What's Life Without the Sprinkles - By Misty Simon Page 0,20
Nate would want me when he has so many other women available to him. I have so much baggage I need my own valet.”
“Don’t say that, either. Everyone has something.” Zoe moved toward the sink and Claudia couldn’t see her face, but something in her voice was wrong.
“What’s up? Are we back to the lawyer?”
“No, we’re not back to the lawyer because I don’t want to talk about him.”
“Come on. It would give me something to think about other than the disaster my love life has turned into.” Claudia got up and nudged Zoe over to the sink to fill it with water while she finished clearing the dishes of her completely uninspired meal.
“I just think men should be a little less like dogs, is all. And this guy is a major hound.”
“But I thought you hadn’t met him before today. I haven’t even heard of him before this afternoon.”
“Oh, I’ve heard of him, all right, and none of it good.” Zoe threw a spatula into the dishwater and had suds splashing onto the front of her shirt and Claudia’s. “Crap. Look at that. He even made me ruin my best T-shirt.”
“Zoe, that T-shirt is older than Justin. I highly doubt you could ruin it at this point. And why are you so down on him?”
Zoe seemed to struggle with something internally. Then her shoulders slumped, and she sank her chin to her chest.
Tucking a finger under Zoe’s chin, Claudia lifted her sister’s face. “You know you can tell me anything.”
“It’s not a big deal. Let’s just say that it sucks to find a man you would give all capital letters to and make him a MAN in your mind, and he turns out to have given something a little more substantial to five women in the last five weeks.”
“Oh.” Claudia let that process through her brain and got the rest of the dishes from the table, allowing Zoe to elaborate if she wanted to.
Apparently she wanted to. “Here’s the thing. I’ve had this client I was just talking to May about today. I was bitching because he’s sent five pretty big bouquets to five different women, one a week. I told her what an absolute beast he is and that I was really tempted to attach my own little note to the flowers telling the ladies to beware because they weren’t the only one or even two.” She wiped the back of her hand over her forehead to move some hair that had fallen forward. “Then I go into Uncle Al’s office thinking I’m going to see my favorite guy, and instead come face to face with a serious hunk o’ male who is totally drool worthy. I’m spinning fantasies—until I hear his name and realize it’s the flower dog.”
Claudia tried hard not to laugh. This wasn’t funny, except that many things came easy to Zoe, and a little shake-up wasn’t going to be the end of the world for her. “How can you know for sure it was him?”
Zoe slapped a hand into the water and grabbed more silverware to wash. “I can’t wait to see you fall, and I mean seriously fall, for Nate. I am so going to enjoy the ride. And the reason I know is that no one else in town has a name like Dexter Zegray.”
“That is true, I guess. Hmmm, Zoe Zegray. Has a nice ring to it.”
Zoe slapped the water again, but this time she hit Claudia in the chest with the warm soapy water and the fight was on.
Later that night, though, Claudia couldn’t help thinking about whether “Claudia West” also had a nice ring to it. She’d known Nate forever and yet had never written his and her names inside a heart in a notebook at school. Never wrote “Mrs. Claudia West” with a heart dotting the I. Never put their initials with the plus sign between. Never even considered him a real male. He had always just been her best friend. Why did she have to go and get all hormonal and lusty? What if she ruined everything?
Indecision was riding her back like a nasty monkey. Sure, she’d doubted herself time and again about what she was doing, if she was raising Justin right, what to wear to dinner. But she hadn’t had this male/female indecision in a very long time. The old Claudia would have just gone for it, but she found this Claudia was more gun shy than she’d thought.