Boy Toy

by Jenny Gardiner

  She pulled out her phone and opened up a browser and pulled the picture up in seconds. Wow. So much for a life of privacy. There for the world to see and gawk at was a picture of a shirtless Sully, sweaty and not looking too bad all things considered, and Izzy, well, her hands were all over his chest and she looked like she had a personal stake in whatever was going on there, maybe owned some real estate across his torso. The second picture showed the two of them still hugging but peering at the photographer, Izzy glancing over her shoulder with a particularly deer-in-the-headlights stare.

  Sully shook his head. “What the fuck is wrong with people?” He ran his fingers through his already bedheaded hair (or perhaps wildflower-field hair). He could not believe how his worlds were suddenly intersecting and not in a great way, all because he tried to do something nice. What a lesson he was learning. Nice was for idiots.

  He heard footsteps and glanced over to see Izzy walking toward her car. She gave a halfhearted wave. “Catch you later.” Sully tried to stop her, but she was backing up and out the driveway before he could do anything. Which left him standing alone with his ex who quite frankly he had no interest in ever running into again on a good day. Today? He wished he could press rewind and make her go away before he’d ever seen her.

  IT TOOK A GOOD HOUR or so before Sully could persuade Gretchen that even on a cold day in hell he wouldn’t take her back. That Gretchen and Sully were a thing of the past. They had some good times together, they had some bad times together, and now they would have no times together.

  “So, does that mean you aren’t interested?” She tried one more time. He shook his head. “Can I stay the night at least? We can cozy up by the fireplace. Maybe I could try on the ring for old times’ sake. It could be fun!”

  Sully got up and went to the door and opened it as wide as it would go, then pointed outside. “Sorry, Gretchen. But it’s time to say goodbye for good.”

  Chapter Twenty

  “You do know Sully’s a stand-up guy,” Tanner said as Izzy wept over her fourth glass of wine. “I’d trust him with my life.”

  “Yeah, but would you trust him with your ex-wife? Or fiancée? Whatever she is. Was. Is.”

  “I’d be willing to bet money that the Sully Forester I know has already ushered her out the door and asked her not to return. It took a while for him to get over the relationship, but the last thing he’s going to do is drop everything and go running back into her arms.”

  Izzy shook her head. “Yeah, because she already did that to him.”

  “Gretchen’s not a bad person, she’s just kind of—”

  “Bossy?”

  Tanner nodded. “Yeah, I’d say that.”

  “And bitchy?”

  He shook his head. “With all due respect, I’m not gonna touch that with a ten-foot pole. I’ll leave that to you ladies to duke out.”

  “You’re a mensch, you know that Tanner Eliasson? Zoey’s the luckiest girl in the world.”

  Zoey walked back into the room and lifted an eyebrow. “I am awfully lucky that Tanner and I found each other—or refound each other. Don’t write Sully off. I think there’s something there with you two.”

  Izzy started crying again. “I know there’s something there. We fit together like a hand and a glove.”

  “Ahhh, drunken clichés. My favorite.” Tanner grinned at Izzy.

  “Don’t laugh at me,” Izzy said, swilling her wine. “I mean it. I was all set to not deal with him, but he broke down my defenses and then I even slept with him—I slept with him—and now what?”

  Tanner and Zoey shot each other a look of surprise, their mouths forming matching Os.

  “Oh, Izzy that’s great news!”

  “It was great news,” Izzy said through sobs. “Better than great. But now look.”

  The doorbell rang and Tanner went to answer it.

  “Dude, what the hell took you so long? Your girlfriend is marinating in zinfandel right now.” He led him and Blizzard inside and into the living room, where they had a crackling fire going. Even in the summertime, the nights could get cool enough to justify it. Tanner’s Labrador Suki leapt up as soon as she saw her friend Blizzard and they took off down the hallway to play.

  Sully walked to the sofa where Izzy was curled up in a ball wailing. He reached for her and wrapped his arms around her, and even down the hall, Blizzard pitched in with his own empathy howl. Everyone but Izzy laughed.

  “Hey, Iz.” Sully reached for her chin with his pointer finger and lifted her head to look at him. Izzy didn’t think she had it in her for this conversation right now. “I’m sorry that happened this afternoon, but I want to explain everything to you.”

  Izzy bawled through her tears. “I know, I know, she wants you back and you’re gonna give it a go.”

  He knit his brows. “Do you think that little of me that I’d do that? Especially right when our friendship is starting to form into something meaningful—or at least I hope it is!”

  Drawing in a long breath, Izzy exhaled loudly. “I’m confused and need some space,” she said at last. “I’d like to take a few days to think about things and then I’ll let you know where I stand. Okay?”

  Sully gave her a tight hug. “Take all the time you need. You know where to find me. I’ll be waiting for you when you’re ready, okay?”

  She nodded. “Bye, Sully.” She motioned with her eyes it was time for him to leave her be.

  “It’s not goodbye, Iz. It’s a see ya later.”

