Heartless Hunk - Ann Omasta Page 0,54

she is nearby. I don’t know how to move forward without her, and I don’t want to figure out how to live without her. I love her, Soraya… so much. She’s everything to me.”

There it was. I’d laid my heart out on the line to this woman. I searched her eyes, trying to figure out if my speech had swayed her in the slightest.

She stared up at me for a long moment, obviously trying to gauge my sincerity. I must have passed her test because she nodded and her lips turned up slightly. “Okay, then,” she finally weighed in. “Let’s forge a plan and figure out how you’re going to get her back.”

She moved to lock elbows with me, before steering me down the sidewalk in the opposite direction I would have taken. Angling her head to look up at me as we stopped at a crosswalk, she said, “The puppy, by the way, was a total dick-move.”

I started to splutter an explanation, but she stopped me by saying, “You’re an absolute genius. She already loves him to pieces. She even took him to work with her.”

Beaming down at Soraya over her approval of my questionable antics, I realized that this woman was precisely the ally I needed to win back the heart of my one true love.

45

Violet

I wasn’t in the mood to chat on the phone, but I didn’t have it in me to ignore Soraya’s phone call. I hadn’t been a very good friend lately, so not answering the blaring device because I would rather snuggle with my puppy on the sofa seemed overly harsh.

As soon as I picked up, she replaced a traditional greeting with an excited, “Answer your door. I have a surprise for you!”

There must have been a noise just outside the entryway because Reese awoke from his snooze and jerked his head around to stare at the closed door.

“What is it?” I asked, trying, but failing, to insert some enthusiasm into my tone.

“You’ll see…” she dragged out the words, obviously attempting to build the suspense.

I gently placed Reese down on the ground. He trotted to the door, somehow already knowing how things worked. Forgetting I still had Soraya on the line, I said to the brilliant little pup, “You’re a smart boy, aren’t you?”

Soraya chuckled before gently teasing me, “Sounds like someone has fallen head-over-heels in love.”

“Yeah, he’s okay,” I tried to downplay my feelings for the little guy, but I could tell by the scoffing sound she made in her throat that Soraya wasn’t buying it.

When I flung the door open, I almost couldn’t believe my eyes. I gawked at the giant can dispensing cooler and said into the phone, “What the…?”

Reese went crazy at the sight of the huge machine. He yapped and lunged at it as if he personally needed to stop it from attacking us. I bent to scoop the anxious puppy up into my arms. He tried to wriggle free, but I kept a firm grip on him with my free arm as I squeaked into the phone, “You sent me a Moxie machine?”

“Where would you like it, ma’am?” The deep voice asked from behind the heavily-laden dolly.

I couldn’t see the man, but I tipped around anyway as I yelled. “You’ll have to take it back where it came from. I don’t have room for this.”

It had been sweet of Soraya to make such a grand gesture to help me feel better, but I really didn’t know what she had been thinking. Plus, I was fairly certain her tight budget couldn’t afford this type of extreme extravagance.

Suddenly, it dawned on me. My voice sounded flat as I turned away from the door and accused into the phone, “This wasn’t you at all, was it?”

“Just listen to what he has to say,” Soraya advised me.

“You and I will have words later,” I hissed into the phone before jabbing the button to hang up. Soraya was supposed to be my friend. Had Oliver somehow lured her over to being on his side?

The delivery person completely ignored my request to return the Moxie machine. While I’d been ending my call and setting down my phone, he had rolled the monstrosity into my small apartment and was sliding it off the dolly.

“That can’t stay here,” I informed him sternly as I walked towards him.

My step faltered when he turned and I caught my first glimpse of him. Oliver.

Reese defended my honor by yapping like a maniac and lunging at Oliver’s feet. When the