having missed an entire conversation, because Zac was saying to Isaac, "Ike, you don't even have a type. Your type is female. Period."
Isaac Hanson looked at his younger brother, offended. "That's not true. I have--I have standards..."
Zac laughed. "Yeah, right. Okay, so the waitress at Mexicali, the production assistant at the news station, the bartender at the Tavern, and the...one...two...three bank tellers from the bank--"
"From the same bank," Taylor suddenly interjected.
"What do any of them have in common?" Zac finished.
Ike crossed his arms in thought. The answer to Zac's question was taking way too long. "Well...I mean, Cindy and Petra were both--"
"No," Zac said.
"Sandra and Michelle BOTH--"
"No," Zac said again. "This. Exactly this. They're all female. That's it."
"They were all beautiful."
"And female."
"I like beautiful women. That's a type."
"No, it isn't," Zac replied.
Ike scowled. "Please. I have a type."
"Okay," Zac challenged. "Enlighten us. Be my guest."
Ike fell silent. His head was turned outside the alleyway and Taylor suddenly grew bored with the conversation. As he found his head back in his phone, his older brother began to speak. "Red hair. Brown boots. And a coat that hugs all the right places."
"That's awfully specific," Zac retorted.
"Yeah, because she just walked right into my line of sight."
This caused Taylor's head to jerk up and his heart sank when he spied Winn across the street. A grin spread across Ike's face as he noticed her. Zac glanced at Taylor, then back at Ike. "Ike, uh, I don't think she's your type..."
Ike turned to look at him. "Of course she is, don't you see her? She's gorgeous. And redheaded. You know what they say about redheads..."
Zac was beginning to look as uncomfortable as Taylor felt. "Yeah, I dunno...I can't really see you with a redhead..."
"Well, lucky for me, that's not up to you," Ike said. "And she looks like she's having a hard time carrying all that stuff." He turned and grinned at his brothers. "Duty calls, boys. Can't ignore a damsel in distress."
And then, before he could be stopped, Ike made his way quickly across the street.
Zac had fallen silent as he and Taylor watched Ike interact with her. They couldn't be heard but they were both smiling as Ike took some of the load off her hands and followed her into her office. "Well, that's all she wrote," Taylor muttered in defeat.
Zac shot a look at him. "What does that mean?"
Taylor scoffed. "Come on. You know as well as I do the moment he sinks his talons into her, it's all over. As long as he's involved, I don't have a chance in hell."
"Did you not ask her out?"
Taylor was silent as he looked back at Zac with guilt and regret.
Zac raised his eyebrows. "Are you fucking kidding? How do you expect anything to happen if you don't make a move, man?"
Taylor sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "I don't know, I just--things have been going relatively well, I've been getting to know her, I just thought--"
"Well you're not giving up, are you?"
"It doesn't matter. She doesn't like me, anyway."
"How do you know?"
"I can just tell. Doesn't take a rocket scientist to know when a woman's not interested."
Several minutes later, Ike bounded back into the alleyway, beaming. "So her name is Winnie--"
"Winn," Taylor corrected quietly. "Her name is Winn. She hates Winnie."
"Right..." Ike said, his eyes narrowing. "Anyway, guess who got her phone number?" He flashed a First Class Finance business card at them.
"So you got her office number, so what?" Taylor said. "Big deal."
"Ooh," Ike teased. "Sounds like someone's jealous."
Taylor scowled at him. "I think it's time to get back to work."
Zac shook his head in disbelief. "You're such a dick, man."
"Why?" Ike asked, offended. "What the hell did I do?"
Ignoring him, Taylor and Zac made their way back inside, their older brother trailing quietly behind them.
---------------------------------------------------------------
Meeting Isaac was brief, but he'd certainly made an impression on Winn in that short amount of time. He was a gentleman. She was a sucker for a gentleman. He had come all the way across the street just to help her carry in some office supplies she'd picked up on her lunch break. It didn't cross her mind until later, thinking about her past conversations with Taylor and now this interaction with Isaac, that it seemed like the Hanson brothers watched her quite frequently from across the street. She wasn't sure how she felt about that.
But still, the sentiment was nice of him and, to her surprise, she found her mind on him for most of the rest of the day. He had a fantastic smile. And that smile was now ingrained in her brain with no chance of removing itself anytime soon.
AND she had gotten his phone number.
