How To Win His Heart

Meeting Isaac

Allison’s POV

“Last night was wild,” I mumbled. I was lying on the couch with closed eyes. My hand was on my forehead, massaging it lightly as I had a severe headache.

“You are ruining your hair,” Penny screeched at me.

“Someone didn’t let me sleep yesterday, so Penny I don’t care about my hair,” I said aggressively with my eyes still sealed shut.

We were in the country club, getting ready for the wedding. Using my privileges, I helped a little to get two rooms for them where they could get ready.

It had been two hours and the makeup artist was halfway done. I opened my eyes and glanced at Jayme, who wasn’t moving as the makeup artist held her head still.

Remind me to never get married.

Weddings were so expensive just to end up a mother for too many children, forgetting your old life.

Don’t get me wrong, babies are beautiful and everything. Just the idea of creating a new life was amazing. I never experienced much of a mother’s love, which left a hollow space in my heart just like what love had done to me before.

Anything that had love in it was a pain in the ass to me.

But I wanted it. I wanted to be loved and also share my love. Clearly, love wasn’t my thing, and I should take that as a sign, accepting my fate to live single for the rest of my life. I sighed and closed my eyes to ease the headache.

“Is Clara coming?” Jayme asked when the make-up artist left to bring something.

I fluttered my eyes open and glanced at her. I was about to answer, but Penny cut me, asking with a frown on her face. “Who’s Clara?”

“My assistant who was supposed to be here an hour ago.” I checked the phone for any messages from her, but there was nothing.

“Did I mention she’s Jordan’s date now? No?” I mumbled as I sat up on the couch.

“What! Why did you d-“

I didn’t let Jayme continue the end of the sentence and cut her. “The poor girl has a crush on him and both of them would be a cute couple, don’t you think?” That was a big fat lie.

Clara never saw Jordan.

And I guess Jayme didn’t buy that lie either.

I didn’t have much time with Jayme to talk with her about Jordan. When she comes back from her honeymoon, I would invite her and Pete over to mine for some serious talk.

My phone’s screen lit, announcing a message. I unlocked the phone to see that Clara finally texted me she was here.

“Talking about Clara, she’s here, I will go fetch her,” I announced then got up from the couch.

“Look for Amy too, she’s supposed to be here a while ago,” Penny said with her eyes stuck on the phone.

I opened the door and stepped out of the room in the empty white hallway; I shut the door behind me and stopped, not remembering where I came from earlier.

Where were the stairs?

I looked at both ends of the hallway, trying to remember how I came here earlier.

“Looking for something?” I turned to the voice and noticed Pete in his black suit.

“Where do you think you are going?” I put my hands on my waist, narrowing my eyes at him as he walked towards me.

“To see my wife,” he said with a smirk. I chuckled at him and he smiled dumbfounded, then I deadpanned at him.

“Turn around Pete, seeing the bride before the wedding will jinx it,” his smile dropped, and he tried to reach for the door, but I smacked his hand.

“Hermanita, please,” he pleaded, clasping his hands together.

“No, now take me to the lobby because I can’t walk with heels,” he rolled his eyes and offered me his arm. I engaged mine with his arm and we walked together, heading to the entrance.

I caught Pete glaring at me and chuckled. “I hate you, Allison,” he hissed.

“Otherwise, Pete,” I said with a tight smile and he groaned.

This brought so many memories. Back in high school, the four of us were very close. We knew Pete through Jordan as he was his best friend and ever since high school, Jayme had a crush on Pete.

Now, they are getting married after knowing each other for nearly a decade.

I was happy for both of my friends. I looked at Pete and smiled; he knitted his eyebrows.

“Why are you smiling like that?” He asked.

“I remembered when we were in high school,” I said slowly, the side of my lips quivering up into a sly smile.

After we walked through another hallway, I glanced at him, noticing he was preoccupied, probably thinking of what I said.

He nodded his head, agreeing with me. “They were good days.” He smiled.

Should I tell him about Jordan?

Deep down, I knew Jordan needed Pete.

We reached the stairs leading to the entrance, Pete was about to take them down, but I stopped him.

“Is something wrong?” He asked.

I looked into his greenish eyes and nodded, nibbling on my lower lip. He knitted his eyebrows, and I sighed. “Jordan needs you, Pete, he is in a really dark place and he needs his friend,” he lowered his head, avoiding my gaze.

“I know, Alli. He seemed off unlike his usual, but I’m still trying to talk to him, we are going to talk whether he likes it or not.” He glanced at me and I pressed my lips together, trying not to break into a smile.

