Total pages in book: 80
Estimated words: 78357 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 392(@200wpm)___ 313(@250wpm)___ 261(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 78357 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 392(@200wpm)___ 313(@250wpm)___ 261(@300wpm)
She glares at me now, her teeth clenching. “Get me out of here,” she half begs, half snarls. I nod, wrapping my hand around her waist and pulling her up with me. “You owe me so much for this,” she says, and I swallow, knowing I’ll owe her for the rest of our lives. She hops on one foot as I hold her steady on the other side.
We are standing at the elevator with my arm around Tiff’s back to hold her up when I guiltily ask, “Can I have the letter?”
She hands it over, and I suddenly notice that yes, it is my letter, but there is handwriting on the back … Zach’s handwriting.
I only have a chance to read “Dear Chloe” when the elevator finally arrives. The doors open, and Zach is standing inside.
Zach
Jingle Bell Rock
“Chloe.” The elevator door opens, and I come face-to-face with her.
“Um …” Her eyes go wide when she sees me. She has her arm around her friend and seems to be helping her stand. “Um …”
“Get in the elevator,” the woman beside her hisses, and I notice her foot then.
“What happened?” I ask, worried. The elevator doors start to close, and I stick out my hand to keep it open.
“She hit her foot,” Chloe says, “walking to my desk.”
“My foot feels like it’s being suffocated by a shoe,” she says and then turns to me. “Hi.” She glares at me. “I’m Tiff.”
“Um, hi,” I say to her and then look down at her foot. “It’s purple.”
“Yup,” she says with a nod. The elevator door opens, and I help them both out of the elevator.
“How did you get here?” I ask, knowing that Chloe doesn’t have a car.
“We took the train,” Chloe says, and I can see the tears now forming in her eyes. “I’m going to get a cab.”
“Nonsense,” I say. “My car is right outside. I’ll drive you.”
“You don’t have to do that,” Chloe says, and she is acting nervous.
“This is so cute,” Tiff says, “but I feel like I’m going to throw up.”
“Okay, let’s get her in the car,” Chloe says, and I lead them to my truck parked at the curb.
Chloe opens the back door and turns Tiff around. “Okay, fall back on the seat, and I’ll go on the other side and pull you in.”
“Or,” I say, watching them, “you can sit down and then turn, and we can lift your foot on the seat.” I watch them as they think about my suggestion. We get her into the truck, and Chloe gets into the front seat. It’s the first time we’ve been in my truck together. I try to act cool by not looking over at her every five seconds.
I hired her last year after one meeting. I knew she would be perfect for the job, and I was not wrong. What I wasn’t expecting was to fall for her. “I’m going to get a wheelchair,” Chloe says. She jumps out of the truck and runs into the hospital as soon as I pull into the parking lot.
I get out of the truck, and I’m opening the back door when Chloe rushes out with the wheelchair. “Thank you so much,” she tells me and turns to walk in with Tiff.
I’m about to follow her when the phone rings in my pocket, and I pick it up. “When you said you were coming, did you mean this year, or are you at the North Pole with Santa? I don’t understand,” my best friend, Jax, says.
“Shit, sorry,” I say, taking one more look at the door and then getting in my truck. “I was with Chloe.”
“Your assistant?” he asks, and I close my eyes. “Have you declared your love for her yet?”
“That was a secret,” I hiss into the phone, and he laughs.
“I don’t know how she doesn’t know with the way you look at her with those puppy dog eyes every time you talk to her.” He snickers.
“Why are we best friends again?” I ask. “Oh, I know, because you have no one else.”
“Yeah, whatever, Casanova. Can you just get here? My nuts are freezing.”
“I hope they fall off.” I disconnect the phone call and make my way over to him. I think of Chloe the whole time I’m pulling away from the hospital when I see a paper in the back seat.
Reaching between the seats, I find the folded letter from this afternoon.
Chloe
Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow.
“What do you mean, you don’t have the letter?” I shriek as she gets the cast on her foot set. The doctor looks up at me. “Sorry,” I say to him and then turn back to glare at Tiff.
“I’m saying I had the letter in my back pocket, and now it’s not there,” she tells me, and I pace in the middle of the hospital room. “Relax.”