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“Why?” asked Peach, blinking at him. “Animals are our friends. Also, I don’t know if you heard me before, but Teddy’s hypoallergenic. Teddy wouldn’t do anyone a bit of harm.”
As if trying to prove its innocence, the dog barked, and it was the ugliest, most ear-piercing noise that Isaac had ever heard.
Trying to ignore the feeling in his ears, like they’d just been pricked with pins, Isaac said: “I can assure you I’ve heard it all before. It’s hypoallergenic. It doesn’t shed much. It’s perfectly safe… Nope. Not where I’m concerned. I’m allergic to all creatures, period.”
“Including humans?” Peach asked quietly.
Isaac decided it was best to just change the subject. “Where are your friends, young lady? Daisy has been so excited about having her friends come to stay with her. I thought you’d all be off exploring the city together.”
Peach snorted. “I’m not really one of Daisy’s friends anymore.”
Uh oh. Isaac was worried about this. Littles needed friends. Peach was all alone in a big new city, and that meant that she could end up in all kinds of trouble. Three milkshakes in a row was just the start of the inevitable downward spiral.
“Want to talk about it?” said Isaac. “I have time.”
Even if it means having to sit here with your dog to avoid my cat.
Not that it’s my cat.
There’s just no way I’m keeping that damn furball.
“I don’t know,” said Peach, shaking her head. “I don’t know you that well. And I don’t get why you care.”
Isaac nodded. “That’s fair. We didn’t get off to the best start. And I’m not much of a people person. Not like Montague or Bastion. But I care because you’re a Little. And I care about Littles. Even Littles with—“ Isaac looked down at Teddy, ”—hellhounds.”
Peach’s jaw dropped. “Teddy’s not a hellhound! But… I guess I could talk to you. I don’t have much choice now that my friends have gone.”
“Where did they go?” asked Isaac.
“They’re at a beauty spa,” Peach replied. “No dogs allowed.”
Isaac bit his lip, resisting the urge to make a comment.
“Thing is, they keep doing things together without me. They say I’m invited, but I can’t go anywhere without Teddy.” She sniffed. “And now Kiera is talking about moving here, to be with Daisy. Daisy used to bemybest friend, and, and, and—“ Peach’s lower lip began trembling, and soon she was crying her eyes out, with snot pouring out of her nose and down onto her cartoon t-shirt.
The strange thing was, Isaac wasn’t turned off by it in the least. In fact, he found Peach’s childlike vulnerability strangely charming. He passed her a napkin.
“Sounds like this vacation hasn’t been going like you planned,” said Isaac. “Friends can be difficult, eh? Especially when there are three of you. One of you often gets left out.” Isaac thought about Montague and Bastion. How Montague had been too busy with Daisy lately to hang out. How Bastion was too busy getting his dick wet with a bunch of strangers to meet up. Isaac was the one that always got left out too. The lonely one. The one whose dick remained dry as a bone.
“It’s not just that, though,” said Peach. “My whole life is in disarray. Back home in Connecticut, I somehow managed to switch off my brain. Tell myself that I was happy with my lot. But you know what? I’ve got nothing. And there’s so much I want.”
Isaac leaned forward. “Like what?”
Peach looked at him. “I’d like to be successful. To be financially independent enough to spend my whole time volunteering if I wanted to. And I’d like to travel.”
Isaac smiled. “Where would you go first?”
“Europe,” Peach replied, quick as a whip. “Probably Spain. I think it seems so romantic. The twiddly guitar music. The pink drinks. The big juicy oranges.”
Isaac nodded, looking at the cocktail umbrella in Peach’s empty glass. He couldn’t believe this, but there was an idea forming. “Hey,” he said slowly, carefully, “how about we strike a… business deal?”
Peach blew her nose and then frowned at him, confused. “What are you talking about, sir?”
“A simple financial transaction,” said Isaac, the idea becoming clearer with each passing second. It was so obvious now that he couldn’t believe he hadn’t had it before. “I’d like to pay you a lot of money,” he said, “in return for marrying me.”
Peach’s eyes widened. “You’re… proposing to me?”
“Purely a business agreement,” Isaac said quickly. Without meaning for it to happen, his gaze slipped down to Peach’s ample bosom, her curvaceous figure. He found himself imagining her generous body under all that bright clothing. What someone as colorful as her would be like in the sack. Then, he forced himself to stop. “This wouldn’t be a sexual thing.”
