by Lucy Kevin
Still more than a little irritated when she returned home, Angelina slammed her car door behind her, stalked up to the front door of the cute house she was renting, and jammed the key into the front door.
Letting herself inside, she leaned against the back of the door and surveyed the clutter in her living room. She spent so much time helping other people deal with their messes that she rarely had time to deal with hers anymore.
“I really need to clean my house up soon,” she muttered as she took in the stacks of magazines, books, and papers.
Walking into her office, she picked up a fax that had come in while she was out and quickly noted the time and place of the photo shoot for her cover story in Professional Woman magazine.
The irony of her situation was not lost on Angelina. Her job was helping others find balance in all areas of their lives, but since her business had taken off, her personal life had been knocked completely out of balance by her professional success. Case in point, she couldn’t remember the last time she’d been out on a date and actually enjoyed herself.
It figured, somehow, that the first man she was attracted to in years was not only an off-limits client, but arrogant and disrespectful as well.
No. She wouldn’t dwell on her lackluster personal life. Not when she had important business to take care of.
Flipping through her client book, she found Will’s ex-wife’s number, picked up the phone with firm purpose and dialed.
“Susan. It’s Angelina Morgan.”
Susan sounded thrilled to hear from her. “How was your consultation with Will?”
Best just to be honest, Angelina thought. “I’m going to have to refund your money. I’m afraid he is not at all interested in having a Feng Shui consultation.”
“How can you say that?” Susan’s tone was accusing.
“He left me standing in his front yard to take a phone call. And he didn’t come back.” Not to mention the fact that he was insufferably rude.
“Oh, I see,” was Susan’s quiet response.
“I have a policy of not working with clients who need to be sold on Feng Shui, because it tends to do neither the client nor myself a whole lot of good. So really, I’m partially to blame. I never should have accepted your money in the first place.”
“But you’ve got to help him. Somebody has got to help him.”
Angelina sighed. Why couldn’t these things be easier? “Susan, I don’t think -”
“Let me explain about Will. He’s my ex-husband, and now you probably understand some of the reasons why I divorced him. But he didn’t used to be that way. I mean, he always enjoyed working, but when I first met him he was fun too. Unfortunately, as his company grew bigger, he hardly ever came home and when he was around he was glued to the phone or computer.”
Suddenly, Angelina felt like a marriage counselor. But Susan was on a roll, and Angelina didn’t have the heart to cut her off.
“The last year of our marriage was awful. I hardly saw him and I felt like I didn’t even know who he was anymore.” Susan paused and added in dark tones, “And he sure as hell had no idea who I was. So I filed for divorce and moved out. Then I read an article in the Chronicle about how you have a knack for fixing people’s love lives.”
A warning bell went off in Angelina’s head. “Susan, that article was a bunch of hyperbole. I don’t actually fix my client’s love lives.”
“Angelina, don’t be so modest! The woman they interviewed said how after she met with you and followed your advice, she met a wonderful man and now they’re engaged.”
Angelina would have interrupted Susan to inject some reason into the conversation, but Susan was too excited for her to get a word in edgewise.
“She said how one of her friends was going to get a divorce, but after you worked with her, she and her husband worked through their problems and stayed together. Don’t you remember the story? They called you the Feng Shui Cupid.”
Angelina tried not to groan out loud. That article had been dogging her for weeks now. Evidently the entire lovelorn population of the bay area read the San Francisco Chronicle, because she’d received dozens of calls from people asking if they could meet with the Feng Shui Cupid.
She hated that moniker. Her clients also got better jobs and felt healthier after working with her, but no one was calling her a Feng Shui Recruiter or a Feng Shui Doctor.
“Susan, I agree with you, Will does need a lot of help, but I…”
Susan heard her weakness and jumped in for the kill. “Please help him Angelina. You’re my last hope for reconciliation.”
Angelina was caught between self-preservation and guilt. She had to hand it to Susan, there was nothing quite like making a stranger completely responsible for the fate of your love life.
Against her better judgment Angelina said, “I can’t make the changes for him. It all depends on what he wants.”
“So you’ll try again?”
Angelina was dismayed by how easily she had been roped into taking Will on as a client. Again.
“I’ll give it one more shot. But don’t expect a miracle.”
*
Will sat in his home office, staring intently at the computer screen, typing furiously.
He couldn’t believe the new CFO had countered another one of his ideas. Will sent one final email and then leaned back in his chair to take a thirty-second break before he got on the phone to chew out his CFO for blatantly undermining his authority.
