“I’ll keep that in mind,” I fibbed. I knew I couldn’t hand it over, but the fact she cared enough to ask meant a lot.
“Oh, look who came out to congratulate you.” She pointed to the door, and I wanted to be sick. Sleazy Zoe was here. How Zoe was even remotely related to Lisa was dumbfounding. She was obsessed with men and didn’t care who she destroyed to get what she wanted.
Her blonde hair brushed her shoulders as she scanned the crowd for her next victim.
“How nice,” I muttered and eyed the waiter for another drink. The damn glasses were barely fit for a sip and certainly not for a proper drink.
“My night just keeps getting better and better.” Mickey Drew, my almost blind date from the other night, beamed down at me. I quickly shot Lisa a look of death.
“One second.” I grabbed Lisa by the elbow and tugged her a few steps away.
“On your parents, I swear,” Lisa covered her heart, “I forgot to mention he was coming. G needed spots filled, and he offered to come. I’m sorry, Spencer.”
I could tell she was, but I wanted to fold inward.
“Just humor him for a moment, and I’ll come and interrupt with a problem that I need you for.”
“You better.” I let out a long breath and pivoted on my heel and back over to Mickey.
“You’re back.” He grinned. “I must say, your speech was very moving.”
“Thank you.” I let my gaze drift across the room to G, who was speaking to someone with their back to me.
“Look, I get that I wanted the blind date to happen more than you did, but may I ask for a dance?”
“Sure.” I took the offer of his elbow and threaded my hand through his arm. He slowly walked me to the dance floor and awkwardly placed his hands on my hips.
Mickey had a wiry frame but was extremely tall, and it almost hurt my neck to speak to him.
He started to sway to the music, and I felt like I was twelve all over again with a big gap of space between us. I had zero desire to fill it, but it made our movements shifty.
“So, Mickey,” I needed to tame the awkwardness, “what do you do for fun?”
It was a lame attempt at conversation, but the moment was lame, anyway.
“I’m a hunter.”
“That’s incredibly cryptic. What kind of hunter?”
“Mostly deer, birds, wolves.”
“Wolves?” I asked and tried not to laugh with the thought of Mickey in camo. I couldn’t picture anyone shooting such an animal.
“Yup.”
“Why?”
“Why not? They’re fast, and it makes the sport that much harder.”
“What do you do with the wolves after you kill them?”
He shrugged, and it made me mad. “What do you do for fun, Spencer?”
I fought to keep my cool. “Well, I don’t shoot wolves.”
He chuckled darkly, and that made my skin crawl. “You write, I heard.” He referred to my speech. “Tell me about that.”
“Not much to say. I did it, and now I don’t.”
“Why?”
“You know why.”
“Surely, there is more to the story than just that.”
“Nope.”
“You always this shut down on the topic?”
“Yes.”
He sighed but flashed a smile at someone over my shoulder. I wondered if it was Zoe because I would gladly hand Mickey Drew over to her.
“It must have been difficult to go through what you did. You really don’t remember anything?”
I felt anger flash through me and my face heat. “I don’t like to talk about it.”
“Maybe you should?”
My fingers flexed on his shoulders to help calm my temper.
“Okay.” He chuckled, and I wanted to throat punch him. “Have dinner with me tomorrow night, and I’ll help you with your problems.” My mouth dropped open. “People say I’m good with girls with issues, and I agree. Let me fix you.”
What the…
My feet locked in place, and he stumbled when I didn’t move. He glanced down at me with a crease in his forehead.
“First, I don’t need to be fixed. Second, here’s a pro tip. When you’re sharing with a woman, don’t tell her you hunt dogs. That’s a total turn-off. And third,” I jabbed my finger in his chest, “if someone doesn’t offer up information on a topic, don’t push. You act all noble, but I can see right through you, and I promise you, Mickey Drew, I am not the right fit for you. Ever.”
“Couldn’t agree more.” He adjusted his bowtie and looked over my head. “I was just hoping for an easy lay, and clearly you’re a head case.”
He brushed by me and bumped my shoulder as he passed.
What a dick.
I wrapped my arms around my midsection to shake off his touch. I needed another drink if I was going to survive this party. Where the heck was the waiter?
I whirled around and caught Blake as he watched me from the side of the room.
With his hands tucked into his suit pants, he made his way over to me. He looked like James Bond but with a sexy villain vibe that caused many of the ladies in the room to stop and stare.
His dark hair was styled, but some had fallen forward, causing his eyes to look even darker than normal.
My breathing stopped, and everything faded away.
Chapter Eighteen
Jonah
I studied her from outside the store. She pushed her glasses up her nose as she read a file at her desk. Snow had begun to fall, but the light from her desk made it easy to watch her.
Her long blonde hair hung in heavy waves to just above her bottom. Her white blouse was buttoned to the center of her cleavage, and when she moved, I got a great shot of her plump boobs.
My gaze trailed down her torso, to her long, toned legs and to her shoes that she slipped on and off her heel while she thought.
I grew angry, so I flipped up my sunshade on the windshield and pressed into the warm leather seat to take a moment to calm myself. My next move wasn’t for two hours, so I set my alarm and closed my eyes.
“Hey.” She slapped my face, and I fell to my knees as the pathetic man we both knew I was. “You think that was smart?” She made a disgusted face and peeked over her shoulder at the work party where I had come to surprise her. “You are worthless without me! Remember that the next time you think it’s wise to show up when I told you to stay home. You disobeyed me.”
“I wanted to see this part of you.”
“If I wanted that, I would have invited you.” She yanked me by the hair. “Go home, and I will return when I’m ready.”
I stumbled to my feet, wiped my bloody lip on my expensive rented suit, and rushed out the back door.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
I jolted awake and met the eyes of a police officer. Slowly, I turned on the engine to roll down my window. A huge puff of cold air invaded my cozy nest, and I shivered as I looked up at him.
“Hello, there.” An officer from a different district hunched down. “What are you doing?”
“I’m, ah…” I shook my head like I was trying to wake up. “I’m here picking up my sister’s kid. She couldn’t get off work. I didn’t have a time, so I showed up early and must have dozed off.”