Suddenly, she couldn't wait to get off work. She was afraid this would happen. However, when she got home, she couldn't bring it upon herself to call him. Or even text him. Contact him just mere hours after meeting him? That was absurd. But she couldn't stop thinking about him. About that smile. And how nice he was. And--and charming. Much more charming than Patrick had been. Isaac had come across the street and immediately started taking things out of her hands. "Let me help you with that," he'd said. And then he'd introduced himself. Of course she knew who he was, but she went with it anyway. To her own surprise, she didn't even correct him when he called her Winnie. Maybe she was just too caught up in the moment to worry about it. Or maybe she liked the way it sounded when he said it. Was that even possible?
They'd walked past the curious eyes of her three employees and into the back room of the office where the supplies were kept where they lay them down on the conference table and he'd said to her, "Forgive me for being forward but I gotta admit, I couldn't help myself but come across the street out of nowhere like that. I just had to meet you. You're just so--do you know how beautiful you are?"
And then she had blushed, barely able to keep it together. The truth was, it had been over a year since she'd heard that from anyone--and the last person to say anything like that to her was her ex, worthless as he turned out to be. They had chatted briefly after that. He told her he would like to get to know her a little more, whenever she got a free moment. And then he'd given her his phone number. She stupidly had given him a business card with her office number on it, never bothering to write her personal number on it. Isaac had either not caught it or chose not to say anything about it. That right there charmed the pants right off of her.
Now here she sat, alone at home, with a free moment. Hell, she had an entire free evening. She had gotten so far as to program his number in her phone when she stopped and stared at it and thought about Taylor.
Winn didn't know why the thought of Taylor all of a sudden sent pangs of guilt soaring through her body. Was this weird? Did SHE think it was weird, herself? It wasn't like she had an obligation to Taylor. After all, he'd never given her his number. He never asked her on a date. Not even out for lunch or coffee. And that sushi talk last night? All he had to do was ask her to have sushi with him. It wasn't difficult. She could have caved and turned her back on her own personal traditions and asked him out herself. But she figured if he hadn't done it by that point, he wasn't going to do it at all. She had to face the facts. They got along, they had a lot in common, and he was great to hang out with. But maybe he just wasn't interested like that. Maybe just friends was where their relationship was meant to stay. And besides, getting to know Isaac was--well, he was Taylor's brother. He shouldn't mind that. Should he?
Winn was so desperately bored it was sickening. Tina had been right when she'd told her the day she met Taylor that she needed to get out more. She was beginning to understand the warning now. She was feeling the loneliness and the cabin fever. However, she was also exhausted. It was early November and they were preparing for growth season--the season in which every person in the local area would be applying for loans and renewing the ones they had to prepare for Christmas. It was their busiest season and they were open for business six days a week with later hours. She couldn't be interested in a man right now. Not right now. She couldn't start anything with anybody. Not in a brand new struggling office at growth season where she had no time to dedicate to anything but work.
Except that right this second, she wasn't at work. And Isaac Hanson had given her his phone number with the expectation that she would use it. It wasn't like he'd put a time frame on it. But still. Would he think she was crazy, contacting him so soon?
Win took a deep breath and texted him anyway. "Hey, it's me. Just realized that I didn't give you my number earlier. So here it is."
And then she held her breath. Surprisingly, she didn't have to hold it for long. He texted her back. She couldn't wipe the smile off her face. "Winnie? Hey, I'm glad you texted me."
Winn bit her lip, feeling like a giddy school girl again. "I go by Winn," she texted. "Just Winn."
"Ok cool. Hold on a second."
Immediately, she felt bad. She had disturbed him. Caught him at a bad time. Interrupted him. She knew she shouldn't have contacted him so soon. Dammit, she needed a hobby.
Suddenly her phone vibrated in her hand and her eyes widened, her palms breaking a sweat, her heart racing as she looked at her screen. He was calling her!
She answered apologetically. "Hey. Look, I'm so sorry if I disturbed you. I don't want you to think that I'm--"
Isaac chuckled. "It's okay, don't worry. I'm actually glad you texted me. I, uh, didn't get your number earlier and I wanted to call you..."
Winn smiled, his words a pleasant surprise. "You did?"
"Yeah. Of course I did. We didn't have much time to talk earlier."
"Oh. Um, well...uh, do you have time now?"
"Wouldn't be calling if I didn't."
Suddenly she had no idea what to say. Her mouth went dry. This never happened with Taylor. There were never awkward silences.
"So, Winn," Isaac continued. "Where are you right now?"
"I'm at home, as always."
"Well look at that, we already have something in common. I just walked into my apartment."
Her heart pounded every time he spoke. He continued, "And as a matter of fact, I have absolutely no plans tonight. Wanna make some?"
"What?" She wasn't sure she heard him correctly.
He laughed again. "Plans. Wanna make some plans, I mean. Nothing major, just something a little impromptu. Drinks maybe? We can meet in an hour?"
