Total pages in book: 84
Estimated words: 81176 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 406(@200wpm)___ 325(@250wpm)___ 271(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 81176 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 406(@200wpm)___ 325(@250wpm)___ 271(@300wpm)
I shrugged. “That is the deal. If you want to date me, I need to meet Brady Thompson.”
Rolling his eyes, Wes groaned and turned away from me. He appeared to be thinking of something, then spun back around and smiled that boyish smile he didn’t often give people. My heart tumbled around in my chest.
Pointing to me, he asked, “You want to meet Brady Thompson?”
With my hands on my hips, I nodded. “Yes.”
“So if I introduce you, you’ll do this for me?”
There was no way in hell it would happen, so I felt confident in saying I’d do it. “If you can introduce me to Brady Thompson, and it doesn’t have to be in person, it can be on Zoom, then yes, I’ll play your stupid dating game. But for the record, I think this is going to end badly.”
For me.
Wes wore a triumphant smile. “I need to go get dressed, I have calls I need to make.”
I took my mug of tea and walked back into the bedroom. “Hurry up! I need to take a shower and get to work!”
Wes
Pasta, Anyone?
It had taken me a week to do it, but I’d made it happen.
Smiling, I stood off to the side as Clare walked into the restaurant. When I told her to meet me at Menton at eight tonight, she had texted back asking me if I made enough money to buy her dinner there. Little did she know, I wasn’t going to be the one paying for the bill.
The hostess smiled brightly and motioned for Clare to follow her. I watched as Clare took everything in. From French linens to the finest of china. It was a classy, upscale restaurant that looked like it could be straight out of Europe.
They made their way back to the chef’s table, with its view of the kitchen. It normally sat twelve, but tonight it would only be seating for two.
Clare walked into the room that was decorated in grays and came to an abrupt halt when the man at the table stood. She turned to the hostess.
“Um, I think there is a mistake. I’m here to meet with a man named Wes Ward.”
Brady Thompson, former quarterback of the best football team in the nation, moved forward and reached his hand out to Clare. “Clare Monroe?”
She nodded and mumbled something that made him laugh.
“I’ll be your date for this evening, I hope you don’t mind.”
A weird sounding laugh slipped from between her lips, and she slammed her hand over her mouth before she composed herself.
“I don’t mind at all. Not at all.”
He turned and held the chair for her while she took off her coat and handed it to the hostess. She sat down and Brady pushed the chair in, then looked up at me and winked.
I took my seat at a table where Clare couldn’t see me, but I could see her. After placing my food and drink order, I sat back and watched the scene play out. Clare was so damn animated when she spoke. At one point she stood, acted like she was about to throw a football, then plopped back down in the seat. Brady had been in stitches and seemed to be enjoying himself as well. If the guy wasn’t happily married, I’d be worried.
My drink stopped right at my lips, and I frowned. Why would I be worried if a guy liked Clare? I set the drink down. Then let out a humorless laugh. I was just worried that if she started dating some guy then she wouldn’t be able to date me. Fake date me. That’s all it was.
Wasn’t it?
After two hours of sitting at the restaurant, I tipped my waitress double since I took up her table for so long, then quickly slipped out of the restaurant. I pulled out my phone and pulled up Mark’s name. I worked with him in New York. Brady was his cousin, and he was the only reason I was able to pull this off. He owed me a favor after I told him to buy stock in a certain company and ended up making his clients a hell of a lot of money. I had paid for everything, Brady’s flight in, and the meal.
I hailed a taxi and headed back to my condo. Forty minutes later, there was a knock on my door. Opening it, Clare slammed her body into mine and hugged me. She let go and rushed into my place, tossing her purse on the kitchen island and spinning in circles in the living room. I couldn’t have stopped the smile on my face if I had tried. There was something about knowing I had made her this happy that warmed my insides.
“I can’t believe you did it! How in the hell did you get Brady Thompson to agree to having dinner with me?”