World's Worst Boyfriend: A Romantic Comedy Adventure (Fake It Book 3) by Carina Taylor (ebook reader online txt) 📗

“You know what? I don’t want to talk about it anymore,” I said firmly. Zoe’s favorite thing to do was shred people, and she could go on for hours.

“Okay. The first thing you need to do is find a guy to make you forget him.”

“Actually, I don’t think that’s very healthy…” I tried to say but they cut me off.

“Oh, look at that Hottie McHottie!”

They grinned together and stared in the direction of the bar.

“Oh, that won’t work for Saidy because I think he’s looking at me,” Zoe said. She flipped her hair back and lifted her hand in a little greeting.

I turned to look; it was awkward as hell trying to do it subtly. There were several men lined up at the bar, but there was only one who was what would be considered traditionally handsome.

Holy cow. It was Sullivan Keene.

My knight in a shiny SUV stood leaning against the bar looking in our direction when the bartender passed him a drink—whiskey on the rocks.

This was the third time I’d run into him. Not completely strange. Riverly wasn’t a huge town. But it was big enough that something about our seeing each other was beginning to feel like fate.

“I think he’s coming over here,” Bee whispered excitedly. “This will be the perfect time to show Saidy how to get the most out of a man. She’s been a doormat too long.”

“Good evening,” Sullivan said as he reached our table. He walked straight past the girls to stand next to my chair and extended his hand toward me. “I was hoping we would meet again when we had more time to talk—or was less scary than the middle of the night.”

I laughed and shook his hand. “Trust me, you made that circumstance so much less scary than it could have been, and it wasn’t quite the middle of the night. And besides, I know where you live, remember?”

He smiled and held onto my hand. I studied his eyes. Intelligent eyes with a sparkle in them.

Someone cleared their throat.

“Oh, I’m sorry. Sullivan, this is Zoe and Bee. This is Sullivan. He’s the nice man who helped me when I had car trouble.”

“Why don’t you sit down and join us?” Bee asked as she patted the seat next to her.

“Thank you,” Sullivan nodded, but sat down on the chair next to me. “No boyfriend tonight again?”

He took a sip of the whiskey, studying me over the rim of his glass. I wasn’t sure I wanted to tell him that Fletcher was my ex-boyfriend. It felt weird to tell him that the guy who worked on his security system was my ex.

“Unfortunately, there won’t be a boyfriend on any night.” I shook my head and took a sip from my glass.

“I’m sorry…” he said, looking anything but.

“Thank you, you seem so sincere,” I told him with raised eyebrows.

He just grinned. “But I’m not sorry for me. Would you like to grab dinner this week?”

A small gasp sounded across the table from me. Like they were shocked someone would be interested in me.

I looked at him in surprise. “Well, I only just broke up with him—”

“She’s fresh off a breakup. But I could keep you company while you wait on her.” Zoe cut in with a sly smile. And there it was. The first play for any man who had an interest in me. I could count on it like clockwork from her. Fletcher and I had already been dating for a while before I ever introduced him to Zoe. It was probably the only thing that prevented her from asking him out too.

Sullivan chuckled as he leaned back in his chair. But ignored Zoe’s statement as he rested his hand on the back of my chair. “Do you like Italian?” he asked me.

That elusive shrimp scampi. I still hadn’t gotten myself any of that. “Yes, I do.”

“Perfect. We’ll figure out a time that works for both our calendars. I know you’re a busy woman.” With a wink, he pushed a lock of hair behind my ear and stood up. “Ladies. Wonderful to meet you.”

He saluted my friends with his whiskey glass, then sauntered off to the bar.

“Wowzer, girl. I expected you to be all over that,” Bee said in surprise.

Explaining that strange, uneasy feeling I got from Sullivan would not go over well with the girls. So, I leaned forward and rested my elbows on the table. “I just broke up with Fletch! I’m not going to jump back into dating this soon. That’s ridiculous.”

“It sounds like you have a date. So, I guess you are jumping back into the dating pool.” Zoe wasn’t smiling as she said it. In fact, she was still staring at Sullivan and looked like she was about to start drooling on the table in his absence.

He still wasn’t as good looking as Fletcher. I shook my head. “You guys are ridiculous. I’m going to use the restroom. I’ll be back in a little bit.”

I gathered my jacket and purse, then walked down the corridor toward the bathroom.

I yelped when a set of large hands grabbed my waist from behind, pushing me into a small room. The sound of a door slamming sounded off like a canon. I was locked in a closet-sized room with a stranger.

I spun around and tried to knee my assailant but caught him on the outside of his thigh unfortunately.

The small room lit up when the man flipped the light switch. “Geez, Saidy. Don’t knee me there!”

My breath came more rapidly as I glared at the World’s Worst Boyfriend. “What do you think you are doing? What are you doing here?”

I hadn’t even noticed him out in the bar. As a matter of fact, I knew he hadn’t been in the main room of the bar. Zoe and Bee’s thorough perusal of anything remotely male would have picked up on Fletcher.

“I needed to talk to you.” His earnest face bent down to my level.

“So you waited in the hall and dragged me