Page 107 of Mr. Wrong Number

“Wow.”Klutzy little puppy.I clenched my fists and simpered, “You’re so nice.”

He lowered his voice and said, “Well, he did have to buy me a bottle of scotch, so I’m notthatnice.”

Did he think I’d find that funny?

He leaned down a little closer. “I actually wanted to ask you out after that, but Colin wouldn’t let me. So please don’t be mad that I didn’t call.”

“Really.” I gave an Oscar-worthy performance of a genuine laugh. “You must not have wanted to very badly, if he was able to talk you out of it.”

“Well, I’m asking now.” He looked pleased with his answer. “Can I take you out sometime?”

“Colin not stopping you anymore?”

He grinned. “Let’s just say I’ve figured him out. He claimed you were batshit crazy with a truckload of issues, but I should’ve known he was lying to keep me out of his territory.”

“You do realize that referring to any woman as someone’s territory is offensive, don’t you, Nick?”Batshit crazy. Truckload of issues.I wanted to kick stuff down all of a sudden as rage started blooming inside of me. I’d actually come to terms with my emotions and decided to consider Colin’s apology for the sake of possible true love.

And it was a joke. I was a joke to him, just like I’d always been.

“Whoa.” Nick ran a hand over his beard and said, “I am really sorry. I didn’t mean to offend you, I was just saying that I think Colin was jealous.”

Always with the impeccable timing, Colin walked through the door. He hadn’t seen us yet, and I was physically pained by how handsome he was as he walked inside like a movie star. Those expressive eyes, that mouth that I knew for a fact tasted like blue Altoids 99 percent of the time; it was all for nothing.

A waste of beauty.

The moment he saw me, everything else fell away. His eyes on mine—that was all that existed in the world for a long and extended second. His mouth started to slide into a smile, but then he saw Nick.

He walked over and said, “Nick. Didn’t expect to see you here.”

Nick glanced at me, then at Colin. “Talk about your small worlds.”

I shut my laptop and stuck it in my bag. “Listen, Beck, we’re going to have to do this some other time.”

That got me his full attention. “What?”

I shrugged. “Nick asked me out, and I think I’m going to do that this morning instead. Maybe we’ll connect next week or something.”

“I think Nick means later.” Colin glared at his friend. “Nick is going to take you out later.”

“Whenever you want,” Nick stammered.

“I don’t care what you think Nickmeans, Colin.” I shimmied out of the booth and lifted my chin. “I want to go out with him now.”

“What is this?” He gestured to both of us and looked irritated. “You guys are talking now?”

“No, no,” Nick said, kissing Colin’s ass so much that I wanted to slug him, too. “I just ran into her.”

I said to Colin, “Our relationship is none of your business.”

“We don’t have a relationship,” Nick laughed, looking at Colin like Iwasbatshit crazy. “Seriously.”

“Oh, my God, can you take your lips off his ass for five seconds?” I rolled my eyes at Nick and said to Colin, “I actually don’t want to go out with him, but I definitely don’t want to talk to you. See you guys later.”

I took two steps before Colin grabbed the strap of my bag and yanked me back. “What happened to talking?”

“I’ve spent a few minutes talking to your buddy Nick here and I’ve learned everything I need to know.”

Colin turned his face to his friend. “What the hell did you say to her?”

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