Painted Lace - K.M. Neuhold Page 0,1
“You should find a smoking hot date to take.”
I scoff. Right, I’ll just pull out my little black book and choose from the long list of gorgeous men who are lining up to date me.
“Fine, forget the wedding for a second,” Luke concedes. “You need to get laid. How long has it been?”
I mumble the answer under my breath, and he cocks an eyebrow at me. “A year.” I answer more intelligibly this time. “Or so,” I say, leaving a little wiggle room because I can’t remember the exact date of my last...encounter. My hand gets the job done just fine. And, if I’m being honest, sex with another person is never all that satisfying or worth the stress.
“That’s not healthy,” Luke says.
I roll my eyes at him. “First of all, plenty of people are perfectly happy not having sex,” I point out.
He puts his hands up in defense. “Look, no judgement on how anyone lives their lives. But I know you, and I know you’re not happy.”
He’s not wrong. Not about the sex issue. I mean, yes, I would love to be having sex, but more than that, I’m starting to wonder if I’ve mourned my failed relationship with Harry far longer than any person should. There should be a clear statute of limitations on this type of thing, so people know when it’s the right time to move on.
“What exactly would you have me do?” I ask irritably. Even if I am ready to try dating again, I don’t have the first clue where to start.
“You could start by at least joining a dating app,” he suggests, and my stomach flutters.
I’ve considered signing up for one a time or two, but my nerves always get the better of me. How am I supposed to know if the person on the other end of the conversation is really who they’re presenting themselves to be? Then again, it’s not like that can’t happen in real life as well. After all, Harry wasn’t who I thought he was, and I knew him my entire life.
“I don’t think that kind of thing is for me.”
“You never know unless you try.”
“Mm,” I grunt in response because, really, what does he expect me to say? I need to give the idea some thought before I can decide if he’s right about it or not.
“I know, I know, you don’t like it when I push you.” He puts his hands up in surrender. “Just promise you’ll think about it?”
I squint my eyes and drum my fingers on the desk. “Fine, I’ll think about it.”
He smiles again, and I hate that his approval means so much to me. “Good. Now, I’ve got some boring ass meeting to attend.”
I chuckle dryly. “And I have some boring ass numbers to input,” I tease. Most days I don’t hate the accounting work I do for the company that Luke’s father owns, that he’ll one day be the CEO of. It’s a steady paycheck and it’s the kind of job where I know exactly what to expect day to day, which is perfect for me.
“Later,” he says, ducking out of my office and closing the door behind him, leaving me alone with my thoughts and that stupid invitation.
Keaton
A buzzing sound pulls me from a colorful dream. I tighten my eyelids against the sun that’s streaming in through my bedroom window, and blindly flail my hand in search of my phone.
“Yeah?” I answer in a croaky voice. When no one responds, I reluctantly crack one eye open and try again to find the button to answer the call. “Hello?” I say again.
“Keaton,” a chipper voice says on the other end. “How would you feel about picking up a shift tonight?”
It takes my brain a few seconds to catch up to what’s happening. The half-awake fog making it difficult to put two and two together right away. “Lacy?” I guess, and she chuckles.
“Yes. Are you sleeping? It’s two in the afternoon.”
“Yeah, I was up late,” I answer, finally managing to get both my eyes open. I sit up, my phone still pressed to my ear, and reach for the half-smoked joint resting on the milk crate next to my bed. I stick it between my lips, lighting it up and taking a slow drag, filling my lungs with the sweet smoke and holding it for a few seconds before letting it out.
“You still there?” Lacy checks.
“Yeah,” I answer. “I can take a shift tonight. What time?”
I take another toke and make a