Page 34 of The Yes Factor

“I’m just gonna…” I wave my hand toward the en suite bathroom and hear my knees creak as I push myself to standing.

Still in my heels, I stand facing myself in the bathroom mirror wondering what the hell just happened. I turn on the hot water and look for a clean washcloth to wipe my face. Did I even give a blow job? Does that count as anything? And, jeez, poor Brad must have a premature ejaculation problem. That blows. Literally.

There’s a tube of toothpaste on the counter so I briskly finger brush my teeth. Is this what it’s come down to, middle age dating? I look at my knees, red with indentions from the carpet like I’ve been kneeling on gravel. This wasn’t how I thought my first ride back at the rodeo would be. Not nearly as sexy or gratifying as I’d imagined it. Not how it would have been with Devon…

“Bex, your phone is blowing up!” Brad calls out with a worried tone, interrupting my Devon daydream.

Exiting the bathroom I retrieve my phone to I see I have about ten texts from Liv. A string of “NOW” “WHERE ARE YOU” and “9-1-1” with a series of question marks and exclamation points. I still have two minutes to spare, so I don’t know what she’s going on about. I’m a big girl.

“Is everything all right?” Brad looks at me with concern, his eyes droopy with satiated lust, his pants still half off.

“Yeah, fine. Should we head down?” I grab my purse and walk toward the door.

“Sure. Let’s grab one more cocktail. This has been a great date and I have a feeling it’s the first of more to come!” He says this with such honest enthusiasm as he’s rushing to pull up his pants that I can’t help but like the guy despite his lack of thunder down under. Maybe it’s just first date nerves?

My phone dings a final time and as I draw my gaze away from Brad’s brown eyes I see…a mug shot of Brad looking like he got hit by a truck at a roadside boiled peanut stand in Jackson, Mississippi.

* * *

“Bex! There you are! Come over here!” Liv calls out to me in the lobby of the Spade, the echo of her heels tapping across the shiny floor with military efficiency. She looks distressed and disturbed.

I look awkwardly at Brad, still unsure what to make of the last text from Liv. I gesture from Brad to Liv making introductions. “Brad, this is my friend Liv. Liv, this is…”

“I need you. Now.” She glares at Brad so harshly that I blush with embarrassment. Brad grins warmly at us as Liv drags me toward a semi-private alcove in the hotel lobby.

Confused, I hover over Liv’s cell phone as she rapidly fills me in on the details of Mr. Blunderwood. “So far I’ve found five mug shots of him from different states. He has warrants out for his arrest for credit card fraud, check fraud, embezzlement, two DUIs, and there appears to be multiple lawsuits against him and his company. There’s even a blog started by some lady in Oklahoma who says he conned her out of her land then put oil wells on it, and there are about eight people who say it’s happened to them too! He is not a good guy.” Liv is out of breath and I’m instantly out of hope.

I slide down the wall and sit on the floor with my head in my hands and let the tears fall freely. I am such an idiot! I should have known this was too good to be true. I just wanted something good. I just wanted to feel sexy. To meet a nice guy who laughed easily and looked at me like I was special. But here I am, blinded by a swindler who’s a convict with a record as long as my last CVS receipt. Liv sits down next to me and puts her arm around my shoulders. Her gesture is comforting and I lean into her as I sob out quietly, “I gave that motherfucker a blow job.” I wipe the snot trailing from my nose and rub it onto my red dress.

Liv tries to soothe me. “It’s ok, honey. It’s no big deal…”

“Literally.” I groan. “It was literally not a big deal.”

Liv leans in and gives me a tighter hug but then pulls back. “Ugh, you smell like the floor of a brewery.”

I cry even harder.

Liv’s voice rises with vengeance. “This is on Stella. Does she have interns doing her background checks? Is she even doing background checks? I’m calling TMZ on her ass. They’ll eat this up.”

I look at her through my tears. Liv is nuts and I love her for it, but I feel too defeated to even laugh about this right now.

She digs a wad of tissues out of her purse. “Don’t ruin your dress! Come on, get up. Pull yourself together and don’t let him see you cry.” As she grabs my elbow and hauls me up off the floor, I tense at the sound of approaching footsteps.

“Is everything okay over there, ladies?” Brad’s voice now just sounds fake and overly friendly. What used to appear as genuine I now see as smarmy and sinister.

I glare at him with the strength of a thousand daggers, and Liv responds with a knowing smile. “We were just looking at a few of photos of you. Looks like wearing that fishing vest isn’t the only crime you’ve committed!” She flashes the screen of her phone his way and he gasps, taking a step back, confronted with one of his own mug shots.

I’m looking at a man who tricked me into believing a relationship, or at least dating, might be possible again. Who made me think that a future might be something I was ready to tackle. Who made me want to break out of my shell and feel sexy again. And it was all one big fraud.

What an asshole. And that’s apart from all the other bad shit he’s done to so many other people.

I’m so mad I could spit. I could curse. I could scream at the top of my lungs! But I don’t do any of those things. I look down at my purse and smile, inwardly thanking Liv for convincing me to bring it tonight. Then I swing it round in a circle like I’m Conan the Barbarian and aim straight for Little Oscar and the Peanut Twins.

Chapter Twelve

Encore Couture

LIV

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