Total pages in book: 92
Estimated words: 85593 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 428(@200wpm)___ 342(@250wpm)___ 285(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 85593 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 428(@200wpm)___ 342(@250wpm)___ 285(@300wpm)
I grinned, reaching over to unpause the movie. That was true. At least in movies, the dumb hot guys figured it out. And Dominic wasn’t dumb. He was far from it. So maybe Charleston was right. Maybe I really should just wait and let him come to me the right way.
“Fine,” I said. “I will be hardcore and I’ll wait. For a little bit.”
“Repeat after me,” Charleston said, clapping his hands with each syllable. “I will not fuck him until he has properly apologized.”
I grinned. “We’ll see.”
He rolled his eyes at me, but smiled and unpaused the movie.
I watched the rest of it with a lump in my chest. Would Dominic really try to apologize again, or had I ruined everything by having security drag him away?
39
DOMINIC
Research. The answer to how to accomplish most goals in life was the proper amount of research. When I wanted to run The Squawker, I spent months researching all the most successful magazines in the country and the least successful. When I wanted to learn to overcome my dyslexia, I dove into the research myself and learned which exercises and mental techniques I could practice to diminish the symptoms. Everything I’ve ever wanted badly enough, I researched and figured out.
So there I was with greasy pizza on my bed watching Snowy With a Chance of Love for about the tenth time since Darcy had me dragged out by security at her office. I had a notepad to my side with notes–some of which were circled and others were crossed out.
She had to have shown me this movie as some sort of clue, after all. That was how women operated. Everything was a test within a test within a test.
But I wasn’t sure, even after watching the movie over and over. All it really did was reinforce the thoughts in my head.
Darcy had thrown me out because my apology wasn’t good enough. I thought if I could just get her to sit down and listen to me for a few minutes, I could properly explain myself. Maybe then she’d see where I was coming from and forgive me.
But that didn’t feel quite right, either. I’d fucked up gloriously, so I needed to undo my mistake gloriously, too.
I tossed the box of pizza to the side and sat back on the bed, arms crossed behind my head as my thoughts raced. I didn’t just want her to forgive me. I wanted her back. I wanted her to know I was over the fucking moon for her and that I’d learned how badly I fucked up. But what kind of gesture could capture all of that in a single moment?
I heard Marcus shuffling around in the kitchen. Tristan was somewhere, too. I’d been keeping them both at arm’s length on the problem, but finally decided to fill them in. They both insisted on coming over to look after me, which was ridiculous, but they wouldn’t stay away. Apparently, looking after me was code for drinking my beer and eating my food while leaving me alone.
But Marcus knocked on the doorframe and came in. “Pizza in bed? You should be ashamed of yourself.”
“It’s for research,” I said, annoyed.
Tristan joined Marcus, filing into the room and leaning against the wall with a wide grin. “Research?” he asked.
“I’m just trying to figure out how to say sorry.”
“Have you tried saying “sorry”?” Tristan asked. “That usually works for me.”
“Then you haven’t fucked up as royally as I did.”
“Fair,” Tristan shrugged.
“It’s about showing that you really care,” Marcus said. “For starters, you gotta understand the woman you wronged. So, let’s take Darcy McClain. She’s sweet, driven, kinda vicious when cornered, and she holds a grudge. But most importantly, she seems to feel like she has something to prove, especially at work. I mean, nobody works as hard as she does if they aren’t fucked up over it somehow, right?”
I nodded. I had to give Marcus credit. He really did know how to read people. “Okay, assuming that’s true, how does it help?”
“There’s more. You have to also break down the nature of your fuck up. You really managed to fuck up in a fascinatingly complex way with very few words. By my read on it, you managed to imply her opinions and instincts for the job aren’t worth considering and that you would rather ditch her than risk your career goals. And I guess you kinda implied you weren’t over your daddy issues yet all at the same time.”
I glared. “And?”
Marcus brought both hands out wide and slowly drew them together like he was squishing a giant ball. “You’ve gotta find something that sort of mixes all that together in a tidy little ball of, ‘I get it. I’m an idiot. But I won’t be an idiot anymore and here is my proof that I’ve changed.” He shrugged. “So, what do you have in mind?”