The Hating Season Read online K.A. Linde

Categories Genre: Angst, Billionaire, Contemporary, Romance Tags Authors:
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Total pages in book: 99
Estimated words: 96802 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 484(@200wpm)___ 387(@250wpm)___ 323(@300wpm)
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“You were together for five years.”

“Yes. I don’t want to be with him. I don’t even want to see him.” A small smile crossed my lips. “But I wouldn’t mind seeing him grovel.”

Lark howled with laughter. “I love you, Anna English.”

I waved my hand at her. “So, I just have to get through November and then this divorce. I’ve been doing some extra work for Winnie here in New York.”

“You have?”

“When her clients are in town or they have a breakdown, I’ll go and handle it. It might be nice to have a permanent person here to do that for Poise. I could take on a few more clients. Figure it out.”

“Or… you could start your own agency,” Lark suggested.

I laughed. “Do you know how hard it is to start your own PR firm in New York City? Without an established name?”

“But you do have an established name.”

“Not in New York. Just in LA. And still, I’ve had Poise behind me the whole time.” I shook my head. “That’s like a long-term, twenty-years-from-now goal. Not anytime soon.”

“Just throwing it out there,” Lark said.

“Anyway, you haven’t told me how the Hamptons went last weekend.”

Lark cringed. “Well, it was interesting. Natalie and Katherine came to a truce, but I think they still want to claw each other’s faces off. It’s weird to me that Penn just came home, married, without telling all of us.”

“Yeah. I can’t believe you didn’t know.”

“Me either. We’ve known each other our whole lives.” She shrugged. “Not that I could have gone to the ceremony or anything with the campaign. But it’s crazy. And now, Leslie is throwing a reception for them. You’re coming next weekend, right?”

“Wouldn’t miss it,” I told her. “I got the invitation yesterday actually.”

“A bit of short notice. But it’s mostly for locals anyway,” Lark said. “Well, it’s mostly for Leslie. I doubt Penn and Natalie had much say in the matter.”

“That sounds fun.”

“Now that I think about it, I don’t blame them for eloping. If I were marrying a Kensington, I’d want to elope, too.”

I snorted. “Was there any fear of you marrying a Kensington?”

Lark shrugged and took another sip of her water. “Like, in high school maybe. But… probably not. That was a different Lark.”

“Bad Lark,” I said with a wink.

“Exactly. Anyway, I heard that your Labor Day was about as fun as mine.”

“Oh, yeah?” I asked softly. Because… my Labor Day weekend had been a hell of a lot better than dealing with friendship drama. Until it had all hit a wall, going seventy miles per hour.

“Robert said that you went to his party with Court.”

“Ah. Yeah, I did. Everyone else was gone. We were celebrating.”

Lark leaned on her elbow. “That must have been awkward, considering he’s your client.”

I swallowed and glanced down at my half-eaten pad thai. “Yeah, well, he’s Court.”

“Well, he probably found some easy ass and ditched you anyway,” Lark said with a wave of her hand. “His MO.”

“Is it?” I asked carefully. “Is that the kind of guy he is?”

“Pretty much. Why? You’ve been working with him since May. Shouldn’t you know?”

“I don’t know. He just told me that he’d never cheated on Jane.”

Lark laughed, and then it slowly evaporated when she saw I was serious. “Really? I didn’t think he had that in him.”

“Was he always sleeping around before Jane?”

“Yeah. For sure. He’s not, like… a bad guy or anything. It’s easy for him to attract women. They flock to Kensington men.”

“Or just men with money.”

Lark pointed her fork at me. “That, too.”

“I just thought he was a playboy. Everything that I’d read about him when I did research for this job showed me to expect him to act just like any of my other rock star or movie star clients.”

“But presumably… he hasn’t?” Lark guessed.

I shook my head. “Nope.”

“Well, that’s good for you at least. You don’t have to deal with his attitude as well as kicking women out of his bed.”

I flinched at the phrasing. “You’re right. It’s just surprising.”

“Those Kensington men are full of surprises. That’s for sure.” Lark pushed her bowl away. “Okay, I have to get back to work. So much left to do.”

“Of course. I’m glad we got this lunch. Even if it was quick.” I stood and pulled her in for a hug. “What are you wearing for the reception? I think we need to go shopping.”

Lark cringed. “Ugh! I already promised my mother that I’d go shopping with her. You could come along.”

“God forbid I interfere with your mother-daughter bonding.”

“Stop,” Lark said, making a face. “I can’t.”

“Hey, it’s good for you. I’ll find a dress on my own.”

“Good luck. Wish we were going together,” Lark said before waving good-bye and drifting out of the restaurant.

I was thinking about where exactly to go to find a dress for the reception when a text came in. I bit my lip, hoping it wasn’t Josh begging to go to counseling again. I could only handle so much. But I was surprised that it was from Taylor.


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