Page 17 of The Through Duet
Yeah, this wasn’t going at all like I had planned.
Chapter 9
Rya~
I hadn’t been expecting any of this when I had decided to show up at Liquid IV this evening.The plan had been, as always, to drink a couple of beers, then maybe find someone to help take the edge off.However, I hadn’t expected to find Koen Wilder waiting for me, and I sure as hell hadn’t expected David to send me a beer, especially when I’d made the rules between us clear.
At any rate, I could deal with David later by just reminding him of the rules, but Koen was another matter altogether.Nowhere in this world would it make sense that Koen Wilder would want to go out on a date with me.Even if I was five-foot-ten and had the perfect figure and face, Koen would still be out of my league.The man’s family had billions with a B, and he looked like he’d been touched by the hand of God.In fact, he was so gorgeous that he could probably give Lucifer a run for his money.
Not to mention that my days off at Precious Pets weren’t always the same, so whenever I had Wednesday and Thursday off together, I liked to spend it lost in the feeling of belonging to someone, even if it was just for a moment.I wanted to have just one night without the harsh truth in my face.
Koen’s brows furrowed, and the man did not look happy by my question.“Well, not only are you beautiful, but I really did enjoy watching you play pool the other night,” he answered, and he sounded convincing enough to give me pause.“You played with confidence and determination, and it was really impressive to watch.”
His light grey eyes were a real contrast to his black hair, matching brows, and thick lashes, and it was easy to see how a girl could get lost in them whenever he spoke, but luckily for my sanity, I was made of much stronger stuff than the average female.Besides, Keon being here to ask me out was just too wild to even contemplate.
“Even if that’s true-”
“Because I have a reason to lie to you?”he asked, interrupting me as he jerked his head back in surprise.“Seriously?”
I let out a deep sigh, trying to figure out how to word my confusion without insulting him completely.“You’re Koen Wilder, and...and you should be on...on a yacht with a gorgeous woman on your arm, drinking...I don’t know...drinking whatever it is that rich people drink.”
“I get motion sickness, and even if I didn’t, I’m not interested in sailing the seas with some random woman on my arm,” he replied, his voice a bit hard.“I’m interested in you, and I’d like to take you to dinner, or a movie...or whatever you’d like.”
The small part of me that still believed in the goodness of people wanted this to be true, but Koen Wilder being interested in me was just too insane to contemplate.Whatever might be going on in his life, he was bigger than dating a girl that worked at a pet grooming place for wages that barely allowed for a vacation once a year.Looks aside, Koen’s life was...was louder than mine, and he needed to date someone who could keep up that kind of pace.
“While I’m flattered, we’re going to have to leave this thing as...as a pleasant conversation one Friday night,” I finally told him, not really equipped to deal with the likes of him.
“Are you serious?”he asked.“You’re not even going to give me a chance?”
“Seems like a waste of time, Koen,” I remarked bluntly.“Even if I did agree to go out on a date with you, I just can’t see us having anything in common for a second date to even come up.”
Those mercury-colored eyes of his narrowed.“You can’t possibly know that, Rya.You don’t know enough about me to be able to predict such a thing.”
“Oh, I know enough,” I chuckled.“Even if your looks weren’t what they are, I’ve never stepped foot in a country club to know how to act there.”
His jaw ticked, and it was surprising to see that he wasn’t trying to hide his irritation at all.“I don’t recall suggesting that we go to any country club for our date.”