  But she wasn’t so sure about that. Dealing with this man who was now larger than life seemed to be more than she wanted to bargain for.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Sully was bleary-eyed. He’d spent the better part of the last four days pouring through thousands of email petitions from people who hoped to be the lucky winner of the engagement ring he couldn’t wait to unload. He was keeping himself especially busy because during those four days he’d had no contact with Izzy, which was making him crazy. Also making him crazy were the nineteen thousand emails. Never in a million years did he think that many people at one point in time were thinking of getting married. Who knew?

  Of course there were still so many to go through, which is why he’d arranged for Harry’s to cater the official reading party he’d scheduled for this evening. It felt like half the town was coming to help him and for that, he was beyond grateful. Otherwise he’d probably have chosen some random prize generator online, though that seemed particularly impersonal and he was sure he’d miss out on the special person that way.

  He was hoping Izzy would show up but it was anybody’s guess. He’d texted both Zoey and Tanner in the hopes that they’d peer-pressure her to attend. He was willing to play dirty if it meant he’d have a chance to try to work things out with her.

  He was still a bit mystified why she freaked out so much about Gretchen’s little maneuver, but then again, the timing couldn’t have been much worse. If only she’d felt like she was number one, instead of somehow thinking she was knocked down ten pegs by Gretchen’s arrival. Crazy that he wouldn’t realize how much he enjoyed being with her. And under her. And on her. And in her.

  Everyone was told to bring some digital device along to access Sully’s email server and read letters. They were going to read emails in rounds—each person in the room would take one, the person next to them would take the next one, and so on. They’d read, and read fast, then move on to the next one. There would be no time for messing around. It was like speed dating only even more impersonal.

  The doorbell rang and people started arriving. Each time it rang, Blizzard felt compelled to announce it, so the noise level was ear-splitting. Sully was gonna have to do some sort of bark-howl training with that boy sometime soon. In the meantime, he would provide some amusement while everyone hunkered down to sort through the applications. With a bit of luck, they’d have it narrowed to a winner tonight.

  Sully saw Tanner and Zoey enter hand in hand and he got his hopes up until Tanner glanced a
t him and shrugged, which he knew meant he tried to no avail to get Izzy here, darn it. So disappointing. He heaved a sigh and decided he needed to attend to his guests—at least it would keep him occupied. He wandered a little aimlessly around the spacious living room making small talk. The dramatic vaulted ceilings and walls of windows showcased the cobalt twilight that was settling in. A brilliant full moon tinged orange and cast low in the sky seemed to swallow up the horizon.

  As people settled in to get to work, Sully rang a dinner bell to draw their attention.

  “Okay, everyone,” he said. He looked around the room and did a loose head count. “Wow, great, we’ve got at least a hundred people here. This will help it go much faster. I think I’m going to change things up a bit so we can be more efficient, and starting with Angie to my right, each person will claim twenty emails to start. Angie, you name your ten at the top of the list and tag the person next to you, who will claim ten, then tag the person next to them, and so on. I don’t know any way to make this easier, but that way we can go through a round before having to assign another set to everyone and we can avoid overlap. The last person to be assigned a grouping then tags me, so I know where we start with the next round. When you’re done, come up to the front and we’ll start round two. Anybody have any questions?”

  He heard a rumbling coming from the back of the room as someone seemed to be working their way toward where Sully stood. Everyone else faded away as Sully saw Isabelle Strong approach him. He nodded at her, not sure what to expect.

  “You have a question for me before we begin?”

  She darted her eyes around the room and toed the floor with her cowboy boots.

  “So, I’m not a big fan of public speaking, but I did have one question for you if it’s all the same to you.”

  Sully lifted his brow in question. “Go on.”

  “I was wondering if you have it in you to forgive me for my rash behavior the other day. I don’t know what came over me, but I guess I lost it a little and withdrew. The thing is, I enjoy your company, Sully. We don’t know each other that well—”

  The sound of someone clearing their throat in the silent room caused everyone to turn their heads toward Zoey, who was wearing a sneaky little smirk on her face that Sully knew meant she knew everything that had gone on.

  “As I was saying before I was rudely interrupted,” Izzy continued, taking a deep breath, “we don’t know each other that well, but I’d like to get to know you even better. To quote an oldie but goodie, ‘I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.’ Sorry, that’s my mom’s favorite film. So Sullivan Forester, what say we pick up where we left off?”

  Sully reached for Izzy’s hands and twined his fingers with hers. “I thought you’d never ask.” He winked as he leaned down to kiss her and the whole room broke out in applause. Sully raised his hand in the air and waved everyone to work. “You people need to get busy. I’ll take care of this.” Izzy laughed as he pulled her into his arms.

  He grabbed her hand and led her down the hall to his office and pulled her in for a more intimate kiss.

  “What changed your mind?”

  She pressed her forehead to his. “You did of course.”

  “Me? What did I do to sway you?”

  “It’s kind of what you did do and what you didn’t do.” She swiped her tongue across the tip of his nose. “What you didn’t do was press me. You let me figure it out myself. I appreciated you giving me the space I needed.”

  “Now I’m terribly curious about what I did do to persuade you to come back.”

  She grinned, one side of her mouth raising a little higher than the other. “You know when I was on my stomach, watching the mama bear and her babies?”

