Free Tessa's Wishes (Whispered Wishes #3) by Karen Pokras Page A

more I realize most guys aren’t worth crying over at all. I suppose that will be the telltale sign for me. If he’s worth my tears, he’s a keeper. Now there’s a depressing personal ad. Single, white female looking for man who can make me cry .”
     “You’ve got it all wrong, Tessa,” Ben said, jumping down to walk over to the table. “Take it from a male perspective. Then I’m leaving the room. I know I’m not supposed to be in here, but just listen. Not all guys are like that jerk. Really. Most of us are only insecure buffoons. We don’t know squat about women. We don’t know how to act, or even talk to a woman when we meet someone we like, and nine times out of ten, we’re going to make you cry. But most of the time, it’s not on purpose. Usually, it’s because we’re stupid creatures who don’t know any better. All we want is a chance to prove we’re actually decent humans who have big hearts.”
    “See that?” Tessa said, feeling her eyes well up. “He’s making me cry. Can we clone him, Holly?”
    “Nope,” she replied, wrapping her arms around her husband’s waist, “but don’t worry. I have a really good feeling that one day you’ll find your own stupid buffoon. Now you,” she said, pushing her husband away with a smile, “go. You’ve taken up enough of our time. Don’t you have some sort of manly sports thing to watch on television?”
    “Yes, and while I’m at it,” he stated, grabbing a beer out of the refrigerator, “I think I’ll see if I can burp out the alphabet during the commercials.” Ben mouthed the word buffoon as he slowly walked backward out of the room.
    “He must keep you laughing all day long,” Ava told her, chuckling.
    Holly nodded. “He’s a good guy. So is Max, and somewhere out there is the perfect guy for Tessa.”
    “Agreed,” Ava stated. “Who wouldn’t want you? And Sophie. You both are amazing. You just have to be patient, and you have to be willing to give someone a chance.” She pointed to her heart as a symbol of where Tessa kept her walls.
    Rolling her eyes, she shook her head. Her sisters meant well, she knew that, but she was getting tired of the same lecture over and over … and over.
    “By the way, drowning yourself in milk shakes won’t make him appear at your doorstep.”
    And over.
    “So what will make him appear?” Tessa asked. “Where exactly does one go to find oneself a buffoon?”
     

 
     
     
    Chapter 15
     
     
    Tessa watched through her office window as the black car with darkened windows drove into the parking lot of Abbott and Associates.
    For the second week in a row, Mr. Abbott had left Tessa alone in the office to work on her own while he was off on client visits. Although he seemed pleased when he periodically checked in, she was only cautiously optimistic his attitude was changing and continued to keep her eyes and ears open for another position. With his Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde personality, she never knew what to expect and hated the feeling of being on edge—wondering when his good mood would suddenly burst into a fit of rage.
    Working steadily, she made her way through her to-do list, completing nearly all of the work that had previously piled up. It was exactly what she needed to take her mind off her disappointing weekend. After leaving Holly’s on Friday night, she received several texts from Brandon apologizing. At first she thought he might actually have a conscience, although she didn’t feel sorry enough for the guy to respond to any of his pleas. On Saturday morning he asked if they were still on for dinner that evening. Pig. She responded with a simple Go to hell— then blocked his number. That evening, she took Sophie and went to Ava’s, just in case he couldn’t take the not so subtle hint and decided to show up anyway for their date. Hopefully, Sophie wouldn’t need the services of the emergency room again anytime soon—or ever.
    She watched as a man got out of the mysterious dark car. He