"A dog is supposed to eat dog food. But if you feed a dog human food, what happens?"
"He . . . dies?"
"No." I clicked my tongue at Grant. "Pay attention, please. This is important information I'm telling you."
"I am. I just don't see the message."
"If you feed a dog human food," I repeated, "that dog can't go back to eating dog food. It's too pampered."
"Okay . . . what does this have to do with Marcie? And why is she being compared to a dog?"
"No." I winced, pinching the bridge of my nose. "That's just an example. What I'm saying is—I just took Marcie out on a dog-being-served-human-food kind of experience. Now she can't go back to her strange, ordinary desires of dating normal, boring men."
"So . . . that means she'll have to stay by your side? Are you saying as a secretary or—"
I did a quick relook in my dining room mirror, adjusting my outfit.
"Not necessarily that. But if she needs to, that's fine. My point is that I've upgraded her tastes. Aren't I the best? How many other people do you know around here changing lives?"
Grant chuckled, scrolling through his phone at the head of the table like what I'd said wasn't extraordinary.
"I guess. But I've heard some information that'll put that theory to the test."
"Really, you old wise man? What is it?" I asked, chuckling back to keep my pride intact.
"Marcie Andrews is on a date right now. And I'm sure it's with some regular guy." He grinned cheekily.
What? Is he just saying things to say them?
She just went on a date with me—with me! Marcie has always been terrible at one thing, and that's her poker face. No, I didn't expect her to act so shy and into my new look. But she liked it. For sure, she liked it. There's no way she could be on another date after the amazing one I gave her—especially not on the same day.
"Yep," Grant went on, "heard it through the grapevine. From a reliable source, too."
"Yeah? Who?"
"Fallon. Said they were heading to her neck of the woods for Wokcano. Yum."
I froze, staring at him through the mirror. It didn't sound right—but it also didn't sound like a lie.
Damn. Her onboarding papers are still in my office. If I'm remembering correctly, Fallon lives in Burbank.
"Where are you going?" Grant asked, hands raised. "I thought we were watching a movie later."
"Yeah, we are. I'm just grabbing some food real quick."