The Last Single Girl by Caitie Quinn, Bria Quinlan Read Free Book Online Page A

you're not meeting up with some crazy person. This could have been far worse. That guy was just a jerk and his wife was just ticked off. What if they really were nuts?" He stood and shook his head. "No. You'll meet them here."
    I could all but hear the Where I can keep an eye on you he didn't say. I'd never had a big brother, but I suspect they eyed you like that quite often.
    "Alright. But any structural damage done is strictly your fault. You've been warned."
    I waited for him to change his mind, to take the out. Instead, he grinned. "I think I can handle it. Now, why don't you head home before you incite a full-on riot?"
    He was giving me far more credit than I deserved.

NINE
    DATING TRUTH #5: The best way to put a bad date behind you is doing something you love… unless the something you love is just more dating. Don't do that.
    THE HOLIDAY SEASON WAS coming to a head—only two days until Christmas. Everyone was rushing around with shopping bags of gifts to wrap and food to cook. I had one gift I was really looking forward to giving, and it meant going to the coffee shop.
    I got to The Brew an hour early, a box securely tucked under my arm.
    Once again, John was nowhere to be seen. But Abby—lucky me—was front and center at the counter looking like she'd remembered to bring popcorn for today's potential fiasco.
    "Is John here?"
    "Yes."
    "Can I talk to him?"
    "No."
    I really hoped he was working on her counter-side manner.
    "Why not?"
    "He's on the phone with someone he keeps calling sweetheart."
    Sweetheart? Interesting.
    "Why didn't you just say he was on the phone?"
    "You didn't ask."
    I wasn't even going to argue the point. I was already learning when it came to Abby to just stay as far away from actual conversation as possible.
    "Can you bring me a ladder?"
    Luckily, Abby was more interested in what kind of mischief I was up to than creating trouble.
    I unpacked the box, pulled out my toolbox, folder, and the hardware I'd bought and set it up on a table where I could reach everything easily.
    Abby came back, toting an eight-step. Perfect. She eyed the table with its tools and then glared hard at me.
    "I'm not sure I should let you do whatever you're about to do."
    "And yet you let a woman hit me. More than once. Shocking." I unfolded the ladder and pushed the step locks into place. "Don't get in the way. This is my Christmas present to John. If he's on the phone, then it could be a surprise. So just… do what you do. Over there."
    I pointed back toward the counter, too tired and too anxious about Date Five to be more polite.
    Plus, polite had gone out the window when she'd watched my assault as if it were the latest Housewives show.
    "Sarah?"
    "Yes?" I glanced down from where I was measuring the lights on the ceiling.
    "John told me I have to tell you I'm sorry for not helping you out or getting him or calling the cops or something the other day."
    As apologies went, that one was pretty much a failure.
    "Are you?" I shouldn't have asked. I should have just said okay and went back to work.
    Abby looked at her feet, one finger twirling a pink-tipped lock.
    "I'm sorry if you got hurt."
    Well, that was a little better. The girl was painfully honest. Not to mention tactless and unkind. The exact opposite of John. How long could this mentorship last? And did her honesty extend to her own actions? I could only hope so. Because if she wasn't, John's soft heartedness could come back and really bite him in the rear.
    "So, what are you doing with the lights?"
    I was about to say, changing them, before I looked down and saw she was actually paying attention.
    "I bought lighting fixtures that will allow him to showcase the art better. He had the wrong fixtures and the wrong bulbs. The wattage was way off. A large part of what sells art is how it's displayed."
    "Because people are so superficial." She stated it. It wasn't a question.
    I took in a deep breath and prayed for patience. Abby had been rubbing me wrong since the