Read Online Worst Week Ever (A Long Road to Love) by Liza O'Connor - Free Book Online Page B

his lap. Trent offered her his seat, but
Tall insisted he sit. “Now, pretty lady. It’s time to decide. His lap or mine?”
    Carrie didn’t
hesitate. She sat on Trent’s lap to the audience’s happy cheers.
    Trent watched
the final section of the show with the woman of his future, nestled in his lap.
    At the
conclusion of another impossible ‘how’d they do it’ skit, the two men walked to
center stage and took their bow. Tall then motioned to Trent and Carrie. “Let’s
have a cheer for Trent and his lovely lady. They’ve been great sports, don’t you
think?”
    The audience
roared with approval, and it gave Trent such a rush. Approbation had been a
rare commodity in his life. God, it feels good .
    When they left
the auditorium, he smiled at the sight of Sam and his limo parked out front.
    They climbed
inside. “Well done, Sam,” Trent said.
    “Thank you,
sir. Fortunately, I did not wait for you to call before returning.”
    Like a
punctured balloon, his sense of approval faded. “I apologize. Fifteen minutes
ago, Tiny doused me with glitter then Tall and Carrie vacuumed me clean.
Honestly, I had no idea when the end would arrive until they took their bow.”
    Carrie spoke
in his defense. “It’s true, Sam. The magicians used Trent as their audience
participant.”
    Sam sighed
heavily. “I would have paid full price to see that.”

Chapter 5
     
    Sam pulled the
limo in front of the restaurant only five minutes past their reservation. Trent
preferred arriving a half-hour late rather than be told to wait at the bar
until his table became available. However, he refused to ruin his and Carrie’s
happy mood with a scolding, so he let his driver’s mistake slide.
    Most people
didn’t realize it, but he had to put himself in a bad mood before he could yell
or threaten to fire someone. He liked his current mood much too much to bury it
in anger.
    As they walked
into the restaurant, Carrie tensed. He placed his hand on the small of her back
and leaned down to whisper. “Relax. You look like a million bucks.”
    Her smile of
gratitude warmed his heart.
    The maître d’
greeted him by name and led them to a corner table. Trent smiled. This ‘not a
date’ was turning out better than he could have hoped. Being seated on time at
Chelsey’s rarely happened. Soon a young waiter, barely out of diapers, arrived
with their preordered wine, ready to tell them the menu for the day.
    Trent hated
verbal menus, but Chelsey’s took pride in changing the offerings nightly. Thus,
the waiters had to memorize ten appetizers, ten entrees, and ten desserts to
rattle off to tired and hungry people.
    The young,
perky waiter made it through the ten appetizers with lightening speed, so much
so that Trent missed half of them. The fellow came to a halt after the fourth
entrée. Panic filled his eyes. Grateful for the opportunity to end this
nonsense, Trent asked, “Could you come back in ten minutes for our order?”
    The boy sighed
with relief. “Yes, sir!” he said and darted off.
    Carrie tilted
her head and studied Trent.
    “What?” While
he prided himself on being able to read her mind, right now, he had no idea
what thoughts bounced about in her head.
    “I had no idea
you could be so pleasant.”
    Ouch. “Am I
really so horrible?”
    She covered
his hand with hers. “No. But you’re usually stressed and it causes you to
channel your father.”
    He chuckled.
“I remember the first time you used the phrase ‘channel my father.’”
    She grimaced
and pulled her hand back. “Me too. You threatened to fire me.”
    He sighed.
“You really pissed me off. Some fresh college graduate comes into my business,
and tries to change everything, including how I manage my people.”
    Her hands
appeared to be in a fight with one another. He reached over and quelled their
movement. “Facing the possibility I did channel my father proved harder than
you probably realized. To be honest, I worked my whole life trying to get the
man’s