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PIPER

Piper,

I’ve actually never written a letter before, so please excuse my less-than-stellar handwriting. I probably don’t have nearly as much to talk about as you. Then again, you have practice, having read all those novels where they wrote letters back and forth all the time.

My leg is healing fine. Thank you for asking.

Other than the fact that it itches like crazy under the cast and gets in my way all the time, I’m doing just fine.

However, I got a surprise the day after I returned home.

My mom showed up at the house to “take care of me.” She hasn’t left yet and she’s driving me crazy.

The last thing I need is my mother getting in the way when I want to bring a woman home.

Not that I have.

I probably shouldn’t have put that. Not that you care. You know, this isn’t really going how I thought it would. I’m going to end this here before I really stick my foot in my mouth.

Patrick

I couldn’t believe he actually wrote me back.

I loved it. I had actually gotten my ID and paperwork not long after I sent that first letter, but this was so much fun.

Sure, texting was good too, but this put some distance between us that I greatly needed at the moment.

If I texted him, I might find myself waiting on pins and needles for a response, and that would only make it harder to cure my broken heart.

I stuffed the letter back in my purse just as I was called back to my next interview.

I had gone everywhere else before deciding to interview at the dentist. The smell made me nauseous and the whirring noise felt like nails on a chalkboard, but I was determined to go through with this. I needed a job, after all.

“Hello, Ms. Monroe,” the woman said as she took a seat behind the desk. “I’m Dr. Lipska. I see you’ve been a secretary before.”

“Administrative assistant,” I corrected, earning me a not-impressed raised eyebrow. “Yes, a secretary.”

“Right. I wasn’t able to get a reference from your last employer. He said you left on bad terms and he wasn’t able to give you a recommendation at the time. Would you care to explain?”

God, I knew this might happen, but I had been hoping it wouldn’t. “Um…it was just one of those things that you want to forget.”

I hoped that would appease her, but she just stared at me.

“Well—” There was no good way to say it, and I really didn’t want her to get the wrong impression of me. I had to make something up. “Our personalities clashed. It was no longer a good fit.”

Her lips pursed as she closed the folder. “I think it’s best if we end this interview now. I don’t see how I can hire you without a recommendation.”

She started to stand, but I was desperate.

I needed a job, so I blurted out the story.

“I was engaged to my boss!” She stopped and slowly sat down, interested now.

“I was the typical secretary who fell in love with my boss. Cliché, I know. But we really were in love, and I never did anything with him at work. It was wonderful. I even got engaged,” I said, holding up my ring finger.

“And then the next morning, I walked into the office and everyone was giving me these looks. I didn’t see it coming.

I walked right into the conference room and found him screwing another woman on the desk.

His old girlfriend. And I was so stupid because he went to London once a month, and it never crossed my mind that he would cheat on me because he loved me.

And then I quit and destroyed his apartment and rubbed insulation into his clothes. ”

Her eyebrows lifted in surprise at my outburst. “Is that it?”

I started to nod, but then shook my head.

“No, I went back because I was missing some of my things, and he said he wanted me back. I knew I could never take him back, but he was crying, which should have been my first clue. And then I realized the only reason he wanted me back was because his life was a mess without someone to organize it for him. I started to leave and he grabbed me, so I?—”

She looked at me expectantly.

I winced and finished the story. “I slapped him. So…that’s the story.”

She nodded slowly, closing the folder. That was it. I was sunk. I stood with a sigh and slung my purse over my shoulder. “I’ll just be going now.”

“Not so fast.”

I turned and faced her, wondering if she was going to call the police on me. But instead, she grinned and held out her hand. “You’re hired.”

“Really?” I was shocked. So completely stupified that she was actually hiring me. “Why? I mean, I don’t want to jinx it, but why?”

“Girl, there really should be more women who take revenge on their cheating exes by rubbing insulation in their clothes.” She laughed as she waved her hand at me to follow. “I’ll have to remember that one.”

“So…that’s it?” I asked, hurrying along behind her. “You’re really hiring me?”

“Well, unless you plan on sleeping with the boss? But that’s me and I’m not gay.”

