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She’d outgrown the need for adventures and escapades.
If I’d have known he was our driver, I’d have had a Bloody Mary for breakfast to take the edge off.
Shakespeare did a horrible job of suppressing a laugh, earning a hard stare from Violet.
“What are you mumbling about?” Grandma Dotty was practicing her arm moves, which consisted of cross-body reaches and snaps. “Did you say something about Mary? Do I know Mary? Was she at the party yesterday? Does she do hip hop cardio?”
“Did I say that out loud?”Lovely.Sleep deprivation had removed Violet’s filter.
Shakespeare didn’t even try to hold back the laughter this time.
Grrr. Vi needed distance between herself and this man. And in her experience, the best way to deter a man was with a little snark. “Grandma Dotty, I don’t think Chuck looks like a Chuck. Isn’t he more like a Chas or a Chip?” He may dress like the help, but he had a million-dollar smile.
And score!Her comment wiped the smile from Shakespeare’s overly-handsome face. Maybe now she could resist his magnetism.
“Now, Vi. It’s not nice to tease a hard-working man like Chuck.”
“Work more than other,” he muttered what sounded like another Shakespeare quote.
“Don’t play that card,” Violet said, girding herself against the idea that not-Chuck was a unicorn in the forest of sports statistic-touting men.
“What card?” Oh, he was trying to play dumb.
But Violet wasn’t buying it. He was too sharp to be a stable boy/limo driver. If they’d been in Hollywood, she would have assumed he was an aspiring scriptwriter with a degree from UCLA film school. But here… Here he could be anything. The question was what. An over-educated dot com flop? A down on his luck investment banker? A wannabe entrepreneur looking for financing?
“Vi doesn’t joke about Shakespeare.” Grandma Dotty played corners, leaning into Violet as their driver made a left turn a little too fast. “It’s her gift. Her life’s work.”
“Hergift?” Shakespeare glanced at Violet in the rear view mirror without a tease or that devilish grin of his. That glance gave importance to her so-called gift and gave Violet pause to consider a more serious side of him.
Grandma Dotty nodded. “Vi’s going to spend the rest of summer working on a book on Shakespeare, from morning to night. That leaves no time for anything but hip hop cardio and dinner with me at The Palm.”
One of the most expensive restaurants in East Hampton and not a nightly destination as far as Violet’s wallet was concerned. She may be an heiress, but she had yet to inherit anything.
“Are we there yet?” Violet asked, not entirely sure where they were going. There were dozens of small exercise studios in the Hamptons that provided yoga, Pilates, and cardio workouts.
“We’re here.” Shakespeare double parked and ran around to open Grandma Dotty’s door. “And listen to that Jay Z song, Dotty. That’s classical hip hop, complete with Hamlet references.”
Vi was impressed.
Really, not-Chuck was well-read for a guy living his best life on the fringe in the Hamptons. Despite her determination to remain detached, Violet was intrigued. It was a shame that the chauffeuring cowboy came with a warning sign and wasn’t to be encouraged. Even his name was wrong.
Grandma Dotty shimmied into the studio.
Violet sighed as she slid out of the car on Dotty’s side. She was her grandmother’s designated adult for the summer. Or at least, until Dotty grew tired of Hampton life. And Vi was afraid there were many more early mornings ahead of her.
“Your grandmother pre-paid by credit card but didn’t make a return ride reservation.” There was something earnest in not-Chuck’s expression and Violet had no idea why. “Do you need one?”
Violet faced him. His suit was pressed. His tie perfectly knotted. She, on the other hand, wore a wrinkled tank top and hadn’t brushed her hair. Wasn’t that just her luck? Good-looking men always managed to show up good-looking, while she always looked like she’d just gotten out of bed. “Must I need a ride home?”
“You must. I insist.” He grinned. “I’ll be back in forty-five minutes.”
“Fine, Shakespeare. As long as you don’t stand outside the window and watch.” Violet schlepped into the studio, signing up and paying for two.
*
Coop parked at the local coffee shop and called Dotty’s request for a return ride home into his dispatcher.
“Dotty Summer? I didn’t make the connection when she called in as Dot-to-the-E.” His boss and landlord Paul laughed in his chain-smoker voice. “I should have recognized the address. Dotty Summer is a legend in the Hamptons. You take good care of her, Chuck.”
