“Love you, too.”
After hanging up, Chloe took her coffee into the living room and curled up on the sofa. She flicked through her phone and opened the apps to the few dating sites Blair had recommended what seemed like eons ago. Twenty-six messages greeted her. Twenty-six men who’d seen her picture and profile and decided to shoot their shot.
Could she go this way in the dating world? She flicked through the first several messages. Hookup. Hookup. Creepy picture. Marriage proposal. Hookup. Was that a penis? Oh, God!
She tossed her phone on the sofa. Why did finding love have to be so hard?
Chapter Twenty-Three
Theosatinhisoffice with Blake and Owen, going over a potential acquisition. Instead of listening to his accountant, all he could think about was Owen’s date with Chloe. Had it been good? Had they kissed? Or worse, had he taken her home and slept with her? His jaw clenched, and he had to remind himself it was none of his business.
“What do you think?” Owen asked, cutting into his thoughts.
“I don’t like it. Tell them we’re not interested.” He leaned back on his chair, threw a leg over his knee, and rubbed his chin. The casual posture belied the tension pinching down his spine when he stared at Owen.
“What?!” Owen and Blake both said at the same time.
“Are you mad? They’re practically giving us the company,” Blake protested.
“And they’re willing to settle in half the time,” Owen added.
“I don’t care if they want to settle tomorrow for a dollar. The answer is still no.”
“Are you sure?” Blake asked.
Even though Theo hadn’t listened to Owen’s report, he’d done some research of his own. “The company is selling cheap because their whiskey is inferior—among other problems.”
“We could fix that,” Blake said.
“We could, but the company’s reputation is slipping fast, and I don’t want to focus too much of my attention building it back up.”
Blake shrugged and said to Owen, “I’m happy with that decision.”
“Right, okay, I’ll let them know.” The accountant rose to leave.
Like Theo’s mouth had a mind of its own and he had no control over it, he asked, “How was your date with Chloe?” Why did he have to torture himself?
Owen shook his head and chuckled. “I won’t be seeing her again.”
Theo stilled at Owen’s mocking tone. “Why not?”
“Did you know she was a thirty-year-oldvirgin?” The chuckles morphed into belly laughs. “Who’s still a virgin at her age? There must be something seriously wrong with her. Man, I dodged a bullet,” he sneered. “What a freak.”
Owen’s announcement slapped him in the face. Anger curled in his gut, and he slowly unfolded from the chair, taking a few steps toward the accountant, towering over him. “If you call Chloe a freak again, I swear to God I will rip your fucking heart out.”
Owen’s laughter ceased, all blood draining from his face, and he swallowed hard. “I—she…”
“Get out of my office before I cancel your firm’s contract,” he said with a low and deadly tone.
Tail figuratively between his legs, Owen scuttled from the room.
Theo watched his retreating back, regretting not putting a fist through his face. Maybe he could still cancel Owen’s contract? But he could do that later. He stormed toward the door.
Blake hurried after him, placing a hand on his shoulder. “Where are you going? If you touch him, he could sue our asses off. You got damned close to the line threatening him like that.”
“He deserved worse.” Theo shrugged his arm off. “I’m going out.”
“We have a meeting in ten minutes.”