Total pages in book: 92
Estimated words: 86710 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 434(@200wpm)___ 347(@250wpm)___ 289(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 86710 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 434(@200wpm)___ 347(@250wpm)___ 289(@300wpm)
“I know. I just never thought that I’d be lucky enough to meet my soul mate so soon.” I brush my lips against his.
“I’d given up,” Jace says with a chuckle. “But when you first walked into my office I knew something was different about you. I made the decision to hire you the moment you spoke.”
I laugh. “Really? Because that’s not how I remember it. Your eyes were on my legs.” I’ll never forget the hunger that was reflected in Jace’s eyes as he looked me over that day.
He laughs. “I was hoping you hadn’t noticed that.”
I kiss him again. I want this moment to never end.
Chapter 35: Olivia
It's a normal busy morning with back-to-back appointments, which ease up at eleven. I serve Jace a cup of coffee and get a kiss as a thank you.
"I'm going to miss this next week," Jace says.
"Don't kiss Sarah thinking that it's me," I tease but when I leave his office, I have tears in my eyes.
I sit at my desk and check my phone for messages. The cowardly side of me is hoping that Ivy will cancel our lunch meeting. There's nothing from her but a message from Chris comes in as I'm perusing my phone. I click on it with a smile on my face. He must be close to going on tour now if I remember my dates correctly.
Chris: Hey you. I'm downstairs in the hospital cafeteria. Rose makes an awesome cup of coffee.
I let out a cry. What? Chris is downstairs? I grin. He's an idiot. What could he possibly be doing here? I get up and go to Jace's office.
"I’m going to run downstairs to the cafe if you don't mind. Chris is here," I tell him.
Jace looks at me quizzically. "Oh. Were you supposed to meet?"
"No, it's a surprise," I tell him. "I won't be long." I blow him a kiss and head downstairs.
I see Chris's sandy hair as soon as I enter the cafe. He's seated in one corner nursing a mug of coffee. I go to the counter and get my own coffee before joining him. He stands up when he sees me and envelops me in a hug.
"Let me put my coffee down first," I say with a laugh. I set my coffee on the table and hug him back.
"I've missed my sidekick," Chris says, hugging me tight.
"I've missed you too." We sit down. "What are you doing here?"
He shrugs. "I found myself with a little time on my hands and as we're leaving the day after tomorrow, I thought I'd come and say goodbye."
Unexpected tears jump into my eyes. Chris has been a constant in life and even though he'll be a phone call away, it's not the same as having him near.
"Hey, are you crying?" he says. "Don't. We'll be talking all the time, you know that."
"I'm just being silly." A nervous laugh escapes my mouth. "It's been an emotional week and your leaving just added to it." I take a sip of coffee.
"This is your last week here, right?" Chris says.
Chris is special that way. He keeps dates and remembers everything I tell him.
"Yes. My last day is on Friday and Sarah starts back on Monday." I'm sad to leave but there's a part of me that is relieved that I’ll go back to my own life and I won't have to keep lying. It's more exhausting than I thought it would be. The only downside is Jace.
"The article comes out on Friday as well," I tell him. I hadn't told Chris about my meeting with Ivy and I do now.
"Jeez, Livia, your life is like a soap opera. Are you sure you want to do that?"
"I have to. She was so kind to me, and she deserves to know why. It's the least I can do. I don't want her to think that I used her or that I was dishonest."
"Isn't Jace the one you should be worrying about the most?" Chris says.
"I am. But anything I tell him right now will lead to him hating me. I want to postpone that for as long as possible.”
Chris nods. “This is tough. I wish I hadn’t encouraged you to have an affair with Jace. I should have known you’d fall for him.”
"He proposed," I tell Chris.
Chris's mouth drops open. If this whole thing wasn't so distressing for me, I'd have laughed.
"Are you serious? He fell in love with you. What did you say?”
“I said yes.”
“Oh, my God." Chris just stared at me, speechless.
"You don't think there's a chance that Jace will understand that this was work and I couldn't tell him that I was undercover?"
"Would you understand?" Chris says quietly.
I shake my head. I'm being naive even by asking that question. I was investigating his beloved clinic. That is something that he will never forgive.