Page 15 of Double

“You wouldn’t agree to date her long distance?”

“I wouldn’t agree to date her any longer. We’d been dating for five years. I was ready to settle down, . . . beyond ready. You gotta understand. The men I admire most don’t fuck around in the streets until their forties. They find their woman, marry her, and start to build. As far as I was concerned, I was already behind the curve. My grandfather married his first wife, my mom’s mother, at twenty-three. My father married my mother at thirty.

“I was thirty when I met Erica. I gave her five years. I wasn’t open to an indefinite dating situation. I want my wife. I want my family unit. I’m creating all this legacy for . . . nobody.”

“Wow. I didn’t even know American men thought like that.”

“Don’t credit that to me being American. I don’t know what the fuck American men do. According to my single sister and cousins, they play games all damn day. I’m a Hill and a Waters. Hill men and Waters men are built different.”

“Okay. So just any wife will do?”

“Nah, not just any wife. I don’t have to be crazy in love with her, but there has to be the potential there for us to create something good. I wanna wife I can be friends with, someone I can respect, who respects me. I want someone motivated and ambitious. But also caring and kind-hearted. I need to be physically attracted to her. She needs to be trustworthy and true, and I’ll be loyal and protective.”

I glanced into his handsome face before putting my eyes back on the Scrabble board. I didn’t understand that chick, Erica. Unless there was some personality flaw I was missing, she walked away from a winner.

The pickings were slim in Iredia for upstanding men, and they seemed to be slim in America, too. I didn’t understand why she just walked away and never looked back. Whatever. Her loss was about to possibly be my gain.

I checked back into the conversation. Double was still speaking. “Since I’m taking over as the Executive Director of my family’s foundation, I gotta go to all the fundraisers, all the galas, all the benefits, all the auctions, and all the other in-person events you can think of. It’s boring as hell, but it’s doubly boring when you’re there by yourself.”

“I can see that.” I nodded my head. “My father was in with the right crowds on Iredia. They went to a lot of events. I can only imagine that the women there flirt with you and stuff.”

“They do.”

“There are probably some nice ones. They already understand the dynamics of your world. I’m sure they’re motivated and ambitious. I’m sure at least one of them would make a good candidate for a wife.”

He shrugged his broad shoulders. “Probably. But I’m not looking to invest the time it would take to vet somebody. Before my grandparents asked me to help you out, I made an appointment with a professional matchmaker. I’m outta the game. I’m ready to get to the finish line.”

“And marriage is the finish line? You make it sound like something you need to cross off a to-do list.”

“Maybe.” He gave a shrug of his shoulders.

“Eww. That’s not very romantic.”

“That’s what you want, Tinsley? Romance?”

I considered his question. “I mean, if a man was truly pursuing me, yes. I would want romance. I would want to feel . . . wanted and desired by him. I would want to feel like he put thought and effort into making me feel like I was his person.”

“Noted.”

We stared at each other in silence until I broke it. “It’s your turn . . .” I hesitated, “Double.”

His light-brown eyes stayed on mine for a few beats before he finally moved his glance down to the Scrabble board. I exhaled quietly. I wasn’t sure why his gaze made me hold my breath; it just did.

He put down his word. EXCITED. Then his eyes were back on me. “I heard that your father was a controlling, bitch-ass bastard.”

If I’d been drinking, I would’ve spat all over him. Instead, I fell over on the rug with laughter. “That must’ve come from my Uncle Moses. They were brothers, but they didn’t like each other much. I’ve never heard my father described that way, but I have to admit that it’s super accurate.”

“Yeah. Your uncle said that you spent your entire life fighting to get out from under your father’s thumb. Then, as soon as he died, your aunt tried to pick up the mantle.”

I nodded.

“How did that manifest in your life? What triggers you? I don’t wanna offend you if it can be avoided.”

I blinked quickly several times. “Oh, so you’re trying to get to know, get to know me.”

“You’re my wife for the foreseeable future, Sweetheart. We need to get to know each other.”

I nodded once then took a deep breath. “Uh, when I was young, like about eleven or twelve, I was on the road to developing an eating disorder. What I put in my mouth and in my body were the only things I could control. I would look at food and use my mind to convince myself that it was disgusting. If the cook served noodles, I would convince my mind that they were worms swimming in blood sauce. If it was chicken, I would mentally conjure feathers on it, even if it was fried chicken or jerk chicken. It got to the point that I could only really eat raw vegetables, fruits, and like, french fries.”