I didn’t know how to tell him that I’d woken up that morning with nothing, and if I went to bed that night with nothing, I’d be no better or worse off.
“Okay,” I said, feeling ballsy. “Do me your worst.” That got a smile out of him.
“The stipulation, and I’m not sure why it exists—but Mr. Cordy seemed to feel very strongly about this—is that you have thirty days to get married.”
Oh. That’s all? Just a little thing like getting married.
He didn’t wait for me to respond. “Do you have a boyfriend? Someone you were already planning to marry, anyway?”
I shook my head slowly. I wished he had never come into the bar and bothered me with this nonsense. My life would have been far better off without it.
Instead, my simple existence had just flown out the window. Buh bye…
* * *
Nat returned to the table to find me deep in thought. So deep in fact, that he had to tap my shoulder.
“Garnet? You okay?” he asked.
I shook my head. “Oh. Yeah. Just thinking.” The lawyer had connected me with this bean counter in case I got the goods. Which was funny because my chances of that, given Grandpa’s stipulation, were slim to none.
“I’m fine, Nat. Thank you for asking.” I stood and extended my hand.
He looked around, as if hoping for privacy, and lowered his voice. “I don’t usually do this…I mean ask clients out…but since you’re not a client and may never will be, would you like to go out? Get coffee, a drink, even dinner?”
Shit. Maybe meeting Grandpa’s demand was not going to be as impossible as I’d thought.
Chapter 4
Lincoln “Linc”
Jack, my brother, sauntered into the office we shared wearing a shit-eating grin, as if he were the luckiest guy in the world. I suppose that, at that very moment in time, he probably was.
“What?” I asked him, all accusation and suspicion.
“Whaddya mean, what?” he asked, shrugging dramatically. He leaned back in his chair, hands behind his head, kicking his Nikes up on the desk. What a dick.
“Dude. I know you’re fucking around with Monica,” I said.
He whipped around to face me. “So? So what, Linc? We don’t all want to live like monks, you know. Some of us like to express our sexual selves.”
I rolled my eyes. “Sexual self? Where did you get that? Have you been watching Oprah again?” He often watched daytime TV with the female gym employees when they were on break. Said it made him look like a “sensitive guy.”
He rolled his eyes and turned back to his computer. “Whatever, dude.”
That about summed it up. Jack had always been the popular one with the never-ending stream of women and girlfriends, and I was the shy, quiet one who could barely look at a female, never mind speak to one. High school might have been many years behind us, but things weren’t really all that different.
“Jack, I know I’ve said this before, but messing around with employees will not end well. It might be fun in the moment, but please, just date the members or something.” I waved my hand at the office window that overlooked the main exercise room. “There are tons of beautiful women out there. Lay off the employees.”
He nodded slowly. “Yeah. I know you’re right, Linc. It’s just that when they throw themselves at me, it’s so hard to say no. Especially that one with the huge…”
“Okay, Jack! I’m done here. I’m heading next door for a beer before going home. I’ve had a long day.”
He smiled. I knew what he was going to throw at me. “Right, little bro. You started the day with your touchy-feely yoga class.” Suddenly, his eyes widened like a light bulb went off in his head. “Hey…how come I never thought of that? Yoga…fit women in tight clothing. Shit. Why you been holding out on me? Can I join you tomorrow?”
“Later, Jack,” I said, letting the office door slam behind me for emphasis. I had had a long-ass day starting with a yoga class. If he wanted to make fun of that, well, fuck him.
“Save me a seat at the bar,” he called after me.