“McKenna shot you down, even after she was off the clock?” Coop asked.
Zane nodded and started parceling out payments. “Yup.”
He’d sworn he saw a yes in her eyes, but then she’d looked straight at him and turned him down.I never date or have anything to do on a personal level with a man who’s more attractive than I am.
In their first week working together, Zane learned McKenna possessed a rule regarding every topic and situation known to mankind. Despite numerous ones she’d spouted since, her first was still the dumbest thing he’d ever heard.
“I took the bet, thinking my odds were at best a fifty-fifty shot,” Ty said, shaking his head in disbelief. “With anyone but you, Zane, the odds would’ve been eighty-twenty, our favor.”
“I’m relieved to know the woman planning my wedding has taste,” AJ quipped with a stupid grin plastered on his face.
“Very funny,” Zane said as he threw the ten at AJ. The bill hit him in the face.
“What’s up? You’ve never been a sore loser.”
He’d never met a woman like McKenna before. Obstinate. Opinionated. Outspoken. But with a singing voice that haunted a man’s dreams. At least his anyway.
When Zane handed Coop his ten, his best friend shook his head. “I’m not one to start a doomsday theory, but if I was, I’d say you losing is a sign of the apocalypse.
“I can’t believe you admitted the woman turned you down,” Coop continued.
“Don’t go spreading it around. I wouldn’t want my reputation tarnished with other single women.”
“You could’ve pulled a fast one, and we wouldn’t have known since there weren’t witnesses,” AJ said.
Zane froze and stared AJ down. “Tell me you’re just shooting off your mouth. Tell me you don’t think I’d lie to y’all. Because if you think that, damn, AJ, that hurts.”
“Sorry, man. I was giving you shit. We know you’d never pull that, especially after what your father did.”
Zane stumbled back to his seat. The pregame commentary from Ty’s top-notch sound system buzzed in his ears. His hand twitched picking up his beer, before he took a long drink. At least his buddies didn’t think he was like his father.
“We know you wouldn’t lie, Zane. We don’t do that to each other,” Coop added, and Ty nodded.
“I know,” Zane said, wanting to move on.
He needed survival advice. For his buddies to do that, he had to confide in them. At least some. “It’s been rough. Working with McKenna is a nightmare. She’s the most infuriating, stick-in-the-mud, all-work-no-fun woman I’ve ever met. She’s unbelievably straitlaced, serious, and I suspect her sense of humor was surgically removed.”
AJ rubbed his knuckles across his jawline. “She laughed at my jokes and made a couple herself when Grace and I met with her about the party.”
“Maybe it was pity laughter,” Cooper tossed out, his face serious.
“Great. She saves the sour attitude for me. I feel special.” Zane’s right eyelid twitched.
“Never thought I’d hear myself say this, Zane, but it sucks to be you,” AJ said.
“Right now, you got that right, but I don’t need you griping with me. I need suggestions to improve the situation.”
Ty shook his head. “Who’d have thought Zane would come to us for advice on women?”
“My grandpa Floyd used to say that kicking won’t get a body anywhere unless he’s a mule.”
Zane stared at Cooper, unable to believe those words had come from his friend. Intelligent in ways Zane couldn’t fathom, his best friend had never been one to spout platitudes. “What the hell does that mean?”
“You can complain, stay all stirred up, and keep being muleheaded stubborn, or you can change your attitude. Have you tried being nice?”
“Of course, I did and anything else I could think of,” Zane said, frustration and irritation filling his voice. “Whatever I do makes it worse. When I joke with her, she gets mad and says I don’t take the wedding industry seriously. When I compliment her, she thinks I’m condescending or a smart ass. She has a rule about everything and spouts them endlessly. The woman makes an icicle seem warm.”
“I guess he’s decided to stick with complaining,” Ty said to no one in particular.
