Page 59 of The Lighthouse on Plum Island
“As theboss,I’m the one that sets the examples,“ Brad told her firmly. “Unlike Ethan Blackwell, I believe I should practice what I preach.”
“What are you implying?” Vanessa asked him icily. “I thought Ethan was your friend!”
“I’m notimplyinganything!“ Brad’s eyebrows rose. “And Ethan is a very good friend of mine. Let’s just say he’s no fool and gives as good as he gets.”
“What does that even mean?” Vanessa’s eyes flashed angrily.
“You’re a—“ Brad looked her over, “cleverwoman. I’m sure you’ll figure it out.“ He looked at his wristwatch. “I have to run.”
Brad stepped back to let Vanessa pass, giving her a tight smile when she glared at him, raised her chin, and stormed off. Brad blew out a breath and shook his head, suppressing a shudder. Vanessa Turner didn’t care who she hurt to get what she wanted. She wanted to be a famous actress and marry someone influential in show business.
Unfortunately, she was also the daughter of a congressman on thesociety’s elite social invitation list,as Harriet called it. This meant his mother, who chaired and organized most of the elite gatherings in New York, knew Vanessa’s parents. The woman was a Jekyll and Hyde character who hid her ugly alter ego very well.
“Can I help you?” The shop assistant greeted Brad.
“Yes, Brad Danes. I ordered a laptop and was told I could collect it after nine this morning,” Brad answered the man.
“Let me check.” The man walked to the back of the store and disappeared through a door.
Brad wandered around the shop, checking out some of the gadgets. He spotted the Smartwatch Connor wanted for his birthday. Brad was about to pick it up and look at it when another man approached him, looking embarrassed.
“Mr. Danes, I’m Collin Jacobs, the store manager,” the man introduced himself. “I am so sorry, but there’s been a mix-up, and your order was given to someone else. We’re contacting the person now and will have this cleared up quickly.”
“How long is no time?” Brad’s brows creased as he stamped down his irritation. “I have an appointment, and this delay makes me late.”
“I don’t know what to say other than I’m terribly sorry, Mr. Danes,” Collin looked truly sorry.
“Was it you that made the mistake?” Brad asked.
“No, sir, that would be our temp, who has unfortunately left for the day, and we can’t get hold of them,” Collin explained. “I’ve already sent one of our staff to the warehouse to get another laptop for you in case we can’t get the one we had ready for you back.”
“And how long is it going to take to get ready as I asked for it to have specific programs installed on it,” Brad’s impatience was rising. He knew it wasn’t Collin’s fault, but someone at the store had to take responsibility for this mess.
“I can assure you, as soon as it arrives, I’ll have my top people on it to get it ready,” Collin promised. “Can we get it delivered for you? That way, you can get to your meeting.”
“I needed the laptopforthe meeting,“ Brad told him.
“Again, I’m truly sorry,” Collin expressed.
The door to the shop flew open, and Vanessa flounced in, ripping her sunglasses from her face to reveal how angry she was. She had a box in her hands as she stormed toward Collin and Brad. Her sights set on the store manager.
“What is this?” Vanessa hissed, shoving the box at Collin. “I asked for a tablet, and your incompetent staff gave me a laptop.” She ran her hand over the box the astounded man was holding. “How would I fitthatclumsy thing into my purse?”
As she spoke, her dog popped its head out of Vanessa’s purse to growl at the man.
“Oh, don’t worry, Dingle Wingle, Mommy’s handling this,” Vanessa cooed at the animal and stroked its head. “You go back to sleep now as it’s nap time, and you know how crazy you getwhen you miss nap time.” Her angry eyes pinned a gaping Collin. “Thanks to your store’s mistake, you’ve completely upset my dog’s routine.”
It was Brad’s turn to gape at the drama queen standing before him.
If only she was that good at acting on screen!Brad thought before stepping in to defend the poor man who was still staring at Vanessa’s doghouse purse. “Vanessa, it’s not Collin’s fault, and you should always check your purchases before leaving a store.” His frown deepened. “You should’ve realized that box was too big to be a tablet.”
“Who’s Collin?” Vanessa looked at Brad, confused, before waving the subject off and saying, “I didn’t take the box.” Vanessa looked at him as if he’d grown two heads. “My driver took it to the car for me.”
“Are you Miss Turner?” Collin finally got out of his astonishment and found his voice.
“Oh, as if you don’t know who I am!” Vanessa looked at him with that look actors give people as if everyone in the world knows who they are.
Collin glanced at Brad as he hesitated and said, “So youareMiss Turner?”
