Page 5 of Miss Fortune

I crossed an arm across my chest in an attempt at modesty and approached the front desk. The receptionist was pure LA. Blond hair, blue eyes, perfect whitened teeth, and a slight tan. Aside from my hair color, there wasn’t one thing LA about me. Of course, if we were talking seventy years ago, maybe I could’ve been seen as a curvy Midwest-meets-Tinseltown.

She glanced up. “Yes, how can I help you?”

“Hi. I’m Daisy Wilson. I’m here to see Mr. Morrison.”

She glanced at the clock, a frown marring her pretty face, probably because it was now six minutes past the hour. Then she punched a number into her phone. “Doris, I have Daisy Wilson here.” After listening for a moment, she hung up. “Take a seat. She’ll be out to get you shortly.”

“Thank you.” Glancing around feverishly, I searched for a restroom where I could attempt to dry off, but I didn’t have time. Doris was already walking in. All ninety-five pounds of her. Although I’m sure a sixty-something-year-old woman wouldn’t appreciate me calling her adorable, she was. From her catlike red glasses to her pixie cut of jet-black hair, she was so chic. She wore a navy pant suit with a yellow shirt, providing a pop of color.

“I’m sorry I’m late.” She waved me off. Although it was tempting to hug the woman who had become dear to me over the last year, I realized I couldn’t do so in the office. Nope. Time to channel my professionalism.

She patted my arm. “Don’t fret, my dear. With the rain today, everyone is running late, including Mr. Morrison.”

“Do I have a couple minutes to freshen up?” I hated to ask, but if he was late, then perhaps I had time.

“I’m afraid not. He’s already in the conference room waiting on you. And you look beautiful, as always.”

She led me into the glass-walled room where a man in a suit stood up to greet me. I was about to introduce myself when I realized we’d already met.

Chapter Four

Caleb

The words the beautiful stranger had said about Tabitha were concerning. I’d only gone out with her twice and was only getting to know her, but this morning had showed a different side to the woman. I might work too much, be socially awkward and blunt, but I didn’t go out of my way to be an asshole.

When I climbed back into the car after finishing my conversation in the rain with the intriguing owner of the Prius, I found Tabitha tapping on her phone.

She didn’t look up as she spoke. “About time. Good grief, what a disaster of a morning. What kind of mother allows her son to have a fit like that?”

“The child was autistic, and he’s not her son. She calmed him down. I’m sure it’s scary for any kid to be in a car accident.”

Tabitha huffed. “It was her fault we were in the situation in the first place.”

I had to grit my teeth against making this personal. Tabitha had no clue she was pressing one of my buttons with her criticism of the child. “She apologized no less than three times.”

“Apologizing doesn’t help me bill clients.”

No, it didn’t. But it didn’t give her cause to be so insensitive.

I sighed, watching the yellow Prius behind me pull back out into traffic. According to her license, her name was Daisy. A name which certainly suited her.

As I merged into traffic myself, I knew I would definitely be cutting it close for my nine o’clock interview now. I called Doris to let her know.

Tabitha spent the remainder of the trip bitching about the morning, only reconfirming my decision to stop dating her. When I pulled up in front of her building, I was more than ready to drop her off.

“I’ll see you tonight,” she said, leaning over to kiss me goodbye.

I pulled away from the public display of affection—something I wouldn’t have participated in regardless of what I was about to say. “You should get an Uber instead.”

“What? I don’t understand. I don’t live far from you.”

There was a reason I didn’t have a wife, kids, a dog, or even a house plant. I wanted no restrictions on my time or to feel guilty about keeping to my routine. But in this case, I didn’t wish to date someone so callous.

“It has nothing to do with how far you live from me. I don’t think we should see each other again.”

Her nostrils flared. “You can’t be serious. You would do this right before I go into the office?”

I tried to inflect some empathy into my tone. “I’m sorry.”