Page 64 of Flippin' Cowboy
“Look, Winnie—”
“Not only ‘no,’ but ‘hell no!’” she snapped.
“Can’t you see she’s busy?” Nick asked curtly.
He draped a possessive arm around her shoulders. She leaned into him, and that made him feel good.
Nick pointed at The Soiled Dove, and continued, “In case you haven’t noticed, we’re in the middle of a major restoration project here.”
“Exactly. The network ordered ten episodes ofReviving Snowberry Springs, and we’re only halfway through the project,” Karla said. “Winnie won’t be available until this summer at the very earliest.”
Winnie nodded vigorously at this.
Nick growled softly. If he had his way, Winnie wouldn’t be available to work with Dickweed,ever.
“—and only if we don’t get a second season order,” Karla continued. She turned to smile at Nick. “I hear there’s a beautiful old train station downtown that needs sprucing up. If the city council agrees, that’ll be our project for next season, along with the old Masonic Hall.”
“Yes, ma’am.” Nick smiled at her.
Dickweed scowled at them, then returned his attention to Winnie. “Look, Winn, I know I owe you an apology. I’m so sorry about the way things went down. I don’t know what I was thinking. It was all a horrible mistake. And I’m here to ask you for a second chance.”
Fury surged through Nick. After all the anguish Dickweed had caused Winnie, how dare this asshole presume?
Karla snorted softly. She apparently shared Nick’s disdain for Winnie’s ex.
“What, did Melanie dump your cheating ass?” Winnie asked in a sarcastic tone.
Nick stifled a laugh. It appeared his partner was well and truly over her ex.Yay.
“She did!” someone on the other camera crew said. “Didn’t you hear? It’s all over the Internet.”
Dickweed’s face turned purplish-red with fury. His pale, patchy facial hair made him look like a moldy roasted beet.
“Shut up!” he snarled at camera operator. To Winnie, he said in a whiny tone, “I apologized, okay? What more do you want?”
“Apologynotaccepted. And I want you to leave,” Winnie said coldly.
“Look, y’all, I know there are some hard feelin’s about the way last season ended,” Mike intervened with genius-level understatement, “but, Winnie—I mean, Miz Snowberry, you gotta understand the situation here. Donna Morris thinks that y’all working together again will make for great television, and that’s why she okayed us coming down here to talk to y’all. Here, I’ll show you.”
He pulled out his phone and rapidly typed on it.
“Shit,” Karla said under her breath.
“Donna Morris is The Renovation Channel’s general manager of programming,” Winnie whispered to Nick.
“Fuck,” he muttered, and Winnie nodded.
“I just sent y’all Donna’s offer,” Mike announced.
An instant later, Winnie’s and Karla’s phones both chimed simultaneously with incoming texts.
Nick noted that his phone remained silent. Whatever was going on, it was pretty clear he wasn’t invited to be part of it.
Dickweed smirked at Winnie as she pulled out her phone.
Nick gave him the glare that made grown contractors cry. The smirk abruptly vanished from Dickweed’s lips and he shrank behind Mike’s bulk.
What a fucking weenie, thought Nick. He squeezed Winnie’s shoulders reassuringly in a one-armed hug.
