Total pages in book: 84
Estimated words: 78011 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 390(@200wpm)___ 312(@250wpm)___ 260(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 78011 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 390(@200wpm)___ 312(@250wpm)___ 260(@300wpm)
“That’s so nice of you,” Lauren says, and I look at her now as she reaches out to take the box from me. “Are you going to come in and help us eat this?”
“No.” I smile at her and shake my head. “I just wanted to see if you needed anything.” I want to add that he looks like he has everything he needs from Lauren, but I swallow that down. “I’m on my way to the office. Do you want me to pick up Aiden?” I ask him.
“No, I’m going to do it,” he tells me, and I just nod at him. Turning to walk down the stairs, I never turn back but hear the door shut softly.
I don’t even realize that my hands are shaking until I get back in the car and take the keys out.
“Stupid, stupid, stupid,” I chant all the way to work. Slamming my door and walking into the ground office. “Good morning.” I smile at Yvonne, the receptionist.
I walk to my desk, putting my bags on my desk with more force than I want to. “Whoa,” Troy says, walking into the big cubicle with a coffee in his hand. “Someone must have pissed off mama bear in the drop-off zone.”
“How did you know I was upset?” I ask him, taking off my blazer and hanging it on the back of my chair. I wasn’t supposed to come into the office today, but I didn’t want to stay home and be tempted to look out the window to see if and when Lauren left. Or better yet, go outside and hear sex noises coming from Luca’s house.
“Honey,” he says, sitting in his chair and turning it to face me, “it’s radiating off you. It’s almost like that glow after sex, but the opposite.”
“I’m not that upset,” I tell him, sitting in my chair and grabbing my things out of the bag. “Come to think of it, I’m more”—I start snapping my fingers, trying to come up with a name for it—“annoyed. That’s the word I was going for.”
He leans back, grabbing his cup and smiles. “And what annoyed you this early Wednesday morning? Is it the moms at school? I saw the movie Bad Moms; it’s brutal. Those PTA bitches are cutthroat.”
“No, it’s not the PTA moms,” I tell him. “Actually, I should look into that and see if I could join. You know, be a hands-on mom.”
He smiles at me. “You didn’t see Bad Moms?” I shake my head. “Trust me, you don’t want to be in that club. They don’t even let their kids eat gluten or dairy; it is harsh.”
“Noted, stay away from the PTA moms.” I smile at him and then make a note to watch Bad Moms.
“Yes.” He nods. “Now what set you off?”
“I live next door to Aiden’s father,” I start saying.
“Oh, baby daddy drama. Love it,” he sings the last part while he sits up smiling like he just caught Santa coming down the chimney.
“Anyway, he was in the hospital last night, and this morning I brought him doughnuts,” I tell him, leaving out what he looked like last night.
“Oh, no,” he says, his smile fading.
“His assistant was there. Smiling,” I say, irritated or annoyed or whatever word you want to use. “She answered his door like it was her house.” Okay, maybe she didn’t do that, but still, who answers someone else’s door?
“Oh, you’re jealous,” he says, sipping his coffee. “Now it all makes sense.”
I glare at him. “I’m not jealous. I’m just …” I close my eyes. “I was just not expecting it. Or maybe I was stupid to think that he was actually single.”
“Oh, honey,” he says, coming close to grab my hand and squeeze it. “The good ones never stay single. You need to bring down his stocks.”
“What?” I ask him, confused.
He laughs. “His stocks are now high,” he says, motioning with his hand to his head. “Good looking.” I nod my head. “Good in bed.”
“I mean, it’s been seven years, but yes,” I reply to his question.
“Good body?” Again, I nod my head. “Good job?” I continue nodding. “See, his stocks are skyrocketing through the roof. He’s a good catch.” He leans in, and his voice goes quiet. “Now you need to lower those stocks.” He smirks almost like it’s evil. “Make him less available to have fun and more I’m spending time with my baby mama.”
“I can’t do that,” I tell him. “I can’t use Aiden like a pawn.”
He throws up his hands. “Okay, fine. Let’s table this discussion until Friday. Meanwhile, I think Friday we should go to the spa,” he says, and my eyebrows pinch together. “It’s kind of like a half day around here on Friday, so we come in, and at lunch time, we hit the spa.”
“That sounds like so much fun,” I admit. “It’s a date. Plus, Luca has Aiden on Friday, so it works great.”