Total pages in book: 102
Estimated words: 97199 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 486(@200wpm)___ 389(@250wpm)___ 324(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 97199 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 486(@200wpm)___ 389(@250wpm)___ 324(@300wpm)
“Are you all right?” Opal reaches for my forearm but stops herself when she remembers the green slime is still seeping into the fabric of my suit jacket, marring it for eternity. The window to drop this off at my dry cleaner has officially closed. I won’t subject Roberto to this putrid mess. I value him too much.
“I need to take care of something.” I smile at Opal. “How does nine tomorrow morning at the coffee shop around the corner sound?”
“Okay,” she says hesitantly. “I can do nine.”
Technically, I can’t since I have a meeting, but I’ll push it back a few hours. My clients are always flexible. How could they not be? I’m the best chance they have at obtaining the life they crave.
I toss Opal one last smile before I head toward the disaster playing out for all on this sidewalk to see. Phones are now out, and their cameras are capturing this epic proposal fail. It will most likely be trending on social media by the time I’m back at my office since far too many people love the misery of others.
“Doug!” I call out the name of the man who has a fondness for fruit-based nicknames for his lovers. “What the hell are you doing?”
The look on his face when he spots me says it all. Everything I taught him about how to treat a woman flashes before his eyes. He knows he fucked up. The slap of his palm against his forehead is evidence of that. “William? Shit. I’m sorry, man.”
I get why he’s apologizing to me. I made him vow to never be a raging jerk to a woman, and he just broke that promise. Something tells me this isn’t the first time he’s dropped that particular ball.
“You owe Anna an apology,” I point out.
“I love her,” he whines in the same nasally tone he used when he proclaimed he loved Mary four years ago. “We belong together. She just can’t see it right now.”
Anna’s hands fist at her side. “You’re wrong.”
“She’s right,” I add my voice to back her up. “Whether or not Anna wants anything to do with you is her decision. Not yours, so tell her you’re sorry and that you’ll never bother her again.”
“William!” Doug shrieks like someone just kicked his shin.
I’m not a violent man by any measure, but it’s tempting to knock some sense into him with a well-placed smack against the back of his head. “Apologize.”
My tone conveys the gravity of my message.
He turns to Anna. “I’m sorry, banana.”
“Jesus.” I sigh. “Enough with that. Her name is Anna. She fucking hates that nickname, so knock it off. Respect her enough to call her by her name.”
“Thank you.” Anna flashes me a smile. “I appreciate that.”
The next woman Doug meets will appreciate that, too, if he finally follows at least some of the advice I gave him.
“I’m sorry,” he mumbles. “I won’t bother you again.”
“Good,” she snaps back. “Or I’ll get a restraining order. By the way, Dougie, you stink. You smell like the dumpster behind my office building.”
I swing my left arm behind my back because I have a reputation to protect. I’ll let Doug take the fall for this, even though I have no doubt the Dicey Dip is the culprit.
Doug takes it in stride, shrugging as he whispers something unintelligible in response.
Anna turns and walks away as the people gathered around us set off to go on with their days. I glance to the right to see Opal doing the same. She’s getting into a taxi stopped next to the curb.
“I’ll pay you a king’s ransom to help me get her back,” Doug whispers. “Name your price, Knight.”
No amount of money in the world will ever persuade me to help a man gain the attention or affection of a woman who wants absolutely nothing to do with him.
“Leave her alone,” I say sternly. “She wasn’t joking, Doug. She’ll get a restraining order against you. How the hell will you explain that to your mother?”
As with most men, Doug has a weakness. His is his mother who happens to control his finances. He’s been living high off her dime for his entire life. Considering he’s nearing forty-five, I don’t see him rocking that money boat anytime soon.
“My mom would never know if that happened,” he says, securing my assumption that Doug is no smarter now than he was the day we met.
“I’ll tell her.”
I mean it, and he can hear that in my voice because his eyes widen. “No shit?”
“No shit,” I repeat while staring into his beady eyes. “Forget about Anna, and for the sake of all the women in this city, take a break from love, Doug. Find a hobby.”
He rubs his forehead. “I’ll return the ring and buy a sailboat. Maybe I’ll cruise the great unknown for a few months.”