Total pages in book: 124
Estimated words: 117574 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 588(@200wpm)___ 470(@250wpm)___ 392(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 117574 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 588(@200wpm)___ 470(@250wpm)___ 392(@300wpm)
“Jesus, Tessa. Slow down. You’re giving me whiplash. I can’t stand the guy, remember? And even if I could, he’s not my type, like I keep saying. I need a little edginess to get my juices flowing.”
“Oh, Charlotte. You’re so frustrating.” We reach Tessa’s SUV and head to our respective doors. Over the car’s roof, Tess says, “By the way, how’s your usual type been working out for you, Nut Job? Because Brody is your exact type, and that didn’t turn out so great.”
I glare comically at her and she chuckles.
“Just saying.”
“Well, don’t.”
Still laughing, Tessa unlocks the car and we pile inside. As we’re putting our purses in the back and securing our seatbelts, I say, “Okay, fine, just to humor you, I’m game to weigh the pros and cons of me taking a big ol’ bite of the boy bander’s ass. I mean, if he’d even let me. The man’s not my biggest fan.”
“Girl, trust me, he’d not only let you take a bite of his ass, he’d shove a bare ass cheek at you and beg.”
We guffaw.
“Seriously, though,” Tessa says. “He gave himself away at Captain’s. And then again upstairs in that hallway. I don’t care what words he might say to you, he’s extremely attracted to you.”
“Maybe he was when he first saw me, but I threw ice water onto his proverbial boner when I asked his daddy to help me make Brody jealous. It also didn’t help matters that I acted like a total lunatic in front of him this morning. I don’t know what got into me today, T. I acted like such a jerk. I wasn’t myself.”
Tessa pats my arm. “You’ve been under a lot of stress since the layoff. Also, I wouldn’t rule Auggie out just yet. Something tells me he likes himself a spitfire. When you two were sparring, his eyes were on fire, girl.” As Tessa pulls her car from the curb, she adds, “You’re not planning to live here for long, so why not have some fun with your next-door neighbor while you’re here?”
“Why are you so intent on pushing me toward this man?”
“I’m not pushing. I’m guiding, ever so gently.”
“No, you’re actually being really pushy. Why?”
Tessa sighs. “I just have a good feeling about Auggie. He’s got a genuine sweetness about him. A gentleness. Which makes perfect sense, now that I know what he’s planning to do for a living.”
“You haven’t seen him being a total dick, the way I have. He’s not all unicorns and rainbows.” I twist my mouth. “Although, to be fair, he was mostly reacting to what I was throwing down.”
Tessa audibly shrugs. “It’s not that I care about Auggie, specifically. It’s more that I’d love to see you venture beyond your usual type for a change. I don’t think your type is all that good for you, babe. Carlo was your type. And look what happened there.”
She doesn’t know the half of it.
I didn’t always keep secrets from my best friend. The first time I kept one from her was two years ago—the day I found out what my then-boyfriend, Carlo, really did for a living. But since I couldn’t tell Tessa about that, truthfully, I lied and said I’d broken up with Carlo because he’d cheated on me—something Carlo would never do. Not a chance. And the lies have only piled on, ever since.
“Okay, point taken,” I say on a sigh. “I’ve got a defective picker. But even so, this conversation is pointless because I’ve already decided not to date while I’m here. I need to spend every spare minute getting that condo into shape, as soon as possible. That’s especially true, now that I’ve seen it. Which means, from this moment on, I’m going to wipe Auggie Vaughn from my hard drive and pretend he doesn’t even exist.”
8
CHARLOTTE
Four days later
Istep back from the wall I’ve just finished relieving of its peeling, faded, hideous wallpaper and exhale. It’s taken me all day, but I’ve finally stripped my entire living room of its godawful wallpaper. That was my only goal for today: to complete an entire room. But now that I’ve done that, I want to keep going. At least, I’ll start prepping the bedroom walls for stripping tomorrow. It turns out I’m a one-woman, home-improvement army, dude. Go, me.
Actually, no, that’s not true. I’m a two-woman army, backed by a full, kick-ass crew. I wouldn’t be here now, working so productively, if it weren’t for Tessa and the amazing guys she hired to help me. Those amazing men got this place cleared out in two short days, and then spent yesterday, the third day, deep-cleaning it with me. That’s the only reason I’ve been able to start my first improvement project on day four, instead of day fourteen, which, in turn, means it’s still possible, at least in theory, for me to get this place into shape and sold in time to pay back that money. Hallelujah.