Never Ever Satisfied

by Donna McDonald

  Jack and Trudy both laughed. Finally, Trudy groaned and shook off her initial reaction. “Damn it, Luke. Isn’t there anything you can do to fix this for Jack?”

  “No. I can’t do a damn thing. You can maybe get Jack another offer and go public with it. That will get the network’s attention and maybe make them rethink their strong arm approach to his national contract—if Jack doesn’t decide to take the other offer.”

  Trudy nodded and stood. “You’re being a good friend, Luke. I won’t forget it. We’ll see what we can do. You’ll know when we get it to happen because Jack’s story will be page 1 of the Cincinnati Enquirer and our marriage announcement will be listed on the society pages. That should stir up enough drama to keep the fans happy.”

  “Marriage announcement?” Jack asked, chuckling over her speech. “I know I fell asleep before you did last night, but come on.”

  Trudy smiled at his teasing. “Well, I’m not calling some random guy I live with ‘Master’ for the rest of my life. Put a ring on it if you’re serious about using that spatula of yours.”

  “Yes, Mistress. Anything you say, Mistress. Will you freaking marry me already?” Jack asked with a laugh.

  Trudy smiled. “Only if you punish me like you promised. I like a man who keeps his word.”

  “Fetch me the spatula, woman,” Jack ordered, catching Trudy against him as she dissolved in giggles. He hugged her tight. “God, I love to hear you laugh. Please be mine forever.”

  “I was never satisfied with anyone else, so this must be true love. Now I can’t imagine living without you,” Trudy whispered.

  “You never have to,” Jack vowed, but his lips on hers were the best kind of promise.

  Epilogue

  “We’re going to take some of the advance Jack got from the syndication clause and put it into a basketball court at St. Christopher’s. The boys are practically vibrating with excitement. The wonderful couple running the place just took a six year old in. Poor little guy is overwhelmed. Brandon stops by after work and visits him nearly every day. I swear I love that kid. Jack did such a good job raising him. Have I said how much I’m digging this instant family stuff?”

  “Yes. Too many times,” Georgia complained.

  “Did you ever tell Jack about your fake date with Brandon?” Ann asked.

  “No, he’s had enough surprises lately. He honestly didn’t think our network would win the bidding war for his show.”

  “Are you ever going to tell him?” Jellica asked.

  “Maybe. But I think I’ll wait until after Brandon and Jivika are married. No, on second thought, I think I’ll wait until after Jack and I are married too. Yes… that works. When everybody’s married. and Jack’s new contract kicks in, THEN I’ll tell him. Maybe.”

  Jellica laughed. “I can’t wait to introduce you as Gertrude Wu, even if I have to drag you to the mall to find someone who doesn’t know you.”

  “Legally, it’s going to be Dozen Wu. Yes… Gertrude Dozen Wu. Go ahead. Say it out loud and laugh. I know I did. How can someone that sexy have such a strange name?”

  Jellica snickered and Ann giggled.

  Trudy glared at Georgia. “I can’t believe you passed up an opportunity to make fun of me.”

  “It’s okay. I can make my own opportunities when I’m feeling the need,” Georgia said dejectedly. She picked at her Danish. She couldn’t really eat for rolling her eyes at herself. “How did you get Jack’s angelic son for a step-child while I drew Lucifer’s daughter? How is that fair? You’ve already had a gifted life.”

  Trudy wrinkled her nose and smiled. “Maybe Brent raised a brat and Jack didn’t? Neither is anything you or I can take the credit or blame for.”

  Georgia chuckled. “Good point. I guess I have no room to whine. Mariah can be a master manipulator, as you all well know by now.”

  “We do know… and speaking of masters,” Jellica said, turning a grin in Trudy’s direction. “Need a new spatula yet, Chef Baker?”

  “No, I do not,” Trudy answered, fighting not to laugh. “Silicone is remarkably resilient.”