“Definitely not. I’ve learned my lesson and will never sleep with anyone I work with again.”

“Good, that’s all I needed to hear. Now, let me introduce you to Leo. He’s the other dentist in the office.”

I let out a sigh of relief and for the first time in a long time, I felt excited for work. That is, until she opened the door to his office and I set eyes on my other new boss. Handsome smile, dimples, puppy dog eyes, and silky hair that brushed his ears in the cutest way.

And his muscles. Lord, did he have muscles. He stood and slung his lab coat around his back, covering up those gorgeous arms. The beginnings of a dentist/secretary romance novel played out before me. “Hello, I’m Leo Webster. You must be our new hire.”

I whimpered under my breath, but bit it back. I was so screwed. “Piper. Monroe,” I finished lamely. “Happy to serve.”

Dr. Lipska’s gaz? snapped to mine, so I schooled my features and pretended to be unaffected by the man’s good looks. I would not sleep with my boss. I would not sleep with my boss. I would not sleep with my boss.

His hand wrapped around mine in a gentle squeeze, and then he leaned forward and brushed a kiss over my cheek. I whimpered again, my knees nearly collapsing, and then Dr. Lipska spoke.

“You’re fired.”

That was the shortest job I ever had.

I strode through the door of Jeanie’s apartment and tossed my purse on the table in a huff. Jeanie was already watching me warily, probably guessing that by my mood, things hadn’t gone well.

“So, you didn’t get the job?”

“Oh, I got the job,” I grumbled, walking over to the fridge and grabbing the bottle of Moscato I’d purchased to celebrate any potential new jobs.

I angrily tore the wrap off the top, then took the wine opener to the cork, stabbing it inside before angrily pumping the plunger over and over until the cork popped up.

I didn’t even bother with a wine glass. What was the point?

Holding it to my lips, I let the sweet wine pour down my throat, not stopping until the flavor became too much.

The bottle thunked on the counter with just a little too much force, but I had zero shits to give at the moment.

Wiping my mouth with the back of my hand, I finally met Jeanie’s wide-eyed gaze.

“He’s a freaking model!”

“The dentist?”

I nodded, taking another swig of wine. “Beautiful eyes, buff arms…he freaking kissed my cheek! And that was all it took. I was fired two minutes after I was hired.”

“She fired you because the doctor kissed your cheek?” Jeanie asked in confusion.

“Oh,” I chuckled humorlessly. “Stupid me thought it would be wise to tell her about my relationship with James. I didn’t see another way. She wouldn’t let up on the fact that I had no reference. And you know what? For a minute, she was actually sympathetic. Everything was going great!”

“And then he kissed you on the cheek.”

“And then he kissed me on the cheek,” I repeated, taking another drink of wine. “Seriously, how is it my fault that the man is so freaking handsome?”

“It’s not.”

“And is it my fault that my ovaries nearly exploded when he kissed my cheek?”

“A sound reaction from any child-bearing woman.”

“Exactly! I can’t control this shit,” I said, waving at the lower half of my body. “Women were made to reproduce. A hot man walks by and a woman’s body has no choice but to scream out Take me! I’m fertile! ”

“Well, that’s not entirely true,” Jeanie winced.

I slapped my hand on the counter, angered by the situation.

“I mean, the guy was like a Norse God! I mean, maybe not. Maybe he was only a sort of God. But he had these amazing puppy dog eyes and the cut of his face…Ugh! So freaking handsome. Like, why couldn’t he have been a random stranger on the street? ”

“Because it would be weird if you got fired for ogling a random stranger on the street,” she concurred.

“Exactly. My body failed me! I swear, she could scent me!”

Jeanie’s eyes squinted in confusion. “Scent you?”

“It’s a shifter thing,” I said, blowing off the comment.

“I’m sorry, but you’re going to have to explain.”

This required another swig of wine. “In a shifter romance, a wolf can smell everything about you—when you’re horny, when you’re scared—it’s so damn sexy. And when he sees you, he just knows. There’s this thing that clicks in place and he knows you’re his mate.”

“Ugh, give me that,” she said, snatching the bottle out of my hand and taking her own swig. “Why can’t a man do that to me? Why do I have to go through all the dating crap?”

