And the Next Thing You Know . . .
Page 32
He looked at me a good long while, taking in what I’d just said. I needed to think about it, too. It had just slipped out. Certainly hadn’t planned on that.
“I’m going to give you the chance to rephrase that, if you want.”
“You mean that bit about ‘the rest of my life’?”
I knew what he meant It was way too soon, wasn’t it? And was that what I even wanted? This completely impossible, uncontrollable Tasmanian devil to be my partner in life and in my bedroom, for forever and always?
“What about your plan?” he asked.
“My plan?”
“You know—you and some other hotshot lawyer, fabulous power couple, hand-in-hand litigating your way through life, the envy of everyone? That plan.”
“Good lord, Theo,” I said looking down at the talented, funny, brilliant and breathtakingly beautiful guy in my arms. “Who wouldn’t envy me?”
“So, you’re really thinking,” he kissed my chin, “you, me, the bear—the rest of your life?”
I nodded.
He gave me one of those tormenting, sideways smiles of his.
“If you’re lucky,” said my dreamboat, my angel, my sun, moon and stars.
“Yeah,” I said. “If I’m very, very lucky.”
Special Thanks
Travis J. Sherrod, Neil Montiel, Ophelia Julien and Timothy Brown, who all cast their critical eyes over earlier versions of this novel and offered invaluable advice.
Sonya Lashua Fagan, who took brilliant photos of my feet and my dog.
And of course the dog, my writing partner and my companion—Watson. He puts up with a lot.
About the Author
Chase Taylor Hackett was raised on a farm in the Midwest among hogs, ponies, corn and soybeans—far from his current home in New York City. His first novel—Where Do I Start?—was recently published by Kensington Books.
While working on that book, he realized he had a character who was a total jerk, and he wondered what would happen if the jerk met someone with zero tolerance for jerks.
And the Next Thing You Know… he’d written another novel.
Chase lives in upper Manhattan with his partner Travis, and a Scottish terrier named Watson.