Page 63 of The Girlfriend Card
But still. I couldn’t let it go. I was dying to know. Ihadto ask.
“What uh, whatever happened to that girl I recommended to you?” I stammered. “She never showed up, did she?”
“Oooh. Okay, I get what’s happening now.” He grinned. “You’ve got a thing forOttavia.”
I shoved him. “Shh. Don’t say her name so loud. I don’t want anyone to hear.”
“Why not?”
“Because.” My voice lowered to a paranoid whisper. “Do you have any idea who she is?”
“Yeah. Doyou?” he countered. “Because I believe you said she was an acting student named Olivia, and you had plans to bring her as your date, ‘Jane,’ to dinner at Mr. Capuano’s.” A shit-eating grin spread across his cheeks. “Man, that dinner must’ve been a hoot.”
I grumbled. “I don’t wanna talk about it.”
He chuckled. “Well, anyway, you can imagine my surprise when my front-of-house manager starts texting me, asking if I knew whyOttavia Capuanoshowed up to my brewery to start working as a hostess.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?!”
“I was on vacay, bro. And the internet’s real spotty out in the wilderness.” Brett shrugged. “You want to tell me why Mr. Capuano’s daughter wanted a job at my brewery? Should I be worried? Is she a spy for The Godfather or something?”
“She’s not a spy.”
“So what’s her deal?”
“She’s …” I trailed off. “She’s weird. I dunno.”
“Well, for what it’s worth, the BarDown crew absolutely loves her.”
“Wait, so she’s actually working there?” I asked, my voice rising with interest.
“Yeah, dude. She’s killing it.”
“No kidding?” I asked, fighting to keep my smile from spreading. I couldn’t help it; hearing that made me stupidly happy.
“She’s a hard worker. Picking up shifts left and right, covering for people when they call out—andthat’show you win the hearts and minds of any staff.” He laughed. “Dude, get this. Yesterday, McKayla had an employee call out sick at Good Vibes Only. Ottavia had just finished her shift at BarDown, so she offered to cover.”
“Did she?!” I asked, surprised.
“Yup. She worked the closing shift. And it went so well, McKayla basically told Ottavia she can get hours there anytime she wants.”
“Dude. You had abillionaire hotel heiressselling people sex toys?”
“Crazy, right? But she was a natural, or so I’m told.” He snickered. “So, after their shift ended, McKayla took Ottavia out, and they ended up hanging out for hours. McKaylalovesher now. She said Ottavia is totally down to earth and doesn’t come off like a snooty billionaire or anything—she didn’t talk about it, or mention money at all.”
“What else did they talk about?” I asked.
He shrugged. “I don’t know, man. I wasn’t there. All I heard was that McKayla had made a new friend.”
“Yeah, but …”
Brett, reading my mind, cut right to the chase. “No, she didn’t mention you. Or if she did, McKayla didn’t say.”
“Oh.”
“Actually, therewasone thing,” Brett said. “McKayla mentioned that she’d asked Ottavia if she was seeing anybody.She said Ottavia gave a weird answer; like McKayla couldn’t tell if it was a yes or a no.”
I tutted. “That sounds about right.”