Winn blinked her eyes at her living room wall. Drinks? In an hour? On a work night? It was already late...no. She couldn't. She just couldn't. She was handpicked and specifically uprooted and relocated JUST to fix this office. She couldn't be distracted. It just couldn't happen. "Um..."
Isaac seemed to immediately pick up on her hesitance. "Too soon?"
She tucked her feet underneath her on her couch and muted the TV. "I just--I just transferred here from Abilene a month ago. I have an office that I have to correct, we're just beginning the busiest season of the year--I'm not sure I really have time for spontaneity."
"How do you have a life without a little spontaneity? Isn't that boring?"
She opened her mouth to speak and then closed it. He had a point. "I just think tonight isn't the best night to be spontaneous."
"Okay. No problem. We'll just sit here and talk, then."
Winn immediately felt bad. He WANTED to spend time with her. That hadn't happened to her in awhile. Was she being rude for turning him down? "Um, are you sure?"
"Pour yourself a drink."
She was taken aback by this sudden, random command. "What?"
"Pour yourself a drink. I'll pour myself one. Then we'll sit here and talk over drinks. No pressure."
Winn bit her lip and smiled into the phone. There was obviously a little romance to this guy. "Um, what are you drinking?"
"Maker's Mark. On the rocks. It's my favorite. You?"
"Oh!" In her thoughts, she'd completely forgotten to oblige him. She felt a little silly, it wasn't like he'd actually know or not if she was drinking anything. But she crossed into the kitchen and poured herself a glass of wine anyway.
Isaac chuckled at her forgetfulness. "I'll wait."
"It's okay. I didn't have to go far."
"So what's your poison?"
"Nothing special. Just wine."
"White or red?"
She didn't know why she turned red every time he said something to her. Did she really like him this much? She thought she really liked Taylor, but Isaac--well he just knew how to charm the pants right off of her without even actually trying. "Chardonnay," she answered.
"Okay," he replied. "Not bad."
"Well, it's not whiskey," she flirted.
"It certainly isn't." He paused and she could hear the ice clinking in his glass. "So, Winnie--"
"Winn," she corrected.
"Winn. My apologies. Tell me what's underneath that gorgeous exterior."
She felt herself blushing. "Um..."
Isaac chuckled. "I'm sorry. That came out wrong. Tell me about yourself."
"I'm afraid there isn't much to tell. I lead a relatively boring life."
"Oh, I highly doubt that."
"Prepare for a snooze fest," she warned.
"Just talk."
She couldn't keep the smile off of her face. "Um, well. Okay. I was born and raised in Abilene, Texas. Oldest of three kids. Graduated high school, went to college...here I am. Nothing exciting, nothing outrageous. Nothing like how you grew up."
"So you have a degree?"
"A useless one. But I have one."
"In what?"
"Liberal Arts."
"Hm. Well I can see where you find that useless."
"Gee, thanks."
She could hear the smile in his voice. "I'm sorry. It's not like you're utilizing it anyway, though, right?"
Winn sighed. "Yeah. You're right. I just feel like I wasted four years of my life, you know?"
"Well did you enjoy it? College, I mean. Did you enjoy studying Liberal Arts?"
"Yeah, I loved it."
"So it was worth it, right?"
"I mean, I guess so..."
"Okay, then. So what happened after college?"
"You're talking to it."
"I didn't realize you were that young..."
"Are you calling me old?"
"No!" He said defensively all of a sudden. "Not at all!"
Winn had to giggle. That was cute. "Well I'm not that young. I'm thirty. So it's okay."
"Why don't we just drop that subject?"
She laughed. "I've only ever worked for First Class. Got the job right out of high school. It's all I've ever done. See? Nothing fancy. Tell me about you."
"As if you don't know."
"That's a little pretentious, don't you think?"
"I didn't mean for it to come across like--"
"Well it did."
She heard the clinking of ice against the glass again. "Okay, then."
There was an awkward silence. Winn wanted to feel bad, but she couldn't. She'd learned at an early age, and especially living alone, that you couldn't let people walk all over you. She called life as she saw it. Sometimes it was both a blessing and a curse. Finally she broke the silence. "The truth is, I DO know. I've been a fan since the beginning. I was even at Hanson Day this past May."
"So...you conveniently end up in an office across from our studio..."
"I swear to god I had absolutely nothing to do with that, whatsoever. All my company did was tell me where they were relocating me to. It just happened to be one hell of a coincidence. I swear, I'll give you my supervisor's number and you can call him. And my former supervisor, too, back in Texas. They'll tell you. I even took the stickers and decals off of my car before I drove here."
Isaac began to laugh. "Okay, okay. I get it, you've redeemed yourself."
"Now it's your turn."