We walked down the stairs. Finally, we reached the main hall after so many walking with those bloody heels. Workers were running here and there, putting on their last touches.

Pete’s phone rang, and he excused himself to answer it, leaving me alone in the main hall.

When the workers noticed me, they stopped in their tracks for a few seconds, then went back to their work.

My eyes roamed the place for Clara and saw her standing with a guy near the buffet. He was giving me his back, so I didn’t know who he was.

I was about to approach her when she pushed that guy, making him stumble and fall on one worker who was setting the buffet.

My gaze fell on the person who fell just to notice he was Scott. Clara noticed me and glared at him as she walked towards me. The workers came and helped him up.

He dusted himself, and held eye contact with me, his blue eyes sending a shiver down my spine. I broke my gaze away and looked at Clara instead.

“What was that about?” I asked Clara as I took her hand to lead her to the room.

“He was threatening me, he’s literally Holland’s minion, doing his dirty work and stuff,” she hissed with anger.

“But that was a nice push actually,” I remarked, and she laughed at my sentence.

When we were walking, I saw Jordan talking on his phone, then I remembered what I told the girls earlier. “...so, change of plans Clara, your date is Jordan now,” she stopped laughing and her face went all red.

She wasn’t a social butterfly, yes she attended meetings with me and did presentations, but I never saw her go on an actual date.

“If you aren’t comfortable with it, that’s fine...” I didn’t want to force her for something she wasn’t up to, I wasn’t that kind of person.

She shook her head. “No, Ms. Miller, it’s for the sake of your plan and I don’t mind. It’s okay.” She smiled.

She impressed me day by day. Maybe at the end of the month, someone was getting a huge raise.

My eyes fell on Jordan again, and he was done with his phone call. He waved with his phone and I understood what he meant; I brought mine out and read the message he sent me.

Jordy: meet me in my car.

I lifted my eyes from the phone and glanced at him, then nodded. He passed us and took the stairs. I told Clara where the room was and left her, then followed Jordan to the car.

On my way out, I found Amy babysitting a bunch of kids. That was the reason that made her stay out here. “They’re our cousins if you are asking,” she said with her face resting on her hand.

“Few of the guests came, but still no signs from auntie Mary. They say the traffic is terrible,” she said in a concerned tone. Her phone was in her free hand, dialing the number again.

Mary was Jayme’s mom. They lived in a farmhouse outside New York, so whenever they drove to the city, it always took time for them.

“Don’t worry, we won’t start the ceremony without her,” she sighed and mumbled something I couldn’t hear.

“I have to go now,” I said and walked out the main hall, heading to the parking lot.

A car honked and saved me time from looking around, I got in his car and turned to face him.

“I walked a lot today with these bloody heels, so tell me why you needed me.” I crossed my arms closer to my chest.

“Scott is like a hawk, this guy was stuck to my side and whenever I tried to text you, but his eyes were on my phone,” he complained, then continued, “anyway, Isaac won’t make it for the ceremony because of the traffic, but he will be in the after-party and guess who is his cousin,” I didn’t like where this was going...

“Scott?” In my guts, I hoped not, but Jordan nodded, confirming it.

This was interesting information.

“His cousins with Isaac Winston,” he mumbled, I blinked at him, feeling stunned, but not really.

I was shocked that Scott was a part of an empire and he was working for Holland. Some people make wrong choices.

“Wow, He’s a Winston?” I asked, still shocked.

We were dealing with an entire empire, who could ruin my business in a blink of an eye if we screwed things up.

A few hours later.

I took a few sips from the glass of champagne, my eyes were set on the newly wedded couple.

God, I really wanted to have a soul mate, but men were just trash to me. I was kinda jealous of my friends. They had each other for the rest of their lives, even if they fought a lot, but each fight made their relationship stronger and better.

They completed each other.

The ceremony went perfectly, and nothing could replace Jayme’s smile or happiness today, she was thrilled.

I had to hide my jealousy away and be happy for my friends as they will start a new life together.

I glanced at Jordan and noticed him staring at the couple with a smile, then his eyes met mine. I mouthed him to ask Clara to dance. He nodded his head and leaned close to her.

I watched as his lips moved and she instantly blushed before nodding her head. They got up, and he took her hand, taking her to the dance floor. He glanced at me and I smiled.

Jayme glanced at me when she saw Jordan head to the dance floor with Clara. I was resting my face on my hand and mouthed to her I would win the bet.

