Desire and a Bottle of Merlot: (Like Sisters Series Book 5) Chick Lit: A Romantic Comedy by Bria Marche Page A

strangers. Damn them all! There are couples everywhere I look! It’s like a friggin’ disease, but me? People probably think of me as an outcast, someone to pity because I choose to be single. Inside the house, she threw her purse on the coffee table, knocking over a pine-scented candle, and grabbed the remote. Plopping down on the recliner, she stared blankly at the TV, wishing she had Claire on her lap again. She felt a certain amount of comfort having the cat to care for even though Claire usually lay around like an entitled princess. Tina had sat every night with Claire while Karen was gone, patting her head as the neurotic cat licked her paws nonstop.
    Dinner was a bowl of popcorn, and that suited Tina just fine. If I had a guy around, I’d be slaving away in the kitchen while he watched the news in his boxer shorts and scratched his balls. How disgusting! I wonder if Dan is a boxer or briefs kind of guy. This sucks! Maybe I need to find some new best friends that have sworn off men forever. Does that make me a lesbian? Tina was getting worried. She began to wonder why, after all this time, she was still anti-boyfriend. Maybe it’s too late for me now. I’m so set in my ways, and I don’t want to upset my lifestyle. I’m sure I haven’t turn gay. Wouldn’t there be some indication, like being turned on by women? She certainly didn’t hate men—she just didn’t want one of her own. She liked Aaron, Max, Mario, and Josh, but maybe that was because they were unavailable. Am I just afraid to be vulnerable again? Everyone else had their relationships turn out okay even when they originally thought the worst. I wonder what Dan is really like. I don’t know anything about him since I avoid him like the plague. If he ever talks to me again, I might listen… maybe.
    ***
    With her mind still full of questions, Tina hit the off button on the remote, powering down the TV. I should buy a pet. That would be a start anyway. Baby steps, they always say.
    The ringing phone, still in her purse, startled her out of her thoughts and the sneaky little headache beginning to thump in her temples.
    “Hello, Ms. Destiny. What’s up, sister?”
    “I’m thinking of going black. Can you help me out with that?”
    “What the hell are you talking about, and what’s wrong with Josh? Wouldn’t you have given that some thought before you decided to get knocked up? Besides, I don’t know any black people.”
    “Are you on something, Tina? I want you to dye my hair black again. I’m not in hiding anymore. Do you guys have preggers-safe hair dye?”
    “Oh… that kind of black, and yes, we have safe hair dye. When do you want to come in?”
    “Tomorrow… I’ll bring my mom too. She needs a trim.”
    “Hey, Sasha, not that I care, but what do you know about Dan?” Tina walked around her living room as she talked, snipping the dead leaves off her houseplants with her kitchen scissors.
    “I like the way you don’t care.” Sasha chuckled. “Anyway, I don’t know much. Only that he lives in Croton-on-Hudson with his parents for now until he can move into Josh’s house. He lived in Albany for a few years. He’s never been married and doesn’t have any kids. He sounds like a normal, hardworking, clean-cut guy. Should I tell him you’re interested?”
    “I’ll kill you if you do… just saying. Okay, I’ll put you guys down for ten o’clock tomorrow. I know for sure I don’t have any appointments between ten and three. Maybe we can do lunch afterward.”
    “Okay, see you at ten.”
    ***
    The pounding woke the household. Sasha wanted her parents to have a relaxing visit, not one involving hammers and drills at seven in the morning. She figured the guys were starting early because of the forecast. She sat up in bed, stretched, and climbed out, sliding her feet into the cozy shearling-lined UGG slippers, and put on her chenille robe. She opened the sliders to the balcony and stepped out. Dan stood just below her, two