Page 84 of Hound Dog
“Hi,” I heard her say. “Is that your dog? She’s so cute!”
“Yeah. Her name is Princess. But I promise I didn’t name her. She came with the name.” He chuckled, and I was impressed by Simon. His dialogue was good. Almost flirty.
“Well, it suits her,” the redhead responded with a giggle. “I have a dog, too… I didn’t realize this ice cream stand had little doggie cups of ice cream.”
“Yeah, they put a Milkbone in it and everything,” Simon said. “Not that you can tell… Princess ate it immediately. For a little thing, she can put down some food.”
“What are you reading?”
Haylee arched her eyebrow at me, and I rolled my eyes. No amount of reason could convince Simon to leave his book at home. “It’s a biography about Daniel Boone.”
“Oh wow! I love biographies.”
“You do?” Simon asked and adjusted his glasses higher on his nose. For the first time since she started talking, he seemed interested.Actuallyinterested in her.
My heart pounded faster, and Haylee’s hand slip into mine, giving it a squeeze. Had we finally hooked a girl good enough for the picky Simon?
“Totally,” she said. “I mean, I like comedic biographies best.”
“Comedic… biographies?” Simon repeated.
No. No, no, no no. “Come on, Simon. She likes reading. Stay with it,” I said into the microphone.
He cleared his throat. “What kind of comedic biographies?”
“You know… like Chelsea Handler. Tina Fey.”
“Cool,” Simon said.
Only there was nothing cool about how he said it. I could hear it in his voice; he had checked out.
He exchanged a few more pleasantries with the redhead and, surprising no one, she walked away without him asking for her number.
I muted the microphone. “We’re never going to find him a date,” I groaned.
“You’ve only been working with him for two days.”
“Twogruelingdays.”
Haylee rolled her eyes. “You’re being dramatic.”
From the earpiece, we both heard a woman’s voice, paired with a snort. “Comedic biographies. What bullshit.”
“Wait,” Haylee whispered. “Is that…”
“Enzo,” I said.
“Right?” Simon said. “I’m not crazy, but to think a comedicmemoiris on the same level as a Daniel Boone biography?Come on.”
Enzo’s distinct laugh cut through the microphone. “Look, I’m all for people reading in any form that takes. Comedic memoirs,Harry Potter,Fifty Shades, it’s all good. But know the genre. Don’t useBossy Pantsas a comp toInto the WildorA Beautiful Mind, you know?”
“Exactly!”
Haylee leaned into me, trying to get a better look at them around the trees. “Does she know he’s the client?”
“I don’t think so. She knows we have a client meeting today with someone named Simon, but she didn’t know where we were meeting. And I don’t think she knew what he looked like. His profile didn’t have any pictures.”
Oh man, this was going to be fun.
