Page 41 of Love in Fine Print

“Wow, she sounds… amazing.”

“She is.” I realized, in that moment, that the woman I’d just described, the woman I’d pictured when I was waxing poetic, was Olivia Bradshaw. She was the “girlfriend” in my imaginary relationship.

“Oh, okay. Well, I think that what I’m mainly looking for is someone to stay in and watch movies and cook with. But also who will get up and go on a hike with me. My last relationship, all Brian wanted to do was watch sports. I also want someone who likes gaming. It’s my favorite way to unwind after a stressful day. And I want someone who likes to talk. The strong silent type is all good in theory, but in practice, I’ve found it to be dull and boring. Intellectual stimulation is just as important to me as physical.”

As Nadia went on about what she was looking for, I did my best not to reveal the shock I was experiencing that that had actually worked. I couldn’t believe it was that easy. One little lie and I’d been able to get the consultation back on track.

By the end of the meeting, I already had three guys in mind for her. One was Mario. He was everything she was looking for in a partner.

I walked her out, and as she drove off Miss B, who was rocking on her porch, commented, “You look like the cat who ate the canary.”

“It was a good consultation.”

“I’ve been noticing lots of folks coming and going.”

“Yeah.” I was scheduling five to six consultations per day in the hopes that the more I did this, the better I would get at it. In football, the key to performing well on the field was reps at practice. That’s what I was trying to get in.

“I hope they’re here for love and you haven’t started slinging dope.” She smiled, amused at her own joke. “I don’t want to live next to a trap house.”

I grinned. “No dope, I promise. Just love.”

Her expression grew somber. “Pearl would be proud.”

“I haven’t done anything yet.”

“Yes, you have. And believe me, she’s bragging on you up there.” Miss B pointed to the sky.

I hoped she was right. All I wanted to do was make Gran proud.

“Build Me Up Buttercup” started playing and I realized the song was coming from Miss B’s phone. She must have got a new ringtone. When she heard it, her entire face brightened with excitement, and I knew it was one of her children or grandchildren. Her face only lit up like that when it was her family calling her.

“Hello!” She said as she stood from her rocking chair.

I watched as she headed inside her house and noticed that she appeared even thinner than she was the week before.

The high that I’d felt just moments before at the small win I’d had today in the business I owned that I had zero qualifications for was completely gone. I was failing Miss B. If Gran were here, she would be making sure that her friend was eating.

There were a ton of meal services available. Everything from ready-to-eat fresh and delicious foods delivered to your doorstep, to the ingredients of simple meals that were easy to make.

I was going to add it to my to-do list. Along with maybe, just maybe, finding a girlfriend. Not just for the business’s sake but because it had felt nice talking about my fake girlfriend, aka Olivia. When I was describing her, a warm feeling of happiness tingled in my chest and then spread throughout my body.

Olivia might be off-limits, but I needed to find someone like her, someone who made me feel the things she did. I had an entire database of single women who were looking for love at my disposal.

As I walked back into the office, I had a sinking feeling that even if I had access to every dating database in the world, that would still be an impossible feat.

Olivia Bradshaw wasn’t just one in a million, or even one in a billion, or even one in a trillion. She was one-of-a-kind. I could spend every second of every day for the rest of my life looking, and I’d never find anyone else like her.

17

OLIVIA

“So,what made you want to be a divorce attorney?” Levi asked as he cut his steak.

As much as I appreciated the question since ninety percent of the men I’d dated, Neil excluded of course, had zero interest in asking me anything about myself, I just couldn’t bring myself to open up to the man seated in front of me.

He was fine. He was perfectly adequate. He was in construction and was a successful business owner. Divorced dad of two adult children. Kind eyes. Maybe not as traditionally handsome as Neil, but he had a bit of a bad boy edge, a blue-collar worker sex appeal that Neil definitely didn’t have.

That edge hadn’t totally awakened my slumbering libido, but it had definitely caused my lady parts to peel one eye open before hitting the snooze button. I had felt the faint stirrings of arousal when I’d first seen him.

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