Total pages in book: 92
Estimated words: 89303 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 447(@200wpm)___ 357(@250wpm)___ 298(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 89303 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 447(@200wpm)___ 357(@250wpm)___ 298(@300wpm)
I watched him walk away for a moment, surprised he didn’t ask me about Zach, and then I continued on my way.
Nine
Sicily
Can you just tell me why? Zach’s message lit up my phone.
I was in my little office next door to Dex’s at Kline Clinic. He was in his lab down the hallway, and he had a couple meetings throughout the day. His research project was still in its infancy, but he’d applied for clinical trials since you had to do that so far ahead of time. I was scanning all of his work and formatting it into digital folders, so he could pull it up wherever he was without having to haul a big bag of papers everywhere. Does it really matter?
What I liked most about Zach was how laid-back he was, how he could flirt without being sleazy, how he was just generally in a good mood and took nothing seriously. It was just easy with him. But all of those qualities couldn’t outshine the big flaw he had.
If it didn’t matter, would I be asking you?
The only reason I didn’t tell him was because I didn’t want to hurt his feelings. Maybe he wasn’t right for me, but some other woman would love how ambitious and aggressive he was about accumulating wealth. In fact, most women would like it. But knowing my family lost their savings to pay for my surgery made me realize money was the root of all evil, a tool to keep people oppressed, to control everything in this world. If Dex had been there, my family wouldn’t have lost everything they worked so hard for just to save my life. You care too much about money. There, I said it. It was done.
The dots didn’t appear.
I hoped I didn’t offend him, but he was the one who pressed for the truth when I’d tried to spare his feelings. I was as diplomatic as possible, wanting to be friends and on good terms, which was true.
But then he called me.
I let out a loud groan when I saw his name on my screen. I answered. “Zach, you asked.”
“I know, I know. I appreciate your honesty. But…I guess I’m confused.”
Did he think he wasn’t obsessed with money?
“I thought you would like that. All women like that.”
“Well, I don’t.” I looked down at my desk as I kept the phone to my ear.
“Interesting… Maybe that’s why I actually like you.” He seemed to be saying the words out loud more to himself, not to me. “I didn’t even realize it. So, can I ask why you feel that way?”
“Why I don’t care for money?”
“Yeah.”
“I just don’t think it makes anyone happy. I think happiness comes from doing selfless and good things for other people. Sure, money is great and everything, but really, would you be happier as a trillionaire than a billionaire?”
He was silent.
“I just… I need someone who’s motivated by more than money, I guess.”
He released a quiet sigh over the phone. “So, if I gave a bunch of money to charity, would you go out with me again?”
I chuckled, thinking it was a joke.
“I’m serious.”
“Zach, I’m sorry.” That thing I needed in a relationship wasn’t there, and I didn’t want to spend any more time on this if it wasn’t going to go anywhere.
He finally let it go. “Alright, sweetheart. Hope to see you around.”
“Yeah, I’m at the Trinity Building pretty often.”
“Great. So, I can still see that smile…and ass.” He chuckled then hung up.
I set the phone back on the desk then looked up.
Dex was standing in the doorway, wearing his white lab coat, holding a couple papers in his hand.
How long had he been standing there?
“Can I come in?” He stepped inside without waiting for a response.
When he handed me his papers, I looked over them.
“You can file that into my results for today. Not exactly promising, but I’ve got a lot of tweaks to make. I just try to remember that Thomas Edison attempted to create electricity over two hundred times before he got it right, so…” His short hair was a little messy, like he’d been running his fingers through it while hunched over one of the tables. His lab coat was open, showing his shirt and jeans underneath.
“I’ll get these scanned and into the system. Your lunch is on your desk.”
He crossed his arms over his chest and gave a slight nod.
I moved to the scanner and placed the first paper facedown before I started the scan.
He continued to stand there.
I turned around and regarded him, the machine making audible sounds behind me. “Anything else you needed?”
“I heard a bit of your conversation.”
“Oh.” I returned to my seat in the chair, unsure what he expected me to say about it. I was certain Daisy had already told him what I told her.