The Business of Lover

Table Of Contents Other Books by Charley Clarke Acknowledgments Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Chapter 13 Chapter 14 Chapter 15 Chapter 16 Chapter 17 Chapter 18 Chapter 19 Chapter 20 Chapter 21 Chapter 22 Other Books from Ylva Publishing About Charley Clarke Sign up for our newsletter to hear about new and upcoming releases. www.ylva-publishing.com Other Books by Charley Clarke Always a Love Song Acknowledgments I want to thank Astrid and the rest of the Ylva team for guiding me through this journey and for being excited about my stories. To the other Ylva authors, thank you for being so welcoming and so talented. It’s a privilege to know you. Thank you to Alissa, as well, for helping me get this book into shape. Big thank-yous to my friend Pepper for being a wonderful friend and fellow writer and to my friend Erin for beta reading this, giving me invaluable feedback, and always being there for me. Lastly, thank you to all my friends and family for all the love and support. To my good friend Pepper Chapter 1 Taylor’s date was late. Only ten minutes, but enough to be irritating. It didn’t bode well. Taylor tapped her fork against the cream-colored napkin. The restaurant was fancy—deep red color scheme, plush chairs, exposed brick walls, and low, intimate lighting. It was entirely too fancy for her budget, and her little black dress was just a little too snug. That tended to happen after a disastrous break-up. She hadn’t even wanted to go on this rebound date in the first place, not really. It’d only been two months since Brittany, and she was definitely not looking for a relationship. A night out, sure, maybe some enjoyable conversation, although even that didn’t seem to be on the cards tonight. After assuring the waiter that, yes, her date was on her way and it’d be only a few minutes more, she slipped her phone out of her purse and sent a text off to her best friends, Emily and Jade. How long are you supposed to wait for a date? Is it the fifteen-minute rule like with professors? Everyone was late every once in a while. Emergencies came up. Maybe the woman had realized her shirt wasn’t ironed and had taken an extra few minutes to look presentable. Maybe she was accepting a humanitarian award and had lost track of time. Or maybe she just didn’t want to go on this date. Maybe she’d stalked Taylor’s Instagram and found out she was fat and decided, based on her looks alone, that Taylor wasn’t worth it. As much as that would suck, it wouldn’t be the first time it had happened. Her phone buzzed with a response from Emily. The traffic could be bad. Just give her a little while longer. Of course she’d say that. Emily and her new boyfriend, Shane, were the ones who’d set this up in the first place. Her date tonight was one of Shane’s oldest friends, and that was about all Taylor knew about the woman besides her name: Mackenzie. When the waiter came around again, Taylor ordered a glass of wine. If she was going to have to wait, she would just have to show herself a good time. * * * Mack leaned back in her desk chair and massaged her neck. She probably should’ve gone home hours ago, but she would never prove herself to her mother, prove that she could be CEO and take over WatsCorp, the family company, if she didn’t put in the work. And since that was what she’d been working toward all her adult life, she would put in the work. The buzzing of her phone interrupted her thoughts. She answered her best friend with a quick greeting. “Where the hell are you?” Danny asked. “At work.” “After eight o’clock on a Friday night? When you’re supposed to be on a date? Remember that?” Shit. Mack covered her eyes with one hand. “I totally forgot about that.” “I can tell. She’s pissed, by the way. Shane wanted me to tell you because I’m meaner than he is.” “She has a right to be pissed,” Mack conceded, skating over Danny’s last comment and rebuttoning her vest with one hand. “Look. I’m leaving now. I’ll be there in—” A glance at her watch, a quick calculation in her head. “—fifteen minutes.” “Better make it ten.” Mack swore as Danny hung up on her. There was almost nothing she hated more than making a poor first impression. * * * When her phone display read eight-thirty, Taylor gulped the last of her wine and got up from the table. She couldn’t believe she’d waited this long. As a woman with a size eighteen waist, she’d unfortunately had to learn early in her adult life how to demand the respect she deserved. For dates, especially blind dates, being half an hour late was near the top of her list of things they could do to make her feel worthless. And she had worked on her self-confidence too hard and too long to stand for that. On the sidewalk outside the restaurant, she sent a brief text to Emily and Jade before shrugging on her jacket and setting off. The walk back to the apartment wasn’t that long, and the brisk night air would improve her mood. Not even a block later, Jade called. “What kind of bullshit is this?” Jade asked, bypassing hellos. “You’re a goddamn goddess. Emily says she’s not an asshole, but she must be ’cause only an asshole would stand you up.” Despite the frustration of the evening, Taylor had to smile. Her friends were the best, and the normally sweet-tempered Jade cursing in anger on her behalf warmed her. “Yeah, well, maybe she came in, took one look at me, and walked out.” “If that’s the case, then we’re making Emily