Total pages in book: 66
Estimated words: 59659 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 298(@200wpm)___ 239(@250wpm)___ 199(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 59659 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 298(@200wpm)___ 239(@250wpm)___ 199(@300wpm)
I picked up the phone and hit the button for line one before putting the ancient receiver to my ear, thinking that we really should invest in phones that couldn’t be used as set pieces in a period drama from the nineties.
“Melanie,” I said. “How can I help you?”
“Hey Mel,” Carmela’s voice said on the other end. “How are you doing?”
“Poorly,” I said. “Busy day, and I’m just not here for it.”
“Too excited about your date tonight?” Carmela teased.
“Har har,” I said. “It’s not a date.”
“Calm down,” Carmela said. “It was just a joke.”
She was laughing, apparently having a hard time keeping herself from cracking up, but I was having none of it. In fact, I was kind of fuming at the idea that she would even joke about it.
“Seriously,” I said. “It’s not a date. It’s not even funny to joke that it’s a date. He is a man who tried to take my family store away from me and now is refusing to make it right. I wouldn’t date him if he were the last man on earth.”
“Oh, come on,” Carmela said. “You know that’s not true. Not entirely. You’re just nervous.”
“Yeah. Nervous,” I said. “Nervous I might throw him through a window.”
“Have you seen his arms? Good luck throwing him through any windows,” she said.
She had a point. I had seen his arms. I had seen a lot of them. In fact, I could barely stop looking at them long enough to notice his barrel chest, his flat stomach, and his insanely cut jawline. He looked like he was about to put on a cape and parade around the city saving busloads of children.
“Yeah, well, I’ll figure it out if I have to,” I said.
“Just don’t do anything crazy,” Carmela said. “And call me tomorrow. I want details.”
“Of my non-date?”
“Of your non-date,” she confirmed. “Which most certainly could actually be a date.”
“It’s not.”
“But it could be.”
“But it’s not.”
“Bye, Melanie.”
“Bye, Carmela,” I said, hanging up the phone.
Sighing and leaning back in the chair, I closed my eyes again. I was still stewing, and I wondered why. Probably it was at least partially because I did in fact find him incredibly attractive. And because aside from buying my store, he seemed really nice too.
“Mel?” Amy’s voice said as the door creaked open.
“Yeah?”
“They’re done emptying and sorting the truck,” she said.
“Oh good,” I replied.
“But we have another problem,” she continued.
“What?”
“There might be a very, very small, uhh… fire. In the bakery. Right now.”
“The oven?” I asked, defeated.
“The oven.” She nodded.
I sighed. It was the fourth time this year.
“I’m coming.”
For the second time in two days, I was standing at the edge of my bed, naked as a jaybird, staring at options for what to wear that evening. This time, though, I only had about ten minutes to decide. Thankfully, I had already done my hair and makeup, so I sort of looked like the world’s most awkward pinup model when I caught my reflection in the mirror.
I wanted to wear something that would be okay in a professional setting, but I also wanted to wear something really hot. Whether that was because I wanted to look hot when I saw Victor or because I wanted to use my feminine wiles to distract him and smooth the idea of selling the company back over to me, I wasn’t entirely sure of.
The one thing I knew I was going to wear, just for me, was the red underwear. A lacy red bra and thong, it made me feel sexy and powerful. I was going to need all the help I could get. I slipped them on while I debated between the dress and the skirt. I wanted to show off my legs a little, but the dress was decidedly on the sexy side, while the skirt could be sexy but was much more on the professional side of things.
Deciding on the skirt with a red blouse that matched the underwear and had a convenient plunging neckline, I looked in the mirror and sighed. This was as dressed up as I had gotten in years. I simply never had the chance or reason to get dressed up like this.
I shook my head and sighed again. At least I was making the best of it now.
I went into the bathroom and sprayed on perfume, and then grabbed the purse that matched the blouse and headed for the door. Mero’s was only a few minutes’ drive away, but it was nearly eight. I had to get a move on.
Mero’s had only opened up a couple of months ago, sitting in a spot where an old Greek restaurant used to be that had closed down years before. Mero’s was a franchise in southern Texas, making its way north, and they’d decided putting one in Murdock of all places was a good idea. I had a feeling Mero’s wasn’t going to be able to expand too far with decisions like that.