Page 5 of Designed for Disaster

“And I’m guessing your dad’s not lining up to reach out to him, either.”

I snorted. “Conrad, give a damn about anything else? Not a chance.”

He took a swig of coffee. “So basically, today has boiled down to your father being his usual self?”

“If by that you mean a callous bastard, then yes.” I shook my head, taking a long drag from my cup. How one person could be so damn selfish, I’d never understand.

“You’reone to talk about being a callous bastard,” a voice muttered.

I looked up to see the snarky waitress had reappeared, lugging what I assumed were her worldly possessions from the staff room. “Are we doing this again? Getting fired wasn’t enough for you?”

“Yeah, thanks for that,” she bit off. “You were a great help.”

“Oh? Was being the world’s worst waitress not an adult decision you made?” I shot back. Her eyes narrowed, and I couldn’t help but grin at being able to throw her own words back at her. “That’s it? Have you finally run out of drivel to spew?”

“I just realized there’s no point in arguing with someone who acts like a child.”

“You’re one to talk,” I snarled.

She leaned closer. Close enough for me to smell her perfume and to see the tiny flecks of hazel in her eyes. “At least I’m not the one who looks like I’ve just wet myself in public.”

The smile dropped from my face, and we both looked down, almost in slow motion, to the large wet stain that now occupied most of my lap. I’d been so distracted by her and then by Aiden I hadn’t even noticed how wet my jeans were until now.

I glanced up in time to see her eyes locked on my lap. One manicured brow rose to a perfect point. Then she finally caught my eye. “Don’t worry. I’m sure no one will notice. After all, there’s not much to look at there.” And with that, she straightened, wearing the biggest shit-eating grin I’d ever seen.

It took everything inside me not to crush the coffee cup in my hand.

“Have a lovely day,” she said with buttery sarcasm. Then she turned on her heel and waltzed straight out the door in triumph.

I didn’t realize I was staring after her until Aiden snorted, drawing my attention. I turned to look at him. “What?”

“Sothat’swhat happened before I got here.” Aiden snickered into his cup. “Looks like you’ve finally met your match. About time, honestly.”

Met my match? “What’re you talking about?”

“The hot woman who looked like she wanted to kill you. Or fuck you. Maybe both.”

I waved off his comment. “She’s just some waitress I hope I’ll never have to see again.”

Aiden snorted. “For a guy who says you never want to see her again, you sure spent a lot of time checking out her ass.”

I shook my head, unable to deny it. But in my defense, it was truly a stellar ass. Too bad it was attached to a wretch of a woman.

“Hate to see them go, love to watch them walk away, huh?” Aiden said.

“Trust me. I am ecstatic to see this one walk away.” The last thing I ever wanted to do was have another run-in with that Hellcat.

3

NATASHA

There was only one person who ever knocked on the door to my workshop. Though calling it “knocking” might be an understatement.

Stacy hammered on the door to the basement storage room, flat-palmed, with both hands, singing my name in that high-pitched almost-squeal of hers. If the dogs in the neighborhood weren’t already howling, they would be soon. “Tasha! Natashaaaaaa!”

“Come in!” I hollered over the sound of her hammering. I was on the other side of the workshop, jigsaw in hand, and didn’t feel like walking over to open the door. Stacy waltzed into the space in a flowery shawl. She always wore an eclectic mix of thrift store finds, bright colors, and geometric patterns. But she pulled it off, partially because she had an amazing eye for striking, unusual combinations, and partially because she was gorgeous enough to make a paper bag look good.

“Hello, best friend!” Stacy called over to me.

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