Take A Number - Amy Daws Page 0,28
coming on a little strong, but I do really think you’ll like Natasha. Her family is equestrians!
Me: Horses, Lyns? Seriously?
How do they know so many single women in Boulder?
I glance at the clock on my phone. Rachael said Norah had a meeting with Max and would be in around ten. It’s now 10:10. Where the hell is she? If I have to find a different girl to take to Aspen, I’m going to need to get my ass in gear, or I’ll be stuck with one of Kate’s picks. And I wouldn’t touch any of her recommendations with a ten-foot boner.
“Your friend Kate needs medication,” Max states, jerking my focus away from my phone as he slides into the booth across from me.
I glance around and deflate when I see there’s still no sign of Norah. “Where did you come from?” I ask, trying to play it cool.
Max frowns at me. “My office, why?”
I shake my head, realizing I’m being an obsessive tool. “With Norah?”
Max’s frown lines deepen. “Yes, how did you know that?”
“Rachael mentioned it,” I reply and realize I sound fucking nuts because she’s probably just stuck in traffic. I close my laptop and push it aside to give Max my full attention. “What’s going on with Kate?”
He flattens his palms on the table and exhales heavily. “You knew she booked one of my rental properties in Aspen for this weekend, right?”
“Yeah, for her bachelorette party.”
“Yes, well, apparently now she said it’s going to be a joint bachelor and bachelorette party with all couples, so she needs a nicer place.”
“She mentioned she might do that,” I grumble. “Their bridal parties are kind of unique. Miles is having his best friend, Sam, and his sister, Maggie, stand on his side, and Kate is having me and Lynsey stand on her side.”
“Do you have to wear a dress?” Max chuckles and winks at me.
“Not as long as I don’t piss Kate off,” I reply, only halfway kidding. “Everything about this wedding is unique, so I’m not surprised she’s shifting the bachelorette party into a joint thing. Surely, it’s not a big deal, though. You have several properties in Aspen, right?”
“It’s apparently a very big deal to Kate because none of my rental properties are good enough, so she asked if she could have my personal property instead.”
I bark out a laugh. “That sounds like Kate.”
“She didn’t really ask. She just…told me.”
I nod slowly.
“Like I was a child.”
I press my lips together. “Hurts, doesn’t it?”
“Yes! Does she have testicles in those yoga pants she’s always wearing?” He rakes his hand over his short blond hair, and his lips puff out with a heavy exhale.
I have to fight back a laugh. Kate’s pen name is Mercedes Lee Loveletter, and she uses it as her alter ego all the time. It’s amusing to watch people get Loveletter’d. I lean forward and hit him with a knowing look. “She doesn’t need balls, Max. She has a super vagina that writes dirty books and crushes any balls that don’t submit to her.” I sit back and lift my coffee to my lips. “I assume you caved, right?”
“I don’t think I could say no if I wanted to. Now she’s inviting me and told me to bring a date. Can you believe the nerve? She invited me to my own place this weekend.”
I laugh at that. “She is a woman who gets what she wants. Don’t worry about it. I’ll be there. It’ll be fun.”
Max takes a sip of his coffee and curls the croinut number I grabbed for him in his hand. “Who are you bringing?”
“Umm…I’m not sure yet,” I reply awkwardly. Seriously, where the fuck is Norah?
Max hits me with a terrified look. “Kate said no singles allowed. Couples only. Apparently, she’s writing some swinger erotic novel and wants to use the entire trip as a write-off. She mentioned making us put all our keys in a bowl.”
“Shut up,” I bark, jerking back. “That’s fucked up, even for Kate.”
“Yeah, I think she was joking about that part. But she seems dead serious about bringing a date. That girl is scary.”
Suddenly, the bell on the front door chimes, and Norah walks in. She’s bathed in sunlight and tugging at the black bandana covering her blond hair while buttoning her baker’s coat over her ample breasts that I’ve felt the size of against my chest.
She halts mid-step when her eyes land on me. “Hi,” she says woodenly.
“Hi,” I reply with a frown because she has a