Total pages in book: 23
Estimated words: 21893 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 109(@200wpm)___ 88(@250wpm)___ 73(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 21893 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 109(@200wpm)___ 88(@250wpm)___ 73(@300wpm)
“I…no.”
“No?” To be honest, I wasn’t expecting such a firm, fast, negative response.
She looks up, and her eyes meet mine. She shakes her head. “I don’t think we should. Work romances are not a good thing, you know?”
“But Ivy—”
“I should go,” she says, checking her phone. “Or I’ll miss my train home. See you on Wednesday?”
“Yeah,” I reply slowly as she grabs her bag. “See you on Wednesday.”
I watch as she leaves out the door, feeling like a deflated tire that needs refilling. I’ve just made my situation worse for myself. Now my insanely gorgeous assistant who has been distracting me from my work for the last two weeks is not just going to continue distracting me with her beauty, but is also going to be here reminding me of the fact that I tried to get her and was rejected.
No, that’s not going to happen.
I will get her. I’ll just have to find a more creative way to do it.
2
Ivy
I can’t stop thinking about Mike the entire train ride back to Connecticut. Never in a million years did I think he would ask me out. He’s surrounded by models nearly every day of his life; why would he ask me out to dinner? It doesn’t make any sense.
Maybe he’s having some kind of mental crisis. He has been acting strangely lately, and he was distracted at the shoot today. That mistake he made with the SD card and Christine was so not like him. Maybe he is just losing his mind. I guess something like that would make sense.
Part of me honestly wanted to say yes. There’s no denying he’s a good-looking guy. A very good-looking guy. Even if he wasn’t one of the hottest fashion photographers in the business, he could still get the models that are constantly throwing themselves at him. He’s a little intimidating, honestly. After my dad’s insane no-dating rules throughout high school, I wouldn’t even know what to do with myself around a guy like Mike, other than disappoint him in every way.
“I’m home!” I call out when my Uber drops me off. I set my bag down by the door and call out again but am greeted only by the sound of silence. That’s no surprise. It’s early evening on a Saturday, which means my dad probably has something to do for work and my mom is probably over at one of her friends’ houses, leaving me with an empty house and quite the day to think about.
I text my friend, Sara.
Are you at work?
I’m walking aimlessly around the kitchen when she texts back.
Sure am. Come bother me.
Smiling, I call an Uber to the restaurant where Sara works. Fifteen minutes later, I’m walking through the door and pulling up a stool at the counter.
“What’ll it be?” a guy who looks like he’s been here since five this morning asks me.
“I, um…”
Sara comes up from behind him and nudges him out of the way. “I got this one, Brad.”
“Thank God,” Brad says with a sigh.
“Hot chocolate?” she asks, already getting it for me.
“You know me too well.” I smile.
“Well, I should, right? We’ve known each other since first grade.”
“Has it been that long?” I laugh. “Shouldn’t we be in college instead of busting our asses?”
Sara gives me that Really? stare as she fills my mug and hands it to me. “Busting your ass? Bitch, you’re a fashion photographer’s assistant. I’m a server in a restaurant, okay? Only one of us is busting their ass.”
“Hey, I almost got assaulted today!”
“Say what!?” Sara gawks. “Was it Kendall Jenner? Do I have to go beat Kendall Jenner’s ass?”
I burst out laughing. Sara has a wicked sense of humor and has always been there for me when things get tough.
“No, it wasn’t Kendall. It wasn’t even a model. It was a model’s boyfriend.”
I sip my hot chocolate and recount the details of the missing SD card, Zack losing his shit and coming after me like I was the one responsible. By the time I’m finished, Sara is shaking her head.
“You see, boyfriends are like dogs.”
“What!?” I burst out laughing.
“You don’t bring them to work,” she explains. “You have to leave them at home or they can screw up everything.”
I laugh, but Sara’s little analogy goes straight into my chest. “See, now that you mention it…”
“What?” she asks.
“Mike did ask me out after everything was over.”
Sara gasps. “He did? What did you say?”
“Well, I told him no,” I reply. “I said work romances weren’t good.”
“You did the right thing.” She nods.
“I know I did,” I sigh. “But you should see him, Sara. He’s gorgeous. He’s tall, he has great hair, a great body—but I never hear him talk about going to the gym—and these eyes…I feel like he’s taking my clothes off with those eyes when he looks at me.”