Total pages in book: 90
Estimated words: 84982 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 425(@200wpm)___ 340(@250wpm)___ 283(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 84982 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 425(@200wpm)___ 340(@250wpm)___ 283(@300wpm)
After today, Esther might want to hide from me for a while.
She was beaming like an idiot when we arrived at the booth. I’d have prepared a table with chairs so I wasn’t stuck so close to Haines, but leave it to Esther to get a booth. I should have gotten here first. My sitting in the parking lot, trying to think of a way to get out of this, had been wasted time. Now, I had to sit in the damn booth.
Haines motioned for me to go in first, and forcing a smile, I shook my head.
“I don’t like booths. Being stuck inside makes me anxious,” I lied.
I could feel Esther’s gaze on me, and I knew she was looking at me like I’d gone crazy. Not once in our life had I said anything about getting in a booth first. But if I was on the outside, I could leave without having to wait for him to move, and I could keep some distance between us.
He nodded, giving me an odd look, and I shrugged, still smiling. Haines slid into the booth, and I followed, only to stay near the end. I refused to make eye contact with Esther. She’d made me do this, but she couldn’t make me like it.
“So,” Esther said, drawing out the word, “we all four finally got together. With Capri working all the time, it’s been a struggle.”
“You’re riding for the Shephards in the Belmont Derby Invitational,” Jaiden said, sounding almost excited about it.
I knew he kept up with horse racing some. He was the reason that Esther had even watched some of the races I’d ridden in.
Since this entire lunch wasn’t his fault, I turned to him and nodded. “Yes. Riding for them is thrilling and nerve-racking.”
He grinned. “I bet. They’re one of the best. That’s got to be some pressure.”
“Yeah,” I agreed. “But riding on one of the best does have its perks. In the past, I rode horses that weren’t considered winners. Their owners had hopes, of course, but they never expected them to actually win.”
“I’ve heard great things about Bloodline,” Jaiden told me.
“Okay, let’s talk about something not so boring,” Esther chimed in, and I cut my eyes at her. She was looking at Haines though, not me. “How’s the dentist life?” she asked.
I might throw my fork at her. Why would she ask him that? She knew that man loved to talk about himself and teeth.
Without hesitation, he began to prattle off about his office and some new slide they had put into the waiting area for kids and how he might as well become a pediatric dentist because he had so many children now. I listened as Esther laughed and said it was the hot dentist that was bringing in all the mommas. Haines chuckled, and I wanted to roll my eyes. Not that it wasn’t true because, well, he was nice to look at, but because he was vain enough to agree with her.
He began telling some story of a mom who had dressed up in a miniskirt and heels last week to bring her kid in for a checkup. I zoned out and let my gaze scan the rest of the place. I recognized two of my mother’s friends, and they were looking this way, smiling as if they had the best gossip in town. Fantastic. Not only did I have to eat with this man, but the whole town would know about it and think there was a future here.
If my momma didn’t show up on my doorstep later this afternoon, demanding details, I would be shocked. I needed to go to the gym anyway; perhaps I should go on a long run too. That should keep me away from the house long enough. Her calls I could avoid.
“Capri,” Esther said with a hint of frustration.
Had she been trying to get my attention? Oops.
“Yeah?” I asked, looking back at her.
“What day do you leave again, and when do you get back?” she asked in that tone that said she was repeating herself and annoyed.
“Wednesday and back Sunday,” I told her.
“What time on Sunday?” she pressed.
What had I missed? Was there something happening she was trying to get me to go to with the three of them? I should have paid more attention.
I shrugged. “I don’t know.”
She gave me a pointed look that reminded me of my mother. “What time is your flight?”
“Whenever they want it to be. They have their own plane. I’m not flying commercial,” I told her.
Jaiden let out a low whistle. “Damn, you are getting there on the Shephards’ jet? I want to be you when I grow up.”
I rolled my eyes but did smile as I picked up the water the server had brought and took a sip. I was kind of excited about that too. I’d never flown on anything but commercial, and that came to a total of two different events.