Earlier, I made a bet with Jayme that Jordan was over me and he was interested in Clara.

I knew I would win the bet easily, as I knew Jordan had already moved on. This was the easiest bet ever.

I chuckled as Jayme narrowed her eyes sharply at me, then turned to face Pete.

My eyes went to the people entering the party, hoping to find Isaac among them, but unfortunately, he wasn’t.

It had been an hour since the after-party started and still no signs of a man rushing in the place who was supposed to be Isaac Winston. The fact Scott was his cousin still shocked me.

What if Isaac turned out like him? Then bringing Jordan’s agency was off the table, also my company would be buried under theirs.

No, think of happy thoughts. My inner voice barked at me.

I didn’t meet Isaac to compare between them, but I was rooting for him not to be like Scott, who appeared to be more of a jerk than I thought.

He seemed like a good guy that night. Looks could be really deceiving.

I checked my phone again for the time and sighed as another thirty minutes passed. What if I was looking in the wrong direction? I drank too much alcohol and my sight was a little fuzzy, so maybe yes.

A server passed, and I asked for water to make myself awake. A few minutes later, the server came with a glass of water. I chugged down and felt some conscious return to me.

Things were supposed to be easier after I knew who Isaac was exactly, but no. Turns out looking for him was a lot harder than I thought, most of Pete’s friends were multimillionaires and that was on his father being a famous lawyer who dragged him into the same job.

I glanced at the table where Scott sat but he wasn’t there. Instead, there was one of Pete’s friends who looked very hot. He wore a dark navy suit that was very fit on him, his hazel hair was styled to the back and he had a light stubble beard.

His grey eyes met mine, and I was completely lost in them. He lifted his untouched champagne glass in a greeting way.

Holy sweet Jesus, that was Isaac Winston.

Did I mention he looks hot? God really had favorites.

I took a sip from my abandoned champagne glass and smiled back at him. He turned his head and whispered something to the guy next to him, then got up.

Shit! Was he coming over?

Wasn’t this your plan? My inner voice questioned.

He walked towards my table then sat down facing me with a seductive smile.

He was charming.

“Couldn’t leave a fine lady to sit alone,” his grey eyes were focused on my chocolate ones, and words seemed to disappear from my mind.

Then he extended his arm and introduced himself. “I’m Isaac,” he said with a deep husky voice.

You know that feeling when your heart races for unknown reasons, well this guy made my heart do some backflips by just talking.

“Allison.” I shook his hand back. He lifted my hand to his mouth and kissed my knuckles, keeping eye contact with me. His warm lips stayed a little longer than they should be on my skin, making me tingle with excitement.

Snap out of that, Allison. That inner voice chimed in, making me groan mentally.

I played along and pretended that I didn’t know he was from the Winstons.

He removed his lips from my knuckles, and a sly smile plastered on his lips. “Nice meeting you Allison,” the way my name came out of his mouth with the British accent made me melt in my place.

I didn’t know if this was the effect of the champagne or my heart only, but it felt nice.

And then I realized the existence of the plan, s**t! I forgot about Jordan.

Wake up Alli, Jordan told you about Holland’s plan. Don’t fall for his looks, remember the plan.

My inner voice was right, I didn’t have time for some stupid feelings.

“Otherwise,” I said, my hand was still in his, and when he noticed he was staring, forgetting about my hand, his grip around loosened and I moved my hand out of his grip.

How could I save my business with Isaac?

Just look at him, I could ruin everything and simply fall in love with him.

If there was one thing I only knew about this guy, that would be his manners. He respected everyone, supported women, and many things that made him unique. That’s what the media showed, but maybe he could be the opposite.

What if he was the man of my dreams? I liked the sound of that.

And I deserved a relationship with someone.

Change of plans. I was chasing Isaac’s heart along with the work thing.

That was the worst, stupidest decision I ever thought of, mixing love and business was bad, but if I can win both in the end then why not?

A few months later.

I stopped narrating my story to Jayme and cried. She wrapped her arms around my body to comfort me.

Tears were on my cheeks now, my mascara was smudged. I looked like s**t. “God, if I just thought things through,” I stopped to cry and Jayme patted my shoulder.

“You are breaking my heart, Alli. How did things go this far?” She questioned.

I wiped my tears and mumbled, “if I just knew my decisions were that bad I would’ve changed it in the future, I ruined everything, Jay-Jay,” she pulled me in a hug and I let my feelings out.