Joey laughed as he sank into his big, soft cushioned office chair with Olivia draped over his arms, snuggling her stuffed toy. “One of those women!? What … you mean the kind that actually likes you and isn’t afraid to show it? What’s the point in charming and flirting with every good-looking woman you meet if you’re just going to resent them for falling for it?”
“There’s a difference between a woman who’s DTF with no strings attached and the ones who want to sink their claws into you so deep that you suffocate and choke. And I am particularly skilled at spotting that difference.” I held my phone up in the air as it buzzed again.
Kate: How about tonight?
“Case in point. This woman is desperate and needy. Those are the ones who make your life a living hell when you try to cut things off,” I explained.
“I don’t know, man,” he sighed. “Angel had a huge crush on me. I knew that when we hooked up the first time, and it was a little intimidating at first … but now look at us.”
“Yep, you’re doing great. Except … I don’t want all of this,” I waved my hand around his wall covered with wedding photos and the baby sleeping in his arms. “Anyway, I gotta get back to the office. Thanks for letting me borrow your kid.” I kneeled down to Olivia whose eyes were heavy and blinking slowly. “Bye Olivia!”
“Say goodbye to Uncle Ben. Eternal bachelor,” he mocked. “When his good looks are lost with age, you’ll have to take care of him, Olivia. He won’t have anyone else around to do it.”
“Yeah, yeah,” I laughed, rolling my eyes. “You get that one down for a nap. I’ll show myself out.”
I hopped into my car and drove back to our downtown office. It housed two entities—my venture, known as Wilder Properties, and my best friend Nick’s umbrella company, Ransom Realty. We got into real estate and investing in our early twenties, right along with Joey and our other childhood friend, Damon. We were all broke inner city kids determined to make a life for ourselves that was better than we grew up with.
It was my idea to move our whole operation from New York to Cherry Falls, North Carolina. When the small town was named the newest up-and-coming “It” city, I knew we had to strike while it was still somewhat of a blank canvas. My hunch had proven correct. We had made a killing ever since we put ourselves at the forefront of the city’s development, far more than we ever would have made in New York.
Each time I walked through the golden sliding doors of our business, I marveled over how much everything had changed. In our short few years in Cherry Falls, all three of my buddies and business partners had settled down and started having kids.
I was thinking it all over when my phone buzzed. I glanced down to see crazy Kate had now escalated from texting to calling. I sent her to voicemail and turned my attention to Damon, who was just getting off the elevator.
“Look at that handsome devil,” I teased him as he walked up and gave me a high five.
“Ben, my man. What’s good?”
“I was just thinking over what I might get into tonight,” I told him. “Actually, I was thinking how much more complicated navigating nightlife has become ever since you three chumps abandoned me in my bachelorhood. Will you be at the club tonight?”
Ben may have been married with a little one at home, but at least he had started his own chain of nightclubs—the original one being right there in Cherry Falls so he could keep a heavy hand in the day to day operations. At the very least, I knew I could count on catching him there most nights, even if he did leave ridiculously early to get home to his wife and kid.
“Yeah, I’ll be there for a bit,” he nodded. “I’ll see you then if you come by.”
“See ya, man,” I waved to him as he exited the building.
I hid away in my office for the rest of the afternoon, busy with work. After completing a slew of paperwork, e-mails, and calls, as well as a string of more missed calls and texts from crazy Kate, I was exhausted and getting ready to head home and change for going out to see Damon. My afternoon may have been wasted on someone who, judging by the way she was blowing up my phone, was apparently psychotic. But I couldn’t let that stand in the way of that evening’s potential for finding someone new and easier.
I shut everything down for the night and flung open my office door. But I immediately froze when I saw Kate waiting for me out in the lobby.
“I told her she’d have to wait,” my secretary explained. “She didn’t have an appointment.”
“Uh-huh, I see,” I watched her cautiously. “What are you doing here?”
“Sorry, I tried to call. I found your office’s address on the internet, and … well … I couldn’t reach you by phone …”
I wondered if inviting her into my office would result in a big scene requiring me to call security. Her blowing up my phone and showing up out of the blue freaked me out, but I had to admit … the girl had tenacity and determination, if nothing else.
“Step into my office,” I motioned my arm across the door, hoping I didn’t regret not having her escorted from the building right off. “What’s going on?” I asked, closing the door behind us. “I had a great time over coffee and all, but … uh, I wasn’t expecting to hear from you so soon … And so many times, at that.”
She sat in the chair in front of my desk, looking embarrassed as she wrung her hands together in her lap. “I know. I’m sorry. I swear I’m not crazy. I would have normally waited for you to call me, but … well, to be honest … I’m kind of in need of a date for this evening.”
“In need, huh?” I leaned against my desk in front of her. Even after she started showing her crazy side, I was still stunned by how good she looked. “I guess that explains your urgency to get a hold of me.”
“Yes, exactly. It’s for this work dinner, and … well, they’re expecting me to bring someone,” she explained. “It’s a really embarrassing story actually.”
I felt a little relieved that she had a reasonable explanation for her behavior. Or maybe I was just getting hypnotized all over again by her stunning features and prominent display of cleavage. “Well, Kate. You’re in luck. You took a risk by blowing my phone up and then just showing up here...and it just so turns out that I don’t have any concrete dinner plans.”
She perked up with hope. “Really? You’ll go with me?”
“Sure, why not?” I shrugged. “What time?”
“In about an hour,” she replied with earnest. “However … there’s just one little problem.” Her cheeks turned bright red. “I kind of … might have … well, okay. So I’m just going to spit this out. When you accompany me this evening … my boss and my co-worker along with their families … How do I put this … They … They think you’re my fiancé.”
“Come again?” I tilted one ear with my fingers. “I didn’t quite catch that.”
“My fiancé,” she gulped.
“Oh, so I did hear you. And it really was the bat-shit crazy thing I thought you said,” I laughed in shock. “Why the hell would they think I’m your fiancé!?”