  After the giggling subsided, Trudy narrowed her eyes, staring at Jellica. “Laugh all you want, but your turn is coming soon.”

  Jellica nodded. “Yes. I’ve been summoned by the master manipulator’s minion. Della wants to video me. It gives me gas just thinking about it. I haven’t made an appointment yet.”

  Georgia snorted. “That’s not nervousness over the video. That’s the pastries giving you gas… or Trudy’s coffee.”

  “Hey now. Jack made those pastries. They’re a little tough because he doesn’t get his dough mixed well enough, but they will not give anyone gas.”

  “Morning, ladies. Sorry to interrupt your morning breakfast meeting.” He stopped and gave them a smile. “I worked late last night. Hope you all left me some coffee.”

  “Good morning, Jack,” they all said, giggling when the greeting was synchronized.

  Trudy turned from refilling her coffee cup. A sleepy, but mostly dressed version of the man she loved, walked around her granite kitchen counter. Setting her refilled coffee behind her, Trudy blocked the coffee pot and opened her arms. Jack walked into them and buried his face in her neck, not even complaining.

  “Were you defending my pastries or insulting them?” he asked in a mumble against her neck.

  “Defending,” Trudy said firmly. “Definitely defending them, Master.”

  This time when the laughter erupted, it was a chorus of mad giggling that Trudy joined in on as well. She studied Jack’s head against her shoulder, but he didn’t seem the least bit embarrassed by her teasing.

  Instead, Jack huffed and grunted in a thoroughly masculine way as he raised his head. She rubbed his unshaven cheek and planted a kiss on it in apology.

  “Don’t make me get the spatula out in front of your friends,” Jack gruffly warned, sliding one arm behind her. A firm pinch on Trudy’s backside had her yelping loudly and scooting out of his way.

  Picking up her already poured coffee to drink it himself, Jack grinned proudly, satisfied when the smiling women sitting at the counter laughed even harder.

  — THE END —

  Note From The Author

  Thank you for reading Never Ever Satisfied!

  If you enjoyed reading this book, please consider leaving a positive review or rating on the site where you purchased it. Reader reviews help my books continue to be valued by distributors/resellers and help new readers make decisions about reading them.

  You are the reason I write these stories and I sincerely appreciate you!

  Many thanks for your support,

  ~ Donna McDonald

  www.donnamcdonaldauthor.com

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  Excerpt from Book 5: Never Be Her Hero

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  Book Description

  Della needs a hero. Anybody got a Superman cape I can borrow?

  I'm a 31-year-old guy in his prime with a dating emergency. I stupidly told my best client that I would bring a date to his function, but then I got too busy with work to actually get off my butt and find one.

  Hey, don't judge me. Finding a girlfriend wasn't on my agenda.

  So what did I do? I called my favorite dating service. The owner of The Perfect Date, Dr. Mariah Bates, offered me the perfect deal—one that just might save my ego and my man card. I get a fake girlfriend for my business trip and all I have to do in exchange is take my fake girlfriend to her sister’s wedding.

  Enter Dr. Della Livingston. Mariah’s career-minded assistant with surprisingly great legs has me soon thinking I hit the fake girlfriend jackpot.

  Maybe I’m nuts from months of working too hard, but I’m beginning to wish this whole fake date thing wasn’t so fake. Now I want to jump off the love cliff and save the girl, except I need to figure out how to fly
first.

  Anybody got a Superman cape I can borrow?

  Chapter One

  The soon-to-be Dr. Della Livingston sighed as her cell phone went off again. She'd kept it with her today to take notes for her research, not to answer personal calls every five minutes. Glancing at the number being displayed on the ringing phone, she shook head and stared at the camera, forgetting for a moment what she'd been doing.

  Deciding to be firm with her family, Della declined the call and sent it to voice mail, not that her voice mailbox wasn't already full of her siblings current woe-is-me crap. She was the eldest daughter of five and her sisters had no boundaries where she was concerned—none.