He ran his hands through his hair and shook his head. Lately, running PTI was one headache after another. Whether it was the shareholders, the board members, the employees, or the customers — the troubles seemed endless. Who knew, he found himself thinking, maybe this whole Feng Shui thing could really help. He had heard that Donald Trump used it and look how well he was doing.
Oh no! He had left the consultant in his front yard.
Will rushed down the hallway to the front door, but she was long gone.
When his ex-wife, Susan, had told him what she was giving him for his thirty-third birthday, his first and only question was “Fung what?” He’d told her he had no intention of meeting any consultant of any kind at 2 p.m. this Thursday, at his house.
Unfortunately, Susan could talk anyone, including him, into a corner.
Against his better judgment, he agreed to waste two precious hours of his workday with some mystical junk. But that was before the new executive staff at his company, Personal Technology Inc., had ambushed him with their radical plans, none of which he agreed with as CEO. After putting in several eighteen hour work days to keep things from blowing up in his face, he was utterly exhausted and in no mood for anything that wasn’t marked URGENT!
Still, even though he thought Angelina’s profession was ridiculous—he’d take science over fantasy any day—he owed her an apology. Not to mention the fact that Susan was probably just going to send over one Feng Shui consultant after another until he let one of them in to look through his house.
He grabbed his cell phone and was surprisingly glad to hear the consultant pick up and say, “Angelina Morgan speaking.”
“Angelina. It’s Will Scott.”
Even across the phone lines he felt how much effort it cost her to push “Hello” past her lips. Susan always said he could charm the knickers off a nun. He had a feeling he was going to have to call on all his powers of persuasion to get back into Angelina’s good graces.
“I want to say how sorry I am about abandoning you in my front yard.”
Again, he heard the awful sound of silence across the line. Angelina was definitely angry with him.
“I don’t know what to say other than work has been crazy and it’s got me doing things like leaving a beautiful woman standing all alone in my front yard.”
Too late, Will realized he had just admitted he thought she was beautiful. Even now he could remember the way the sunlight had played off of her dark brown hair, the way it had lit up her pretty hazel eyes. And the fact that her mouth had looked s
o soft.
So kissable.
In a very brisk and professional voice she finally said, “Thanks for the apology. I appreciate it.”
Will released the breath he didn’t know he’d been holding.
“Actually, I’m glad you called.”
“You are?”
“I just got off the phone with Susan. I have a policy not to work with people who aren’t interested in my services and I was going to give her money back for the consultation.”
As disappointment moved through him, he realized he’d been lying to himself about his reasons for calling Angelina. Yes, Susan was like a dog with a bone. Yes, he owed Angelina an apology for leaving her standing on his front step while he took a phone call.
But the truth was, he wanted to see her again.
“I’m sorry that I gave you that impression, Angelina.”
He thought he heard her sigh before saying, “Susan was adamant, however, about rescheduling our consultation.”
“She was?”
He sounded like a complete moron. The man who could convince investors to give him millions armed with nothing but a speech and Power Point presentation, now appeared to have a vocabulary of about twelve words. Way to make up for a really bad first impression, pal.
“I agreed to try again. One more time.” Angelina deliberately enunciated each word. “And this time, you need to guarantee me two uninterrupted hours.”
Will’s phone beeped in his ear. It was his CFO.
“Angelina, I need to get this call. Could I call you back?”
“No.”
Will had almost switched over the call when he realized what she’d said.
“No?”
“No,” she repeated. “And I need your agreement to not answer the phone at any point during our next consultation.”
The call went through to voice mail.
It had been a long time since anyone had challenged Will. But instead of being irritated, he felt a grudging respect four how she stood her ground.
“Could you come back tomorrow afternoon?”
“I’m booked solid until next Thursday.”
“Great,” he replied without checking his schedule. He’d simply rearrange anything in his way. He did own the company, after all. Time to use some of the perks that came with the title.
…Excerpt from SPARKS FLY by Lucy Kevin © 2011.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
When Lucy Kevin released her first chick lit novel – SEATTLE GIRL – in 2011, it became an instant digital bestseller. Her next two fun contemporary romance releases – SPARKS FLY and FALLING FAST – have also appeared on many Top 50 bestseller lists, climbing as high as #4 on the Top 100. Her books have been read by half a million people on their e-readers and the Washington Post has called her, “One of the top digital writers in America.”
If not behind her computer, you can find her reading her favorite authors, hiking, knitting, or laughing with her husband and two children. For a complete listing of books, as well as excerpts, contests, and to connect with Lucy:
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http://lucykevin.blogspot.com
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Table of Contents
Seattle Girl
SEATTLE GIRL
BILL
KYLE
STEVE
DILLON
BRIAN
LUKE
GEORGIA
More books by Lucy Kevin…
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