  He’d started kissing a trail along her neck as she spoke. “Uh-huh.”

  “It was such an amazing experience to see them out there in the wild. And you and I were lying there naked in the wild. And to be one with nature like that was such an incredible feeling, and then you did what you did, which was so carnal yet so perfect at that moment in time. We were one with the elements. That. How could I not want at the very least a command performance with you after experiencing that?”

  He settled kisses on her throat and beneath her chin as she kept talking.

  “Now, I’m not gonna lie,” she said. “I was a bit freaked out by that picture going viral. I mean what if that had been us naked?”

  “Think how jealous people would be.”

  “Think how mortified I’d be when my mother found out.”

  “Or just think of it as someday our children are going to look at that picture and know that was the moment their parents fell in love.”

  “Why Mr. Forester, don’t you think you’re jumping the gun a bit suggesting such declarations of possible love?”

  Sully stopped kissing her and fixed his emerald eyes on her lapis ones. “Eleanor and Jed hardly knew each other when they decided to stay together for the rest of their lives.” He stroked his fingers through her hair as he spoke. “Of course nowadays we don’t have to make choices like that—we can take the time to truly get to know everything about each other before we commit for all eternity—while having great sex, I might add. But the thing is, I get it.” His eyes softened a little. “I understand how she and Jed made the decision they made. Because I think that’s how I feel about you. And if I did have to choose, if I had to marry you or lose you, I know what my decision would be, even without knowing every little detail about you. I’d know we’d have all our lives to learn that. But for now, I am going to savor spending every minute with you and figuring out exactly what makes you tick and what makes you crazy in a good way and even what makes you crazy in a bad way. Making you happy and proving to you that I’m the one for you will give me a great job, Isabelle Strong, so I hope you’re willing to stick around for a while longer as we play this thing out.”

  Izzy pretended to fan herself as she considered his offer.

  “Wow. That’s a lot to take in. But the thing I liked the most about it was thinking about how one day, our kids are going to see the picture of exactly when we fell in love. It will be a moment we can look forward to.” She draped her arms over his neck. “In the meantime, any chance we can act out my cowgirl boot fantasy anytime soon?”

  He lifted his brow. “You mean up against the wall, those boots hooked at the ankles, behind me? Gah! I’ve got a hundred people out there doing my work for me, and now I’m going to be counting the minutes till they all leave—”

  She tapped his nose. “It’ll let the anticipation build. Something to look forward to.”

  He shook his head. “If you only knew how badly I want it.”

  “Not nearly as badly as I do.”

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Shortly after midnight, Sully called everyone to attention.

  “Listen up, everyone. I think we’ve found our winner. And I think you’re going to be surprised by it.”

  He held up an iPad opened to the winning email:

  Dear Mr. Forester,

  I can’ believe what a generous offer you’ve made to share this ring with someone you think will appreciate it. I’m sure you’ve received many wonderful replies from all over the world. I’d like to tell you why I’d love to win it: because I’d love to finally make my girlfriend of forty-five years, Alice, an honest woman.

  Alice and I have been together since we were young women. Back then you could no sooner be with someone of your own sex than you could have flown to the moon. Well, actually, there were people starting to fly to the moon back then. But the idea of two women loving each other and wanting to spend their lives together was one that society forbade. So for a long time, Alice and I tried to pretend we didn’t need each other. Both of us had parents who were trying to get us married off. But neither of us would relent. Years passed and we remained together, technically as roommates, but for all intents and purposes we were married, at least spiritually.

  Alice has always bee
n the one for me. But last year Alice was diagnosed with a particularly aggressive form of cancer that she’s been fighting with everything she’s got. We don’t know what the future holds for her. But I do know that after all of these years, I would love to surprise her by making our relationship legal in the eyes of the law and everybody.

  I love Alice Finnegan with all my heart. She’s a good, kind woman and to be honest, I don’t know what I’ll do if I lose her. She’s been my everything for all of these years, and I’d love to let the world know how much she means to me.

  Respectfully,

  Sophie Jordan

  Izzy handed Sully a tissue to wipe the tears that were filling his eyes.

  “We’ve read amazing letters from so many different people, so many walks of life, but something about Sophie’s letter struck a chord in me. So it is with great pleasure that I will be notifying her and announcing on my Facebook page that Sophie Jordan will be the proud new owner of the dreaded ring.”

  The crowd burst into applause.

  “And along with this ring I am handing over to her all of the public attention that has befallen me since I made this announcement. As much as I’m grateful for the attention I was able to garner in seeking the right recipient of the ring, I have to say, if I never see my name in the spotlight again, it’ll be too soon. I get to go back to being a normal guy, albeit one who found my very own precious gem in the process of getting rid of another valuable treasure. And while I know that Sophie Jordan considers herself one lucky woman to have found the love of her life, I feel so fortunate that out of nowhere, Izzy Strong decided to grace me with her abundance. Let’s all raise our glasses and toast.” He held his beer bottle in the air. “To love.”

  “And now I think Izzy has one last request for the evening: that everyone please get going now because we’ve got to make up for lost time.”