  When her phone rang again, she instantly declined the call again. It immediately rang a third time, but from a different phone number. Her sisters were starting to tag team with each other as if that would somehow lure her into answering at least one of them.

  "Leave me alone. Irena's pregnancy is not my problem. Don't you realize I'm trying to work here? I have a paying job and everything."

  Her phone ringing for a fourth time prompted a screech of frustration. She picked up the phone, waited for the ringing to stop, and then turned it off. "There. Take that you… you bunch of small minded, small town nutbags. If I didn't look so much like Dad, I'd swear I was adopted."

  Mad at herself for raging like a crazy person, she was pounding her forehead with her powered off phone when she heard sweet feminine laughter in the doorway. Her head turned as her boss and friend, Dr. Mariah Bates, walked into the room. "Sorry. It's my crazy family. They don't know when to stop."

  Smiling, Mariah reached out and rubbed her assistant's arm in support. "It's okay, Della. There are no clients in the office at the moment. You can always take personal calls when you're not busy. If that was John or Mom calling me, I'd take the call."

  Della shook her head. "No, it's not that kind of call. It's just my family being annoying. I threatened to call our hometown sheriff and file charges if my mother or any of sisters called the office here during business hours."

  Mariah laughed again. "I'm not concerned about any of that," she said, hoping she had no reason to be. "I've known you for several years now, Della. I didn't know your family bothered you this much. Normally, you only get this bummed over bad boyfriends."

  "Boyfriends? Yeah, I remember those. Maybe I'll have one again some day." A wry chuckle wrenched free. Della knew she was starting to feel sorry for herself—an emotional state she had no time to indulge. Feeling sorry for herself led to binge streaming TV shows while participating in a junk food orgy.

  God, she needed a stern lecture… or maybe even a real friend her age who was going through what she was. She often envied Mariah's more settled life, but revealing her melt-down to her hopefully future partner… yeah, no way was she doing that.

  Della turned and bravely smiled at Mariah. She hated offering excuses for the people who were supposed to be supporting her to the one person who always had. "My entire family wants to drag me into Irena's pregnant-at-nineteen drama. Frankly, I don't want to hear from my mother about how it's messing everything up. We all watched this happen to Martina—she's the second oldest. That should have been lesson enough for my mother to insist all my sisters use good birth control."

  "Are you mad at your sister over her pregnancy?" Mariah asked.

  Della grunted. "No, I'm not mad at my sister for making the passionate mistake of having the child of a man she loves. An unplanned event like that could happen to any woman. I'm mad at my mother for insisting the wedding be moved up to October. She's only trying to keep the people in our hometown from doing the math when the baby comes ‘early' next spring. Like that ever works to fool anyone. People always know."

  "Wait… isn't your dissertation defense happening in October?" Mariah asked.

  Della snorted again. "Yes. That's why the phone keeps ringing. My mother wants me to move my final defense out, even though I've explained several times that I can't. One of my directors is going on sabbatical. I'm not changing my date or anyone on my committee. I've worked too long and too hard. I'm finishing in October whether my family understands or not."

  "Of course you are," Mariah said, putting an arm around Della's shoulders to hug. She'd known Della's family didn't offer her much moral support, but from what she could tell, they weren't offering her any support at all. In fact, they were doing the opposite. "I don't blame you for taking a firm stand. Sometimes you have to put yourself first. Maybe as a compromise, you could at least attend the wedding as a show of support. Babies are hard on a new relationship."

  Della gathered up her things before shaking her head. "No. I can't go to the wedding if it's in October. I haven't had a real date in six months and I have no guy friends. My family thinks I'm unwed failure already. I won't compound my sins by showing up completely alone."

  "You're turning twenty-eight and about to finish your doctorate. Are you sure your parents see you as a failure?" Mariah asked.

  "My father shrugs and acts like he has no opinion my life. He'll never defend my choices. My mother would use me attending the wedding alone as an opportunity to redirect all the pity she could in my direction. I'm not letting my parents ruin my achievement with their under-enthusiasm."

