And thanks to her, he didn’t even consider taking new pictures for his new online dating profile. When he looks in the mirror lately, he doesn’t like what he sees. When he looks at old pictures, he does. Case closed.
He leans back in his chair and surveys his latest profile.
Any eligible female who stumbles across Nick Butler’s tall, dark, and handsome picture will most likely click through to read his questionnaire.
First, she’ll check out his age, thirty-one; his location, Upper West Side; his occupation, architect.
She’ll see that he’s never been married and has no children. That will most likely be met with approval because, really, who wants that kind of baggage?
Not me. Not most single people in their right mind.
With Nick Butler, a woman seeking an unencumbered man won’t even have to worry about pets. He lied that he’s allergic, to keep the crazy cat ladies away.
He couldn’t believe how many of those he found when he first entered the realm of online dating. It seemed like such a cliché until he started noticing all the single women who posted photos of themselves cradling kittens or managing to work feline-centric answers into their questionnaires.
Nick Butler’s questionnaire just covers the basic favorites in every category.
Favorite Food: Italian. Who doesn’t love Italian food?
Favorite Movie: The Last of The Mohicans. An oldie but not ancient; suitably rugged, with both historic and literary appeal, plus a romance.
Favorite Music—
Someone clears her throat behind him, and he jumps, startled. Turning around, he sees Ivy Sacks, one of the project managers, standing in the doorway of his cubicle.
“How’s it coming along?”
Ivy is referring to the spreadsheet that has, with a quick click of the mouse, replaced the dating questionnaire on his desktop screen.
“It’s . . . you know. Coming along.”
“When do you think it’ll be finished?”
“Soon. Very soon.”
“Good.”
For a moment she just stands there looking at him. Her expression is impossible to read.
“Anything else?” he asks, hands poised on the keyboard as though eager to get back to work on the spreadsheet.
“I was just wondering . . .”
When she trails off, he doesn’t prompt her to continue, afraid that she might be on the verge of asking him out. This wouldn’t be the first time, since the divorce, that he’s gotten that vibe.
Ivy is the only woman at the firm who happens to be roughly his age and single. But her facial features and build are far too angular for his taste, and her no-nonsense personality makes it impossible to imagine her ever kicking back and having the slightest bit of fun.
“Never mind,” Ivy says. “Just shoot that spreadsheet over to me when you’re done, okay?”
“Sure, no problem.”
He waits for her to leave.
The moment she does, he clicks away from the spreadsheet, back to his online profile.
Favorite Music?
Perhaps the easiest question of all.
Smiling to himself, he writes Classic Rock.
About the Author
USA Today and New York Times bestseller Wendy Corsi Staub is the award-winning author of more than seventy novels and has twice been nominated for the Mary Higgins Clark Award. She lives in the New York City suburbs with her husband and their two children.
Learn more about Wendy at www.wendycorsistaub.com.
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By Wendy Corsi Staub
THE PERFECT STRANGER
THE GOOD SISTER
SHADOWKILLER
SLEEPWALKER
NIGHTWATCHER
HELL TO PAY
SCARED TO DEATH
LIVE TO TELL
Copyright
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Excerpt from The Black Widow copyright © 2015 by Wendy Corsi Staub
THE PERFECT STRANGER. Copyright © 2014 by Wendy Corsi Staub. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
EPub Edition AUGUST 2014 ISBN: 9780062222411
Print Edition ISBN: 9780062222404
FIRST EDITION
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
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Table of Contents
Dedication
Epigraph
Acknowledgments
Contents
Prologue
Part 1
Sixty Is the New . . . Oh, Who Am I Kidding? Sixty Is Old!
Chapter 1
Tragic News
Chapter 2
The Day My Life Changed Forever
Chapter 3
Strength Training
Chapter 4
"We Need to Go Beyond a Cure. We Need to Stop People from Ever Getting Breast Cancer in the First Place."
Chapter 5
Part 2
Happily Ever After
Chapter 6
Reaching Out
Chapter 7
Cancerversaries = Bullshit
Chapter 8
I Get By with a Little Help . . .
Chapter 9
A Cause Worth Fighting For
Chapter 10
Sweet Dreams
Chapter 11
Diagnosis: Trypanophobia
Chapter 12
Part 3
The Day That Changed My Life Forever
Chapter 13
Thanksgiving Gratitude
Chapter 14
The Day My Life Changed Forever
Chapter 15
Six of One Is Not Always Half a Dozen of the Other
Chapter 16
The Day My Life Changed Forever
An Excerpt from The Black Widow
Prologue
Chapter 1
About the Author
By Wendy Corsi Staub
Copyright
About the Publisher