Total pages in book: 92
Estimated words: 86710 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 434(@200wpm)___ 347(@250wpm)___ 289(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 86710 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 434(@200wpm)___ 347(@250wpm)___ 289(@300wpm)
“I know, I was kidding.” He pulls me to his side for a hug. “You’ll be fine.”
I grab several pairs of pants and pencil skirts in a variety of colors. A store assistant offers to help but I assure her that I’m okay. The fun starts in the changing room. I try on the first outfit and come out to pose for Chris. He discreetly takes pictures before I try on the next outfit.
“You look hot in that one,” he says. “You should wear it for the interview.”
I turn to stare at myself in the mirror. I look different than my usual casual ensemble. The peach-colored blouse has a deep v-neck that shows a hint of cleavage and the pencil skirt shows off my figure. It’s definitely not the look I usually go for but I need all the help I can get.
“I really do look nice,” I say.
Chris comes to stand next to me. A sales woman walks by and does a double take, looking at him again. Chris is gorgeous. He’s well over six feet, with sandy-colored hair and beautiful green eyes. We’ve always been friends, right from the beginning when we first me. But there’s never been any chemistry between us and I like it like that. He said the same thing to me during a drunken weekend after we graduated from college. I was the sister he never had and he liked knowing that he didn’t have to hit on me. I was safe.
He was single and for as long as I’ve known him, he’s never been in a relationship for longer than three months. He says that he gets bored easily but my theory is that he backs off when things get serious. I’m no therapist but his parents have a weird open marriage, something I’ve never heard with couples from their generation.
“Nice? Jace Anderson won’t know what hit him,” Chris says building my confidence.
I really hope I get that position. I have a feeling that it’s the stepping stone I need to show Amelia what I can really do. I try to limit how much I buy as I haven’t gotten the job yet, but I still end up with almost a full wardrobe.
I pay for my purchases and we lug them to Chris’s car in the basement parking.
“Want to go for an early dinner?” Chris asks.
“Sure, why not?”
Chris drives us to the private club where he and his family have been members for decades. I got free private tennis lessons, courtesy of being friends with Chris. We head to the dining room and pick a table that overlooks the garden.
“It always feels like coming home,” Chris comments.
He spent more time at the club than at home when he was growing up. I admired him for that and only years later did I realize how lonely he was. He probably just wanted to be home with his parents, just like I did.
Chapter 2: Jace
A perfect day. So far. Those kinds of days are rare. I’ve had a meeting with my managers and there were no surprises there. The contractors doing some renovations in the patient bathrooms on the second floor are on schedule. All the systems that make our clinic run smoothly are working as they should.
I glance at my wrist watch as I enter the clinic café. I’m right on time to meet my brothers for lunch. My stomach growls as the scent of food teases my nostrils.
“Do you have any of that delicious lasagna left, Rosie?”
“One last piece.” Rosie smiles and gestures to the far end of the café where Dylan and Alec are seated. “They took two each.” She laughs and turns away to arrange my lunch on a tray. She serves me a cup of coffee without asking, knowing that I need a boost of coffee for the afternoon. Employees like Rosie are the back bone of the clinic. She started working at the café when my parents started the clinic. She’s loyal and she has an incredible work ethic. I doubt if Rosie has ever missed work except for when one of her boys was sick. “Enjoy,” she says, handing me the lunch tray.
I carry it across the room to where my brothers are seated. “Hey.” I sit down and immediately start eating. I’m starving.
“You need a woman in your life to teach you eating etiquette.” Dylan grins. He can say that now because he has Harper. A few years ago, when Alec first got married, he and I were in the same boat.
I fork a generous helping of lasagna into my mouth. Hospital cafeterias have a bad reputation for serving bad food. Ours is different, thanks to Rosie and the cooks under her watch. “Want to lend me Harper? Bet she won’t want to come back to you after she gets a taste of me.”