Total pages in book: 45
Estimated words: 44342 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 222(@200wpm)___ 177(@250wpm)___ 148(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 44342 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 222(@200wpm)___ 177(@250wpm)___ 148(@300wpm)
His mouth opens. “What?” he stutters.
I glare between the two of them. “Delete her number.”
“Who?” he asks dumbly.
I grit my teeth. “The woman you’re disrespecting.”
His friend looks between us. “We were just joking.”
I glare at him. “I didn’t hear anything funny.”
The guy with the phone swallows hard. “Look, man, I didn’t mean—”
“You matched with her, made plans to meet her, and now you’re sitting back here talking about her.” I hold my hand out. “Unmatch her.”
He stares at me, and I raise my eyebrows. There’s no way this asshole is getting out of here without unmatching himself to Nicole.
He quickly looks down at the screen, taps a few times, and holds the phone up as proof. “Done.”
“Good.” I straighten and look at both of them. “Now leave.”
Neither one argues. They grab their beers and disappear into the crowd so quickly that I almost smile.
When I turn back around, Nicole is watching me. There’s no doubt about it this time. Her eyes move from my face to the empty chairs behind me, and a small crease forms between her eyebrows. I wonder how much she heard or if she saw them leave.
She looks toward the entrance before checking her phone. The corners of her lips turn down, and her shoulders drop slightly.
Fuck. I did that.
No doubt she just received the notification that the asshole unmatched with her. She doesn’t know what he said or that I made him leave. As far as she knows, he took one look at her and decided she wasn’t worth staying for.
My hands curl into fists at my sides.
She shouldn’t feel embarrassed. She shouldn’t be sitting there wondering what’s wrong with her when there isn’t a damn thing wrong. The only person who should be ashamed is the asshole who walked away from the most beautiful woman in the room.
I’m not going to touch her. That’s what I tell myself anyway.
I’m going to walk over there, explain what happened, and offer her a ride home. That’s it. I have a flight to catch, and she’s too young for me. Getting involved with her would be a bad idea for more reasons than I can count.
Unfortunately, none of those reasons feel important while I’m looking at her.
I gesture for the waitress, needing to settle my bill before Nicole decides to leave. The waitress sees me and starts heading my way, so I pull my wallet from my back pocket to be ready. I keep one eye on Nicole the entire time. She stares down at her phone, glances at me, and then lifts her hand and motions for the waitress. I nod toward Nicole’s table when she reaches me. “You taking care of her?”
The waitress follows my gaze and nods. “Yeah. Poor girl got stood up, I think.”
The sympathy in her voice makes my chest tighten.
I pull a hundred dollar bill from my wallet and hand it to her. “Here. Take care of her bill too.”
Her eyes widen. “Both of your checks won’t be this much.”
“Keep the change.”
She starts to protest, but I shake my head. I don’t care about the money. I care about reaching Nicole before she slips out the door.
“Thank you,” the waitress says with a wide smile.
I nod and slide my wallet back into my pocket. Nicole reaches for her purse and begins gathering her things.
It’s now or never.
My pulse is racing as I start walking toward her. I grow more nervous with every step. I tell myself I’m just going to tell her the truth and make sure she gets home safe. That’s it.
CHAPTER 2
NICOLE
I drain the rest of my drink and try to keep my gaze off Guy Brody.
He’s only a few tables away, and I can’t believe no one else has noticed him sitting there. He isn’t fooling me, even if he swapped his Jasper Bears hat for a camouflage one with a patch that says Brody Ranch.
I would know the man anywhere. He’s a legend when it comes to baseball, and I know baseball.
I don’t notice the two men standing behind him until I see Guy talking to them. That’s when I realize my date for tonight is here with a friend, and they’re both pointing and smirking at me.
I barely resist rolling my eyes. Who brings a friend on a date anyway?
I think I’m going to give up on the Pick Me app. Or maybe it’s just me. No matter how carefully I choose the men I match with, I can’t seem to find one who appreciates my curves in person.
I watch as my date and his friend walk away from Guy and disappear into the crowd.
Well, there goes that.
I have half a mind to get up and introduce myself to Guy, but I quickly change my mind. He comes across as a nice guy in interviews and videos, but I’m not sure my ego can handle another hit tonight.