Total pages in book: 23
Estimated words: 21250 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 106(@200wpm)___ 85(@250wpm)___ 71(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 21250 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 106(@200wpm)___ 85(@250wpm)___ 71(@300wpm)
Nora bursts into my office and interrupts my self-pity party. She closes the door behind her with a deliberate click and I know I’m about to get it. “What the fuck?” Ouch. It takes a lot for my sister to drop F-bombs. “You need to get your shit together or both Margot and Orson are going to bail. Are you trying to run this place or run it into the ground?”
I sigh, the weight of the weekend’s sleepless nights pressing heavily on my shoulders. I stare at the stack of paperwork mocking me from my desk, wondering if it’s going to swallow me whole. “I didn’t sleep at all this weekend, okay? Give me a break.”
Nora’s expression shifts from irritation to genuine confusion. “Why couldn’t you sleep? Didn’t you get a massage on Saturday?” She throws her hands up in the air. “You should’ve been so relaxed, you could sleep through a tornado.”
“The massage was the goddamn problem,” I mutter, slamming my hand down on the desktop.
She gives me a look, the kind a sister gives when she’s trying to connect scattered dots that won’t match up. “How can a massage give you sleepless nights?”
I lean back in my chair, letting out a dry laugh as I recall the mesmerizing green eyes and the deft touch of someone who somehow turned my world upside down. “I’m still wondering the same goddamn thing,” I growl mostly to myself. Fuck.
Nora frowns, clearly lost, and walks over to sit in the chair across from my desk. “Tell me about it.”
“There isn’t much to tell.” My twin is going to think I’ve lost my mind. Hell. I think I’ve lost my goddamn mind. Along with my heart. Fuck me. “For the first time in my life, I met a woman who held my attention, and she wasn’t interested.” I shrug, ignoring the knife piercing my heart. Emotions are for the birds.
That gets my sister’s attention. Nora sits back in the chair, staring at me with her mouth open for several moments before she leans forward to ask, “How do you know she isn’t interested?”
Fuck. I really don’t want to get into this right now. “I don’t have time to rehash it. Just forget I said anything.”
“No.” Nora gives me her no-nonsense look that’s known to make opposing attorneys and judges shake in their boots. “Now, answer me.”
Fucking hell. My sister is like a goddamn dog with a bone. “I asked her to have lunch with me and she told me she was busy.” It’s hard to push the words past my clenched jaw. My humiliation is complete.
“That doesn’t mean she isn’t interested in you.” Nora shakes her head, muttering under her breath. “Men are so goddamn clueless. I swear that’s why more than fifty percent of marriages end in divorce.” She leans over my desk, glaring at me. “If she affected you this much, you need to actually put some effort into getting to know her. Not just a half-assed invitation to lunch.”
“My invitation wasn’t half-assed.” Did that sound as juvenile to her as it did to me?
Nora closes her eyes and takes several deep breaths. “Having plans could mean anything. It doesn’t automatically mean she isn’t interested in you.” She blows out her breath. “Look. Stop being pigheaded and use your brain.” She hops up and glides to the door. Before she leaves, she turns back to me. “Get your shit together or I will turn Mom loose on your clueless ass.”
As she leaves, I’m left alone with my thoughts. My mind drifts back to Leni, wondering how just an hour in her company managed to unravel parts of me I didn’t even know were tightly wound.
I sit at my desk, staring at the door with weary resolve. Her words still echo in my head, each syllable reiterating that I’ve been acting like a complete jackass. The ring of truth stings, but I guess calling you out when you’re being a royal fool is a sister’s job.
I rake a hand through my hair, feeling the tangled mess my weekend left in its wake. Alright, it’s time to fix this goddamn mess. First, I’ll eat some humble pie here in the office. Then I’ll throw myself into convincing Leni to give me a chance. My little soulmate won’t know what hit her.
I push myself up from my desk, squaring my shoulders, and hoping to change my coworkers’ view of me from the snarling ogre of the office into a reasonable human being.
My first stop is Orson’s office. The new guy deserves some slack, and if I’m going to have him on my team, I can’t have him thinking I’m Satan’s understudy. I wander down the hall, trying to ignore the sets of eyes that flick in my direction, probably terrified of crossing my path twice today.