Read The Negotiator for Free Online Page B

had a chance to get it.”
    “Yeah, well, I just wanted to see how you were going.” A beat passed. “Savannah told me you’re going to break it off with Nikki.”
    Andy sighed wearily. “Yeah. I already did it last night, after the ball.”
    “Shit, Andy, not after the ball? She was having such a good time. Couldn’t you have waited a little longer?How did she take it?”
    “About as well as you’d expect and for your information, I’ve been trying to do it for the last fortnight. There just didn’t seem a proper time. I mean, is there ever a right time?”
    “You’re asking the wrong bloke, mate. I never went out with the same girl more than once or twice. Savannah was the first one I even wanted to spend more than a night or two with.”
    “Lucky for you she felt the same way.”
    “You can say that again. Although, I have to tell you, these pregnancy hormones have me running in circles. I’ve been putting up with it for eight months. One minute she can’t get enough of me and the next she’s screaming bloody murder if I get anywhere near her. Then there’s the gherkin fetish. I tell you, I’ll be pleased when it’s over and I can get my wife back again.”
    “So you’ve changed your mind about pushing me toward holy matrimony?” Andy smiled into the phone, watching the blond angel from the corner of his eye as she emptied wastepaper baskets that were under the desks. He could tell she was trying to do it quietly because he was on the phone. Her thoughtfulness intrigued him.
    “Of course not,” Will was saying. “You just haven’t found the right one yet. Don’t worry; we’ll find you someone.”
    “Just don’t go setting me up with one of your exes. Those stick insects you used to go for are so not my style.”
    Will chuckled. “Okay, okay. I’m only trying to do my duty as your best friend and find you a wife. I know you want one, even if you are being a bit picky.”
    Andy swiveled his chair so he could follow the woman’s progress around the room. She’d moved closer and was now using her cloth to swipe across Tom’s desk, one of the tidier of their team.
    “You’re right. I want a wife. I want kids. I want soccer matches. I want white picket fences. But I don’t want that with just anyone. I’m in it for the long haul. I want to be certain she’s the one, you know.”
    “Yeah, I know. I am one wholly converted bachelor who thought there was no such thing as love at first sight.”
    “Yeah. That’s exactly my point. I might not have been raised with much love, but I know what it looks like. I can’t say I know what it feels like because I honestly don’t think I’ve ever been in love. Not the way you are with Savannah, anyway. But I haven’t given up hope. She’s out there somewhere.”
    He recalled the taxi driver’s words of wisdom. “A cabbie told me last night when the right one comes along, I’ll know her the instant I meet her.” He braced himself for Will’s burst of laughter.
    To his surprise, his friend remained silent. Will’s reply, when it came, was slow and thoughtful.
    “You know what, mate? He might be right. When I think about that first night I met Savannah—hell, I thought she was a prostitute. But there was something about her—I couldn’t get her out of my head. I reckon I probably did fall in love with her from the moment I saw her.” He laughed wryly. “I think your cabbie’s right on the money.”
    “Maybe he is,” Andy murmured. He watched with interest while the cleaner bent down to pick up another wastepaper basket. Her dress pulled tight across her shapely butt. His body hardened in response. She turned and moved toward him, oblivious to his lascivious thoughts.
    Eager to speak with her again, he brought an abrupt end to his phone conversation and replaced the receiver in its cradle just as she reached his desk.
    “You didn’t have to hang up.” Her vivid eyes darted away from his. Her hands clenched the top of the trash bag.