  "Oh dear," Mariah said in sympathy.

  "Right. Oh, dear sums it up perfectly, and my stress level can't handle that right now. I have to be clear thinking and positive about my research. I have to focus on my findings and how to speak intelligently about them. My dissertation defense is only two days before the wedding. It's too much pressure to try to find a date too."

  "Hmm…" Mariah said, narrowing her gaze on her nearly defeated assistant. She hated seeing anyone in that condition, but it was worse to have to witness it up close in someone she cared about. "What if I got you a date for the wedding? It can be my graduation present to you."

  Della shook her head. "I can't take advantage of any of our clients. They'd learn the horror that is my background. They'd lose respect for me and for The Perfect Date." She shook her head again. "No, Irena can just get married without me. If they want me to attend, they need to have the wedding next year like they originally planned."

  Mariah smiled. "What if the guy I find for you isn't looking for a ‘real date'? This would not be like what we find for our clients. I could promise the guy a free match in exchange." She tapped her chin with the tips of her fingers. "I assume you'll want someone close to your own age, but not younger than you because no telling what your parents would think then. Mature dates can hold their own better, but too old will get noticed as well. No, I think we better make him as close to your age as we can get."

  Della's face crinkled in angst. "I don't know. That sounds pretty pathetic. I'd still have to deal with the guy after."

  "Why? We make very good money helping professional people just like you, Della. You're in a business crunch time in your life. Normal dating isn't a real possibility. Your focus is on satisfying the committee and getting your doctorate. You need someone willing to be your escort for an important function. Come on… we set these up all the time."

  Nodding, Della closed her eyes and sighed. "You're right, and that's exactly my personal situation, but I still don't think it's a great idea for you to bribe a client into going out with me. You might lose the client if he gets traumatized by the wacky Livingstons of Outback, Kentucky."

  Mariah laughed. "I'll take my chances. And you might be surprised. You're beautiful, smart, and about to become Dr. Livingston fully and officially. You're a prime candidate for the database."

  Della snorted as they started walking out. "I sure don't feel much like Dr. Livingston right now."

  Mariah stopped Della in the doorway and put her hands on her shoulders. "Your judgment is impaired because you're super stressed. This is a very reasonable thing given what you're dealing with. It's only the beginning of September. Give me a couple weeks. Let me at least try. If we have no takers, so be it."
/>
  "Alright," Della said, rolling her eyes as they walked down the hall.

  It actually took her three weeks, but Mariah did manage to find two guys for Della. Though neither were keen on being a date to someone's wedding, they both liked Della well enough to tolerate being her escort in exchange for two free matches from the database. She hadn't gotten by with offering just one. While that was an ouch to her bank account, in the long run, it was still a good thing for Della. Some things were more important than making money.

  Mariah intended to present her results to her assistant on Friday so she'd have the weekend to decide. It was Thursday and Della had left work early to meet with her doctoral committee. Since The Perfect Date wasn't expecting clients this afternoon, Mariah locked the door to use the uninterrupted time to assemble a client package. Just because Della was an employee didn't mean she didn't deserve a thoughtful presentation of her possibilities.

  She was deep into the work when her cell went off with a text. Thinking it was John back early from his latest job, she picked up the phone immediately to check. It turned out not to be the new love of her life, but the sender was almost as good. It was someone she hadn't seen in a couple of months.

  Mariah hurried down the hall in bare feet, not bothering to put back on her heels. She unlocked the door and hugged the man now giving her a sheepish look. "Elliston, I'm so glad you sent the text instead of just leaving. Della's out this afternoon and I decided to lock myself in."

  He smiled and ran a hand through his hair. "I'm so sorry to disturb your work."

  "Don't be silly. I'm always happy to see you. Come on back to the office. Excuse the bare feet, but I didn't want you to leave before I got my shoes back on."