Free The Dating Intervention: Book 1 in the Intervention Series by Hilary Dartt Page B

Delaney almost had to wipe a tear off her own face after listening to his story. She wanted to soothe him. So what if that meant unbuttoning his shirt the rest of the way and peeling off those silky black pants?
    She sent a text to Summer and Josie: Super cute guy at bar tonight. Can I flirt my way into getting his number?
    Within a second, she received texts back from both of them: No. Absolutely not.  
    She wrote back: Why? He’s cute. And he’s a doctor.  

    ***
    Under attack from a fresh wave of giggles, Josie and Summer took turns wiping their eyes with Josie’s bar napkin.  
    “‘Super cute?’ She has to be kidding us,” Josie said. “Now we know what her standards are. Haven’t you always wondered, when she talks about those really hot guys she sees here all the time?”  
    “Now we know,” Summer said, nodding so hard her sunglasses fell off her face and clattered onto the table.
    “Come on, Summer. We have to do something. He is so not cute. He is so not a doctor. And I can guarantee he is so not good for her.”  
    “What the hell. You’re right.”  

    ***
    Summer: He’s at the bar telling you a sob story, right?
    Delaney didn’t answer. How did Summer know?  
    She was going to employ her mommy senses during The Dating Intervention and Delaney didn’t like it one bit. It was an unfair advantage. David requested another drink and Delaney mixed it.  
    “You’re real cute, Diana,” he slurred.  
    “It’s Delaney,” she said, charmed by his … drunkenness. “And you’re not so bad, yourself.”  
    Her phone chirped.
    Josie: Stop talking to him, Dee. Remember, we make the rules .  
    Delaney didn’t respond.  
    “So, David. What are you doing after this?”
    Her phone chirped again.
    Summer: Step away from the drunk guy . Hair gel, remember?
    And again.
    Josie: He’s wearing cheap shoes. He’s not a doctor. My guess: he’s in vacuum sales. He probably did a demonstration right before this and is drinking away his depression right now. He sucks for a living, Dee. And he hates his mother.
    Delaney scanned the bar’s seating area. Were they here? They had to be. She’d noticed the cheap shoes, the hair gel, David’s general pathetic nature. But pathetic fueled her hormones, despite the voice in her head telling her to back off. She was sucked in.
    That’s when she spotted two girls at the back of the room, wearing ball caps pulled low.  
    “I’ll be right back,” she said to Ivy.  
    Why would Josie and Summer show up at Rowdy’s to babysit her? Didn’t they trust her? This is ridiculous . She stormed to the back of the bar, fists clenched. They should let her make her own decisions. No, Mark, Zachary and Xander hadn’t been perfect. But they’d been okay. And they were out of the picture now, anyway. She was starting with a clean slate.
    She stalked right up to the table where the girls were sitting, stuck her face two inches from a pair of mirrored sunglasses and felt completely foolish.These girls weren’t Summer and Josie. They were just a couple of friends out on the town for a couple of drinks – and they looked very surprised to be approached in this manner.
    “Sorry,” Delaney muttered. “Get you a drink?”
    Eyes comically wide and mouths hanging open like little goldfish, they simply shook their heads. She walked back to her spot behind the bar with less confidence, then mixed another drink for David and plunked it down in front of him.
    “This one’s on the house,” she said. “And after you’re done, I’m taking you home.”  

    ***
    Closing time. Ivy flicked on the lights and the few stragglers who hadn’t already wobbled into taxis swayed their way out of the bar. Delaney swept the floor, wiped the tables and cleared glasses and bottles. David, for his part, remained on his stool, head pillowed on his arms. He’d snored a couple of times and Delaney wouldn’t be surprised to see drool on his sleeve.  
    Her phone chirped. Another text. It was