Page 38 of Mr. Wrong Number

She blinked. “So?”

“So who does that?”

Her eyebrows went down and she looked defensive. She put her hands on her hips and said, “I didn’t think it was a big deal, I can just get you another one.”

“You’re going to replace my four-hundred-dollar tequila?”

Her mouth dropped open in shock. I thought she was goingto apologize, but instead she said, “Oh, my God, who is stupid enough to spend four hundred dollars on a bottle of booze?”

I felt my neck getting warm. “Regardless of the price, you should—”

“And that bottle is so cheesy. Who would think it’s a good idea to put a face on a bottle of expensive tequila?” She looked at Harper before pointing at the bottle and telling her, “It’s the opposite of luxury. A bottle of Mad Dog has more elegance. I mean, seriously.”

I took a deep breath, pinched the bridge of my nose, and said, “Let me get this straight. You drank half a bottle of tequila by yourself on your first night here?”

“Oh.” She dropped her arms to her sides and did something with her mouth, like she was biting the inside of her cheek, before she mumbled, “Well. No. I spilled some in the sink when I was trying to get it open. I actually only had one glass.”

So Olivia had poured half the bottle down the drain. And not just any bottle, but the ceremonial bottle my sister bought for me the day I graduated from college. The bottle we’d agreed not to open until I went a solid ten years without caving and going to work for the family business.

“How the hell do you dump out half the bottle when you’reopeningit? Explain that magic to me.”

“Um, I think I’m going to go.” Harper hitched her handbag higher on her forearm and said to Olivia, “It was nice meeting you.”

I tried not to grit my teeth as I asked, “Are you sure—”

“Thanks for dinner, Colin,” she said while not even lookingback at me. She was all forward motion as she hit the entryway and exited the apartment, the door slamming hard behind her.

“I have to go potty,” the older kid said, and Olivia replied while glaring at me, “Okay, make sure you wash your hands.”

She picked up the little one and continued looking at me like I smelled bad.

“What?”

She tilted her head. “Aren’t you going to go after her?”

“Why would I?”

“Why would you?” She said it like I was a moron. “Um, because she was your date and you kind of acted like an A-hole...?”

“First of all, no I didn’t. I was an A-hole to you, not her.”

She snorted. “Over an ugly bottle of booze.”

“Over a ceremonial bottle you had no business opening.”

She gestured for me to hurry to the point. “And second of all?”

“Second of all, it wasn’t going to work out with her anyway.”

“How do you know that? Harper seemed great.”

“I just know.”

“Oh, that’s right. Colin with the robot brain knows all.”

“I might have a robot brain, but that’s a hell of a lot better than being an irresponsible, free-spirited freeloader.” I wanted to addwho talks to strange men, but I wasn’t supposed to know that. It’d been driving me crazy all day, though, thinking about some creep following her around town.

Her nostrils flared and she tucked her hair behind her ears with a violent jerk. “Free-spirited freeloader. That’s... really nice, Colin.”

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