“How about Magnolia?”
“Eh, I think we can officially scratch Magnolia from the list.”
“Agreed,” I say, striking a line through the name with my stylus. A knock on the door reverberates over the construction noise, but before I can stand to answer it, Dottie Lynn lets herself in. The man standing behind her has to duck slightly to get past the door frame, and when he does, my jaw drops to the floor.
I’ve seen James Adler on a screen before, in photos of Dottie and her friends and on social media, since he’s basically the most famous rich dude on the west coast. But nothing could prepare me for standing in the same room as him. He’s eight feet talland five feet wide, all muscles straining under a black t-shirt and dark denim jeans. His hair is a deep, rich brown and thick enough to rival Superman’s, and when he takes off his sunglasses, his icy blue eyes nearly cut a hole right through me.
“Holy fucking shit,” I mutter. “That man isfine. Is it even legal for men to look that good?”
“Vee,” Delilah hisses, lightly backhanding my chest. “Stop staring. It’s rude and you’re gay.”
I notice Delilah staring, too, but I keep my remarks about that to myself.
“Just because I don’t want to eat at the restaurant doesn’t mean I can’t peruse the menu,” I say, eyeing Mr. Tall Dark and Handsome up and down as he and Dottie stroll into the kitchen. We stand to greet them, and when he holds out his hand to shake, I swear I almost swoon.
“Nice to meet you. I’m James.”
“I’m whoever you want me to be,” I answer, and Delilah whacks me again.
“Ignore her. She’s a very confused lesbian right now.”
“I don’t know, Lilah, I don’t think I’m confused at all. I think a man like James could set me on the uh…straight and narrow.” I wink at him, not letting go of his hand. Thankfully, he catches on to my teasing tone and chuckles.
“Don’t even bother. He’s disgustingly obsessed with his wife.” Dottie rolls her eyes, but there’s nothing but love in her face.
“I am. I’ve been told that my infatuation with Mrs. Georgie Adler is borderline repulsive,” James agrees, dropping my hand to shake Delilah’s. I totally catch the blush spreading across her cheeks when their palms touch. “And I would very much like to get home to her as soon as possible, so what do you say, ladies? Let’s get to work so we can say goodbye to Earl for good, shall we?”
We gather around the table, and Delilah and I listen intently while Dottie and James rehash the plan for us. When they’re finished, Delilah’s eyes have gone glassy. I wrap my arm around her shoulders and pull her in close.
“What’s the matter, Lilah baby?”
“Why are you doing all of this for us?” she says, the question directed at James, not me. He just gives a lighthearted half-shrug and smile that could make me weak in the knees if I were the kind of woman to get weak over hot men.
Alright, fine. I’m a little bit weak in the knees. This guys is fucking dazzling.
“I take care of my people,” he says, patting Dottie on the shoulder. “Dottie is one of my wife’s very best friends. She’s marrying Stephen. Stephen works withme, Stephen is your brother. They’re my people, ergo, you and Ivy are my people. As far as I’m concerned, we’re family.”
“That’s quite a convoluted family tree,” I deadpan.
“So it is. But I’ve always been a firm believer that family isn’t about blood or relation. It’s about who you choose to fight for. You two lovely women should know that better than anyone, am I right?”
God dammit. I did not have ‘letting a beautiful man make me cry’ on my bingo card when I woke up this morning.
“And besides,” James continues, leaning forward to rest his elbows on the table. “I know the optics of being a rich white dude in this world. I’ve got a metric fuck-ton of privilege, but I like to use my powers for good instead of evil. I’m going to enjoy knocking your ex-husband down a couple hundred pegs.”
23
SHITTY VANILLA ICE COSPLAY
IVY
“Are you sure he won’t be able to see us?”
“James said he couldn’t see us at all when he came in and sat down. That dude is like a thousand feet tall. Earl is only five-five. If James can’t see us sitting here, there’s no way the Hobbit will spot us.”
We’re tucked into a corner booth at The Dugout with our backs turned towards the door. The booth directly behind us is being saved for the meeting of James and Earl. After we met this morning, James and Dottie sat down with Delilah and me to go over the plan of attack. Basically, Earl thinks he’s scored the meeting of a lifetime with a rich and powerful man who wants to invest in his business and take The Earl Of Auto nationwide. James is going to hypehim up, feed his over-inflated ego and just when Earl thinks he’s got a bright future in the bag, James is going to pull the old bait-and-switch, show our hand and hope that it’s enough to send Earl back into whatever primordial goo he crawled out of.
Delilah and I probably should have stayed at home so we could wait James and Earl out and find out what happened later, but neither of us could stay away. If this works, the downfall of Earl will be too delicious to miss. And if it doesn’t…