“Right? Why can’t a man walk up to me, sniff me, and know that I’m his mate? I mean, of course, he needs to be insanely hot, ripped, and have dimples.”

“Of course. He can’t be a troll.”

I agreed, but shrugged. “There are romances about trolls. At this point, I might take one just to run off and live in a magical kingdom.”

“I’m not willing to go quite that far.”

Sighing, I rested my elbow on the counter and plopped my chin into my hand. “It’s just not fair. All of these amazing men in books, and there’s not a single one out there for me!”

“Well, you had one, but then you came back here.”

Confused, I took another drink. “I didn’t have one.”

“Uh…hello? Patrick?”

I snorted at that. “Amazing sex, insanely hot, never gonna commit,” I ticked off on my fingers.

“Besides, do you see this?” I asked, drawing a big imaginary circle around my face.

“Flashing sign above my forehead that says recently out of a relationship. In what world would a man like that look at me and say, Man, I want a piece of that? ”

“Very true, but still, I think you had him.”

“Had, being the operative word.” I sighed again, thinking back to all the amazing sex we had in such a short time. “He really was the perfect male specimen. I mean, aside from never wanting a relationship.”

“Aside from that,” Jeanie agreed, taking another swig of the wine. “So, what are you going to do now?”

“Tonight? Drown my sorrows. Tomorrow? Find another job. Hell, I could be one of those hot dog vendors.”

“On the streets?” she asked, her nose wrinkling in disgust.

“Hey! Everyone loves those hot dogs!”

“You’d have to stand out there all day.”

“I love nature.”

“You wouldn’t be in nature. You’d be amongst the most temperamental New Yorkers, and they’d all push and shove.”

“I need to be one with the people,” I argued. “Feel the heartbeat of the city again.”

“They’re rude and judgmental!”

“They’re just testy after a long day, and nobody likes dealing with tourists!”

“The hot dog water is probably disgusting!”

“I still love it.”

“And you’d probably get stolen from.”

“I can get a taser.”

“You’d have to be in the freezing weather!”

“It’s not winter!”

“Then you’d melt on the sidewalk!”

“I can get a cooling fan to wrap around my neck.”

“Which someone will steal from you.”

“Do you have an argument for everything?” I asked.

“When it comes to you deciding to take an insane job as a hot dog vendor? Yes!”

“Well, I have to do something. I can’t just live out my life as a hermit on your couch.”

“I would rather you do that than come home smelling like hot dogs,” she countered.

Sighing, I took another swig of wine. “Fine. I won’t become a hot dog vendor.”

“Thank you.”

“But I do have to find a job.”

“Then find a normal one. Preferably one where you won’t have to contend with hot men, hot dogs, or the weather.”

“You know, you’re awfully picky.”

“Well, good friends are like that. We sort of care for each other and make sure friends don’t make stupid decisions—like becoming a hot dog vendor.”

I smirked at her. “You love me.”

“I tolerate you.”

I stood up and started walking the five feet to her. “You love me!”

She backed up, rolling her eyes at me. “I do not love you.”

“You so love me! You love me so much.”

She moved around the counter, shooting daggers at me. “I do not love you!”

“You love me. You want to kiss me. You want to marry me,” I recited from the movie we’d seen the other night.

She held up her finger, giving me her harshest glare, which wasn’t all that scary. “Piper, I’m telling you right now, if you don’t stop this, I will throw your ass out.”

I nodded, smiling the whole time. “You would never do that. You love me.”

“That’s it. Get out right now!” she yelled, jabbing her finger toward the door.

Squealing, I ran at her, tackling her with a hug. We stumbled backward until she lost her footing and we both fell to the floor. “You love me!”

“Get off!” she screamed.

I dug my fingers into her stomach and didn’t let up until she was laughing, shoving me off her.

“Get off, get off, get off!”

“Not until you admit you love me!”

“Okay, fine! I love you!”

I sat up in triumph and smiled wide at her. “I knew it!”

Then she slammed her fist into my stomach and I doubled over, gagging as I sucked in a breath.

“You still love me,” I gasped.