Total pages in book: 22
Estimated words: 20635 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 103(@200wpm)___ 83(@250wpm)___ 69(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 20635 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 103(@200wpm)___ 83(@250wpm)___ 69(@300wpm)
But Toni only laughs this off as we head up the stairs. "How was your weekend?" she asks. "Anything exciting that happened?"
"You've taught your son to call me a geek," I point out. "So do I really need to answer that?"
"Your fault," Toni chides. "You're the one who keeps saying no—"
"You know why." And she does, actually. Toni is the only person in this world who knows why I'm always idling around in the lobby each day, just like I'm the only person she's entrusted with the truth about her handsome little boy.
"All I'm asking you is to let me set you up with a blind date," Toni scoffs as we reach the landing on the second floor. "It's not like I'm asking you to marry the guy—-"
"I appreciate the offer, but thanks, but no thanks. I believe it's my destiny to have the most fantastic meet-cute—-" I place my hand over my heart with dramatic flair and ignore the way my friend is rolling her eyes. "—-which shall then end with me walking down the aisle to marry a big, bad wolf who's super hot, filthy rich, and able to shift this quick!"
Toni laughs as I snap my fingers for emphasis, and Colin is happy to giggle along with her even as he wriggles insistently until she finally sets him down.
"You and your preter fetish!"
"It's destiny," I insist on arguing, "not a predilection. Also, I have a plan—-"
"To stay single for the rest of your life, you mean?"
"I'm being patient," I defend.
"Or maybe you're just a coward," my friend retorts.
I let out a gasp. "How dare you—-"
Toni raises a brow.
"—-say the truth?"
We both crack up, and we're still laughing as I push the doors open to our floor—-
"Holy sheep," Toni squeaks out from behind.
"Holy sheep," Colin echoes excitedly.
Holy shit, indeed.
"You're so screwed," my friend whispers.
"Screw me," I whisper at the same time...since standing in front of us is none other than our super hot, filthy rich CEO, and if the rumors are true, he absolutely can shift this quick, too.
Chapter Three
Why do people these days act like dreams now have an expiration date? Why am I only allowed to believe true love exists if I'm in my twenties, but I'm expected to be instantly practical when I hit my thirties? Why are there rules about what I can and can't dream for?
~ The Thirty-Something Heroine: A Blog
SO, A LITTLE BACKSTORY to how I became That Girl.
I've never been a prude, but something happened to me back in high school, and all I could do since then was live vicariously through all forms of romantic fiction and Taylor Swift songs.
I still hadn't found a guy I wanted (or trusted) enough to seriously date by the time I hit my late twenties, and everyone in our gossipy, tight-knit community just loved talking about it behind my back.
I was able to shrug it off at first, but the looks of pity and condescension did start to chafe eventually. If being normal means having a boyfriend, fine. I told myself I'll take it a step further and give away my V-card to the first decent guy I meet, but I've barely finished registering an account on various dating apps when that day happened, and boom!
Everything became suddenly clear to me, and instead of getting myself deflowered, what I got rid of was my nice-paying job so I could enrol myself in a preter-run university.
Everyone naturally thought I had lost my mind, but I was adamant about (secretly) chasing my dreams. I celebrated my thirtieth birthday while working on my thesis, and all my efforts paid off when I applied for a job at the Nox.
HR had taken one look at my resumé, and I was allowed to advance straight to the final round for my job interview, which I had also passed with flying colors. Everything had been going well at that point, and I had been feeling pretty hopeful until one of the members of the panel had cleared her throat and asked—-
"You're her, aren't you? The one in the viral video?"
"What viral video?" another panel member had asked.
"It's really sad," the other woman had answered with a shake of her head. "A guy asked her to prom, she turned him down, his ego took a blow, and long story short, he accidentally killed her cat."
And that's how I also became That Girl here in the Nox, just like how I've been That Girl almost my entire life, by no choice of my own.
RAVEN-BLACK HAIR AND deep-set eyes that are a frosted shade of lavender. Formidably tall but lusciously sleek. Smooth olive skin and a body that any woman can just sense is extraordinarily chiseled all over, even when it's sheathed under an expensive designer suit.
It's the Greek king of Night Bloom himself standing in front of us, and I'm torn between freaking out and freaking over him.