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)
He rubbed at the back of his neck. “I sent her flowers at work and had them put the little XO XO thing but no name.”
“Oh. My. God.”
Wes moved around in his seat, then whisper-shouted, “Close your mouth! You look like you’re trying to catch flies.”
“Here you go! One Diet Pepsi,” Lilly said as she set my drink down. “Ready to order?”
“Yes!” Wes quickly said. “I’ll have the spicy beef garlic noodles.”
I narrowed my eyes at him. “What? No plans of kissing anyone in front of anyone else today?”
He shot me a dirty look. “That doesn’t even make any sense.”
“Lilly,” I said as I kept my eyes on Wes. “Did I make sense?”
“Um, you did. He’s getting the garlic noodles, so we assume he isn’t going to be kissing you after this.”
My head jerked to the left. “Me? No, not me. He’s not kissing me.”
Wes laughed. “God, no. That would be like kissing a…”
His voice trailed off as Lilly and I both turned to look at him. He motioned for me to order.
“Go, order. I don’t have long for lunch.”
Rolling my eyes, I handed Lilly the menu. “The usual.”
She grinned. “Cilantro lime chicken. Would you like any starters?”
I looked at Wes.
“No, thanks.”
“Okay,” Lilly said as she took the menu from Wes. “I’ll get this put in for you right away since you’re in a rush.”
Wes blushed and looked down at his beer.
I leaned back in the chair and crossed my arms as I stared at him. “Flowers? XO XO? Seriously? Are you ten?”
He sat back and regarded me for a moment. “Are you jealous?”
“Would I love to get anonymous flowers at work, I don’t know any girl who wouldn’t love that. The problem here, though, is you’re trying to break up a happy couple.”
“Are they happy? Because if she was happy, why did she sleep with me?”
I shrugged. “I can’t answer that. Have you asked her?”
He frowned. “She said she wanted to see what it would be like being with me again.”
I scrunched up my face. “Yikes. Lackluster performance that night?”
“Excuse me?” he asked as he shot daggers my way.
With a one-shoulder shrug, I said, “I mean, she slept with you to see what it would be like for old time’s sake, and clearly she didn’t like it.”
“Fuck you, Clare.”
Laughing, I held up both hands. “I’m just making an observation.”
“Well, I didn’t ask you to. Besides, it’s none of your business.”
“Unfortunately, when you dragged me into this grand plan of yours, you made it my business.”
“Well, I don’t need your help anymore. Once she reads the card today, she’ll know who they’re from and...” His voice faded.
With a tilt of my head, I asked, “How would she know…ohhh my gosh. You used to sign things with the XO to Mandy, didn’t you?”
His cheeks turned bright red.
I covered my mouth with my hand to keep from laughing.
“She liked it!”
“Was this in high school?”
When he didn’t say anything, I dropped my hand. “Wes, it isn’t going to work.”
He took another drink of his beer, and I could see the heartbreak on his face.
Ugh. I felt so bad for him in that moment. Just a little, though. “I’m so sorry.”
He let out a bitter laugh. “Are you really?”
I chewed on my lower lip, then sighed. “Of course, I am. Wes, have you thought that maybe Mandy just grew up? That she wants to move on? That she changed as a woman and fell out of love with you?”
His eyes met mine and he wore a cold expression. “You don’t know anything about her.”
“I know if someone I dated for that long asked me to marry them, I don’t think running my family’s pizza business would make me say no—unless my feelings for him had changed.”
Fire danced in his eyes and he looked like he was about to say something, then stopped himself.
“Wes, do you truly want her back, or is this some kind of revenge plot to hurt her because she hurt you.”
He stood and his chair nearly fell back. He pulled out his wallet, threw some money on the table and said, “Enjoy your lunch, Clare.”
Grabbing his coat, he turned and stormed out of the restaurant.
Wes
Candle Sticks and Jealousy
Presley, my brother Preston and sister-in-law Harmony’s almost three-year-old, was laughing as she ran from Flash, Finn and Rory’s dalmatian.
While I watched that scene play out, I held my five-month-old niece, Karleigh and played peek a boo just to hear her sweet little laugh.
Finn walked back into the room with a friend of his, Alex Montell. Apparently, his fiancée had broken up with him a few months back. According to Harmony, Finn was playing matchmaker and hoping to set Alex up with someone. The guy was good-looking enough. Maybe around five ten, brown hair, brown eyes. He had a decent build on him, but from what I could tell, his only downfall was he worked at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. At least that was what Harmony had said.