Unsuitable Men Read Online Free PDF Page A

he didn’t have much time to chat, that he was on his way someplace else.
    Finally, he’d pulled out his phone and made a call, and moments later, grabbed her hand again, pulling her into a limo—one of a long line of identical vehicles—that eventually made its way to the curb in front of them. Inside, the air was cool, offering welcome relief from the muggy Los Angeles evening, and better yet, there was a bar. Brendan had immediately gone for it, holding up a bottle of chilled champagne for her approval.
    “God, yes,” she’d sighed and he laughed out loud.
    They’d watched some of the show on television from the cool confines of the limo, eating the snacks and chocolate-covered strawberries from the mini-refrigerator.
    “I think I like the Grammys better on TV,” Tracy admitted.
    “This is probably the first time in over ten years I’ve watched it on television,” Brendan said.
    Tracy looked at him then, noticing for the first time that he looked a little tired. This was his work, she recalled. Not something he did for fun, which made her wonder what he did do for fun. So much of their growing friendship had centered on what was happening with Shawn and Riley, she sometimes forgot to think of him as a whole and separate being from his famous best friend and client. Even her anger at Shawn she’d taken out on him on occasion.
    “What would Shawn do if he came out of the auditorium and you were gone?” she asked.
    Brendan thought about it for a moment. “He would call me. And if I didn’t answer, he’d leave it alone.”
    “He wouldn’t be pissed?” Tracy asked.
    Brendan laughed. “Nah. He’d be relieved. He’d probably skip out on all the parties—which I would never let him do—and go back to the hotel to spend some quiet time with Riley.”
    “So let’s let him do that,” Tracy said.
    Brendan opened his mouth to resist her suggestion but after a moment closed it again.
    “What would we do instead?” he asked.
    But it wasn’t a suggestive question, it was asked as though he had never considered for a moment what he might do with his time if he wasn’t spending it managing Shawn’s career.
    “Anything you want,” Tracy said. “But my inclination? I say we go back and change into jeans, sit around eating pizza and watch pay-per-view.”
    It wasn’t the evening she had in mind when she planned her trip to the Grammys for sure. And if she stuck to Shawn and Riley there was no telling how many high-profile not-to-be-missed insider parties she would get to go to. But at that moment when she saw the look of boyish exhilaration on Brendan’s face, there was nothing else she could imagine she would rather do than sit in a hotel room with him and eat fattening food while watching bad action movies.
     
     
    Tracy listened as Shawn and Riley ascended the stairs and heard their tread on the wood floors as they passed her door on the way to the master suite. Then there was the sound of footsteps stopping and turning back. She shut her eyes just in time as Riley opened the door, peeking in to check on her. She didn’t feel like talking and rehashing the evening. Her emotions were all in a jumble and she was preoccupied by the thought of Brendan heading home with his not-girlfriend Meghan.
    On nights like this one, it seemed so foolish to stick to these rules she’d made for herself about men, weeding them out, the suitable from the unsuitable. She’d put Brendan firmly in the unsuitable column and had done so a long time ago, so why was she obsessing like this? Because she was alone, for one thing. Riley had seized love with Shawn with both hands, damn the torpedoes, and now look at her.
    Despite the bumps along the way, she was better off. And while Tracy wasn’t all-out crazy about Brendan, or even a little in love with him, she liked spending time with him. Why shouldn’t she just embrace that? Maybe if she did, she wouldn’t be alone almost every night hugging pillows. Right now, there