Total pages in book: 40
Estimated words: 37636 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 188(@200wpm)___ 151(@250wpm)___ 125(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 37636 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 188(@200wpm)___ 151(@250wpm)___ 125(@300wpm)
But a dream was all it would ever amount to, or so her practical personality had assumed...until Ethan himself, along with Aidan, showed up on her doorstep, asking to meet her parents.
Anah had been nervous at the start. Her parents were simple folks, content with their books and quiet way of life. But she now knew how badly she had underestimated Aidan's powers of persuasion and how lethal Ethan's charm was when he used it to his advantage. By the time both brothers left, they had her parents convinced they were doing the most honorable thing by working for the Blackwood family.
It had been eight months since then, and the Blackwoods had yet to stop waving their magic wand. Her parents both had jobs that they absolutely loved, and it came with perks that Anah personally believed the school board could only afford because of an "anonymous" donation. Whoever heard of newly-hired professors being gifted with one Tesla each, ownership of a house and lot, and a reinvested retirement fund plan that would earn them millions in the long run?
Her parents were practically swimming with money these days, so much so that they had forbidden Anah to work part-time after school and given her a weekly allowance so she could finally enjoy "being her age."
Indeed, her life nowadays was a fairy tale in all ways but one, and the missing component happened to be the most important of all: her Prince Charming...AKA the guy who just had her iPhone light up with a new text message.
Anah fought to keep her face expressionless as she tapped the screen of her iPhone.
Ethan: I've got some free time today. I can pick you up after school, we can go for a ride then dinner?
Anah: I'll be waiting. :)
After hitting Send, she quickly flipped her iPhone with the screen facedown as she placed it back on the table. She then resumed eating - lunch today was cheesy cauliflower salad with crispy chicken fillet - even as she mentally crossed her fingers over her little texting session going unnoticed.
Unfortunately, her wish wasn't to be granted, with Anah hearing her friend say, "You are such a FAKE."
Despite herself, Anah couldn't help laughing even as it almost had her choking on her salad.
Ember watched in amusement as Anah quickly took a gulp of her cucumber juice.
"It's Mr. Blackwood again, isn't it?" This only had her friend shrugging, but Ember wasn't buying it. "Yeah, it totally is."
Anah made a face. "I just...it's not..." Argh. She rarely had a problem articulating her words, but she always ended up tripping over her tongue where Ethan was concerned. Taking a deep breath, Anah gave it another try. "How I feel isn't important. Eth - I mean, Mr. Blackwood—-" Anah corrected herself hastily even as Ember started to snicker. "He just thinks of me as his little sister, that's it."
"Uh huh." Ember still remembered the first time Ethan Blackwood had come to their high school, looking ruggedly gorgeous in his plaid shirt, jeans, and riding boots. He had a white Stetson that time, too, and with his back against the side of his pick-up and muscular arms crossed over his chest, the man looked as if he was posing for the cowboy edition of People's Sexiest Man Alive. It certainly had captured everyone's attention, with the entire town practically coming to a standstill as they had waited with bated breath to see who it was he had been waiting for.
And when Anah had finally come out, and Ethan had laughingly swung her up in his arms despite her blushing protests...
The memory made Ember smile, and when she reminded Anah of this, she was delighted with the way her friend immediately turned red. "You are so adorably modest, little Anah."
Anah groaned. "Stop calling me that."
"How mean." Ember feigned a look of hurt. "Are you saying Mr. Blackwood is the only one allowed to call you that?"
Anah nearly groaned even as she felt her cheeks turning red with guilt. If only it were someone else - anyone but Ember - who had heard Ethan call her that!
Anah tried changing the subject by asking Ember about their history homework, but Ember being Ember, the other girl instead took evil pleasure in enumerating the reasons she was largely convinced Ethan was interested in her.
'He used to be really friendly and approachable, but "the break up" changed it.'
Although Ember didn't quite go as far as actually making quotation marks in the air, Anah could easily imagine it nonetheless. It was in the way everyone in town spoke of it and made the incident seem like this shamefully appalling local tragedy that everyone couldn't forget.
'Then you came along, and it's like getting the old Ethan back!'
Anah always had to work hard against being swayed by this particular line of argument. After all, it could simply be coincidence, and Anah only happened to meet Ethan just when he was ready to move on.