Page 25 of The Bad Husband

“Are you interested in both?”

“So far, all I see is two cute guys, about the same age.”

“Pick one. The other one is taken.”

“Seriously?”

“Yes.”

“Is he your soon-to-be boyfriend?”

“No. He’s engaged.”

She huffs out her fake frustration.

I speak next.

“Engaged. Hmm… I know. I know. This one is engaged.”

I point to one of them with a flick of my chin.

“How do you know?” she asks.

“The woman staring at him instead of the camera was my first clue. Her arm is looped through his.”

“Good job. That’s Stacy, his fiancée.”

“So the other one is mine if I want him. How come no one else wanted him?”

“Darling,” she says with a knowing smile. “You are the only woman I know who’s looking for shy, awkward men.”

“Shy or awkward.”

“It’s the same to me.”

“How is he?” I ask, lifting my gaze to her.

“He’s a nice guy. Helps everybody in the store. Works hard. I don’t know much else about him.”

“And you think he’d like to go out with me.”

“He probably would. You’re his type.”

“He has a type?”

I look at his picture again.

‘Uh-huh. He likes serious, pretty women.”

A few moments pass before I laugh.

“Shut up. You’re fucking with me now.”

“Of course I am. How could I know all that?” she tosses back at me, amused. “I think you two would make a nice couple. Even if only for the summer,” she adds quickly as I’m about to argue with her again.

“All right.” My hand slides off her phone. “I’m tired of all this,” I confess.

“Why? It’s so much fun.”