Total pages in book: 105
Estimated words: 99494 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 497(@200wpm)___ 398(@250wpm)___ 332(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 99494 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 497(@200wpm)___ 398(@250wpm)___ 332(@300wpm)
Her attention moves to Holly, the smile she had when she stepped into my office a few minutes ago is long gone. “Shouldn’t you be at the front desk?”
“Sorry, yes.” Holly gets up from my chair and sends me a look that says, “Eek!” before she disappears out the door.
When Julie’s attention comes back to me, I brace for her next words.
“I know you just started, Olivia, so FYI, we really try to keep this place a gossip and drama-free space.”
“Of course,” I whisper, feeling like a scolded child who’s done something wrong even though I wasn’t the one who was gossiping.
“I’m leaving for the day. Eva will be in this afternoon.” Her eyes wander over me before she turns and walks out of my office without a goodbye.
Feeling frustrated and maybe even a little angry, I walk over to my desk and take a seat, wiggling my mouse to bring my screen to life. Then, I click on my next client’s profile to go over her information.
“Was that totally awkward, or is it just me?” Holly asks, poking her head into my office a minute after I hear the bell for the front door ding.
“It was definitely awkward.” I meet her gaze.
“Maybe she needs to join that Bax Mayson Support Group in town.”
“The what?” I laugh.
“Apparently, there is a group of women who get together once a month for drinks and to share their woes after he’s dumped them.”
My lips part in disbelief. “You’re not serious.”
“Oh, I’m very serious.”
“There is a support group for women Bax has dated?”
“Yeah, so he’s either that good… or that bad.” Her grin is sly. “I bet it’s because he’s that good.”
“Holly!” I scold.
“What? I’ve seen him mowing his lawn shirtless, and that guy is hooot.” She is not wrong about that. “There is no way God would create a specimen as good-looking as he is, then not give him the knowledge to use that equipment properly.”
“Get out of my office.” I laugh while pointing at the door, and she giggles, then sobers, her expression turning serious.
“Don’t worry about Julie. Even Eva is constantly having issues with her, and they co-own this place together.”
“Thanks,” I say softly, and she nods before looking around the edge of my door when the bell goes off, telling us someone is here.
“I think that’s your one o’clock. Do you need a few minutes?”
“Yeah, I’ll be out in just a moment. Can you offer her something to drink?”
“Of course.” She smiles before grabbing the handle of my door and pulling it closed behind her.
Dragging in a breath, I then let it out slowly, attempting to put Julie, Bax’s support group, and everything that just happened out of my head.
I have a job to do, and even if things don’t work out for me when it comes to staying at this practice, I still need to build up my clientele list.
Sitting in the middle of Kourtney’s living room, surrounded by towers of boxes and piles of stuff, I wonder what the hell I was thinking when I decided to take Rebecca’s suggestion and have a company pack my apartment for me instead of doing it all myself. I mean, sure, everything is wrapped securely, and each box was obviously packed with care. But there is bathroom stuff in with bedroom stuff and kitchen stuff in random boxes of clothes, so my plan to just put the boxes for the kitchen and my living room aside to take them to storage has been foiled. Now, I need to go through everything.
When someone knocks, I look at the door, then the clock on the wall. It’s a little after six. Not very late, but still, I’m not expecting anyone. With a quiet groan, I get up from where I’ve been sitting for the past couple of hours and make my way across the room, trying not to trip over the piles of my stuff lying here and there. Thank goodness Kourtney won’t be home for a couple more weeks. I have a feeling if she saw the mess I’ve made of her living room, she would second-guess asking me to move in with her.
When I reach the door, I pull it open just enough to look out, and my insides instantly twist into a nervous knot when I come face-to-face with Bax, who is thankfully fully clothed. Not that he would be outside, wandering around shirtless on a cold October night.
“Uh… hey.” My eyes leave him when the door is jolted toward me, and I look down to find Gemma shoving her head through the small crack so she can greet me. Opening the door for her, I laugh as she bounces at my feet before falling to her back for a belly rub.
“I wanted to bring this back to you,” Bax says, and I look up at him from where I’m now squatting next to his pup. Darn, from this angle, he’s even better-looking, which seemed impossible before now. But then again, from down here, I get the full effect of his sharp jawline.