Page 3 of The Business of Love Box Set 1: Books 1 - 4

VANESSA

A fter my headphones were securely on my head, I sat down and took a quick, shallow breath. My heart should have been lifting my shirt, as hard as the dang thing was beating. What was it with this guy?

Familiarity. Masculinity. And his desire for love.

I jabbed the blinking red light.

“Hi there, caller. What’s your name, and how can I hope to heal your heart today?” A smile played on the right side of my mouth. I bowed my head in an effort to hide it from Doug, who would never let me hear the end of it if he saw. Anticipation curled inside of me.

“Nessa, it’s me.”

The storm of nerves and guilt and shame quieted as the sadness in his voice stole my heart. “Mr. No Name?”

“Yeah.”

“What’s up? It’s been a while.” I tried hard to keep my voice upbeat, hoping by some miracle he was both okay and heartbroken at the same time. No better way to step in and steal his heart than under the guise of helping to heal it. Terrible.

“It has been a while. Things had been good, but now my shit is all messed up. My girlfriend was sleeping with her ex.” He let out a soft growl that did things to me I wouldn’t want anyone to know about.

“I thought she was the one, but nope. She was just stringing me along and spending my money on shoes and fancy hotel stays for her and the asshole she promised me she was over. I’m so pissed at myself for trying again.

I need to quit looking for a stranger and find someone that knows me.

You know? Someone that I know well. Someone who knows what trust means. ”

“Someone from your past?” I leaned in and pressed my elbows against the desk. No doubt Doug and the crew were rolling their eyes, but I couldn’t care less. I gave the man on the line my full attention as I fell into the suspended reality that enveloped me every time I heard his voice.

“I guess, but that seems stupid too.”

“Don’t you live close to where you grew up?” The more I knew of this man, the more I wanted him.

“Yeah.” A long sigh left him. “Why can’t women just tell you what the hell they want? I’d have given this girl anything she asked for.”

“Sometimes, it’s hard to voice something when you don’t know what you’re after.

Most of us can’t choose a value meal at McDonald's. If that’s difficult, think about how much harder voicing relationship desires might be.

” I paused. He was silent on the other end.

Did he hang on to every word I said as desperately as I did when he was speaking?

“I suppose this probably isn’t much help.

Regardless of the difficulty, she never should have treated you like that. I’m sorry this happened.”

“Thank you.” He sounded surprised, like my empathy was a curveball he hadn’t anticipated. “I guess I’m just disappointed. I wanted it to work. I mean, I’m glad the shit fell apart earlier rather than later, but it would have been nice to have it work for once.”

“It’s going to work out soon. Don’t stop trying. Love is worth the effort, the disappointments, the denials, the trials it puts all of us through. It’s the best part about being alive.” My words were as empty as my heart. What did I know about the trials of love?

Desire whispered my name, and I closed my eyes, imagining Mr. No Name behind me, his strong arms around my shoulders, his thick chest pressed to my back. I knew lust. Sure. I knew desire and wanting something out of your reach. But I did not know anything deeper than that.

“Nessa? Nessa? You still there?” His chuckle was beyond cute.

I came to. “Oh yeah. Sorry. Just thinking about how much I love love.”

“And you’re taken, right?” I could feel his smirk through the earphones. How could a thing I couldn’t see be so sexy?

“I am,” I mumbled begrudgingly. The best way to keep up my facade was to not let anyone know who I was. Unfortunately, if the city of Nashville knew that its favorite at-night love doctor was single and always had been, it would be the death of my career.

Without this gig, my Pinterest dream home would officially be out of my reach for good.

Not happening. Not even for Mr. No Name.

“Too bad.” He chuckled. “I’m going to go drown my sorrows in whiskey and Mountain Dew. Maybe you’re right. Maybe I should just look at this as it being my ex’s true love. That helps a little.”

“Liar.” I glanced up when Doug tapped on the glass and pointed to the watch on his wrist. My time was up and running over.

“You know it. Enjoy your evening, and if you find a single girl who’s looking for love in all the wrong places, turn her my direction?”

“That, I’ll do. Goodnight, my friend.” I clicked the call off, pressed my girlie longing for the caller back down, and stood.

“That’s all tonight, folks. Remember that love is around every corner.

Whether we choose to acknowledge it is up to us.

It’s the one thing that offers the greatest highs and lowest lows, but nothing else compares.

Find it. Foster it. Keep it. Until next time, this is Nessa Night. Signing off.”

I pulled off my headphones and then my glasses. The room around me became a blur of people cleaning up for the night-show host.

“Great job as always.” Doug appeared out of nowhere and walked me toward the door, his arm around my shoulders. “Hey, I want you to meet Ryan. He’s the new intern that’ll be helping us out from time to time.”

A handsome frat-boy type with blond hair and blue eyes stepped into the studio. His smile didn’t reach his eyes. I didn’t like him from his looks alone, but I forced myself to smile and extended my hand. “Welcome. Glad to have you.”

“You too, Nessa. I’m looking forward to working with you. The show was exceptional, as always.” He moved back and turned toward Doug. “You want to walk through a recap on the show?”

That was my cue to get the hell out of Dodge before someone stopped me to ask me questions.

Exhaustion settled in my bones as I gathered my jacket from the back of my studio chair and shrugged into it.

I patted my pockets, checking for my phone and car keys, and then swept out of the studio and into the hallway.

I paused after a few steps, realizing I was missing something.

My purse. Damn .

Turning on my heel, I walked quickly back toward Doug’s office, where I kept my purse tucked under his desk. I dropped into a crouch and fetched it from the floor. I was about to get to my feet when Ryan’s voice washed over me from where he and Doug still stood in my studio.

“Nessa is a little surprising,” Ryan said.

“How so?” Doug asked innocently.

“She’s talking to people about being romantic, but she’s not in a relationship, right?”

“No clue, but that’s none of our business. Your confidentiality agreement says the same. Got it?”

Ryan gave a frat-boy chuckle. “I know. Just saying, it seems a little off. A little… misleading.”

“That’s your opinion. The listeners love her.”

“Agreed. She’s a pretty girl. In the face. If she could lose a little bit of weight, she’d be a bombshell.”

“Hey!” Doug’s voice hardened. I’d never heard him take such a sharp tone before, especially not with an employee. “No more about Nessa. She’s like a daughter to me. If you can’t act professionally, leave. Got it, kid? We don’t need this kind of judgmental negativity around here.”

I yanked my purse out from under the desk and slung it over my shoulder. Feeling like a damn fool, I crab crawled to the door so the men in the studio couldn’t see me. Once I was in the hallway, I straightened and power-walked down the fluorescent-light-lined hallway to the parking lot out back.

Ryan’s words rang in my ears like a foghorn.

If she could lose a little bit of weight, she’d be a bombshell.

It wasn’t the first time I’d heard such things spoken behind my back. Hell, some people had said them to my face, too. People from high school who would most definitely be at the dreaded reunion. They weren’t telling me anything I didn’t already know or think about every day.

Especially when I looked into the mirror.