"For what?"
"To redeem yourself for that pretentious response."
"I remember you."
Winn fell silent mid-giggle. "Do what?"
"I remember you. From Hanson Day. I mean, I didn't realize it till after I'd already left your office. You stood on my side of the stage. I couldn't miss that red hair even if I tried. I wanted to talk to you after the show but you were already gone. Your bangs are longer now."
"Um--" Winn was speechless. Almost. "Well I only went to stand in line for the after party..."
"Could you imagine me just walking out there and pulling you from a crowd?"
"Oh," she said in realization. "I guess you're right."
"But that was then and now here we are. Talking over drinks."
"Yeah," she agreed as she sipped her wine. "So here we are. So what are you doing when you're not doing the music thing or sitting alone in your apartment?"
"I'm not normally sitting alone in my apartment."
Her face fell. "Oh."
"Hopefully someday soon you'll be sitting here having a drink with me and I won't be sitting alone in my apartment when I AM here."
"You're not alone now," she offered.
"Touche."
"Seriously. What intrigues you?"
"Mystery," he said, without skipping a beat. "I like a little mystery. I like to learn and discover things. I like figuring out what makes people tick. Everyone's different."
"You like mind games."
"That's a harsh way of putting it."
"But that's essentially what it is. In a sense, I mean."
"I have a feeling you're gonna be trouble."
"I have a feeling you already are." She immediately felt the tension after she made her last statement and it wasn't necessarily bad tension. It was tension that scared her. Tension she probably shouldn't have felt.
She heard the clinking of ice against the glass again. "You think I'm trouble?" He said quietly.
"I see the potential," she said as quietly as he did.
"Is that a bad thing?"
"I don't know."
"Have dinner with me."
Her eyes widened. She didn't know if was the wine or the late night hours or what, but it was bad enough she was already feeling an attraction for him in such a short amount of time. She wasn't sure going out with him at all was a good idea. However, her curiosity was killing her and she just--well she kept remembering what Tina said. She needed to get out. And maybe having dinner with Isaac wouldn't be so bad, right?
As if feeling like he needed to seal the deal, he continued, "We can schedule it for the weekend so you're not feeling burdened by work. I'm a patient man. I can wait a few more days. But I'm not THAT patient."
Winn wasn't sure what that meant but she chose to ignore it. Instead, against her better judgment, she caught herself nodding into the phone. "Um, okay," she agreed. "Saturday night would be good for me."
"Fantastic," he said enthusiastically. "Awesome.'
As the conversation turned to Tulsa restaurants, a subject which Winn pretty much had no idea about, her mind began to wander. Suddenly she thought of Taylor for a second. There were those familiar pangs of guilt again.
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Isaac sat in the dimly-lit living room of the apartment that his buddies lovingly called his "bachelor pad." The black leather arm chair he sat in was deep and he slouched comfortably in it with his ankle crossed over his knee. His glass of whiskey dangled from his hand as his arm extended over the arm of the chair and he looked across the room, studying the abstract art on the wall across from him. The apartment was silent, as it always was. He had hung up with Winn ten minutes ago but he couldn't find it in himself to move. He was trying to assess the situation. Trying to let it register.
This one felt different. He was madly attracted to her--but that was normal. He never had any problem getting whatever woman he wanted so that wasn't the issue, either. The issue was, he couldn't seem to keep them. He was noticing that he was getting into his thirties now and his views on life, especially the dating scene, were starting to alter as the years passed. It was becoming exhausting, keeping up with his playboy persona. It wasn't necessarily something he was proud of, but if a beautiful woman wanted to spend some time with him, who was he to deny her? Was it his fault that there just happened to be a plethora of them? All the time?
But this one--Winn--she was different. He found himself actually wanting to know more about her than how she looked underneath her dress. She'd turned him down for drinks and called him pretentious. Women just didn't turn him down and they certainly didn't call him on his shit. Something told him that he would have to tread lightly with this one.
Isaac still felt like he didn't know a damn thing about her. Sure, they had talked, but he hadn't really learned anything. He wanted to know what made her tick. He wanted to know what excited her. He wanted to know what triggered the emotions that she didn't dare share freely in public. Most importantly, he wanted to know what HE could do to turn her on. She had no idea how sexy she was, that much was obvious. And he wanted to be the one to show her.
Damn, this was a bad idea. Sitting there, letting his mind wander. He couldn't help himself as he undressed her in his fantasies as he sat there, swirling what was left of his whiskey around in his glass. He tried to hear her voice saying his name in ecstasy and his eyes narrowed at the thought when, all of a sudden, his brain derailed and took a crashing tumble off the tracks--
Why in the hell did Taylor know her name?