Page 35 of No Interest in Love

I nod as he gets out. Shay stretches her arms in front of her.

“So…what’d you see in the bathroom?” I ask with a sleepy smirk, pulling up the dial screen.

“Your mom’s chest hair,” Shay says through a yawn, but I can’t laugh at it. My smirk drops, and I slam my eyes shut.Shit.

“Okay, I know it wasn’t my best comeback, since I stole it from a movie,” she says. “Give me a break. I’ve been stuck with you for two days.”

“I don’t know his number.”

I open my eyes and give her a sheepish half smile.

“What?”

“I can’t call Landon. I don’t know his number.”

She raises her eyebrow. “You don’t know your best friend’s number?”

“Yeah. It’s in my contacts. I tap ‘Landon.’ ” Or more accurately, I tap “Married Sucker.”

“Do you haveanynumbers memorized?”

I shake my head, scratching at the back of my neck. “My grandma’s. But I’m not asking her for money.”

She scoots across the seat, closing the distance between us. Her nails lightly drag over my knuckles when she pulls the phone from my hand.

“You have a plan B?” I ask as she taps in ten numbers. She sighs and brings the phone to her ear.

“My agency.” She gulps. “It’s the only number I know besides yo—Well, it’s the only helpful one I have memorized.”

“And you gave me shit.” I laugh. “You gonna go with the mugging story?”

She shakes her head. “Hi, Julie Perry’s office, please.”

My brow furrows. “Is she still there? Kinda late in New York.”

“She’ll be there.”

“What are you gonna say?”

“I’ll tell her to get you to Birmingham.” She offers up a sad smile, and it hits me what she’s about to do.

“Wait, you can’t do that.”

“What else are we going to do, Jace?”

I don’t know. And I give her a pitiful blank stare because I really have no solution. But we’re not doing this. She’ll get fired.

Before I can think, before she can talk, I snatch the phone back and bring it to my ear just as Julie answers.

“Julie Perry.”

“Hi, Julie. It’s Jason Sterne.”

“Hi, Jason.” She pauses. Shay starts pulling at my arm. “What can I do for you?”

I push Shay back, suppressing a grin. My head keeps tapping the window behind me as she fights me for the phone.

“I’m calling because Carletta Ocean wanted to schedule a dinner tomorrow evening, and I’m unfortunately not able to make that appointment. I was hoping since you had her contact information you could tell her for me? And that I am looking forward to meeting her at the screen test on Friday afternoon.”

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