Read Online She's Got Dibs by AJ Nuest - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: AJ Nuest
Tags: Contemporary
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to silence the bolt clicking into the latch, and then rushed for the elevator, fighting to slow her steps and pounding heart while she paced.
The first easy breath came in the cab, on the way to the airport.
Chapter Four
“I cannot believe you are such a bitch.”
Tessa pinched the bridge of her nose. “Can we not do this?”
The whole exhausting ordeal of returning to Chicago—the first available flight re-routing her through Atlanta, not to mention negotiating the over-crowded subway—had taken most of the day. Maybe she’d made the wrong decision, coming in to touch base with Tiffany instead of heading straight home. Either way, it didn’t matter. Being at the office was basically the same as being at her condo, except now she was forced to deal with her best friend’s prudent wisdom.
“You just left.”
Tessa filled her lungs to explain, stopped, and stared Tiffany dead in the eye. “Yes.”
“I cannot believe you are such a bitch.” The gold charm bracelet on her wrist jingled and winked in the light as she tossed a manila file folder onto Tessa’s desk. “Here.”
“What’s this?”
“Everything I found out. You asked me to do a search, remember?”
Oh, yeah. That. Chalk one up to a temporary moment of misguided curiosity. Tessa set the folder aside, faced her computer and pulled up the calendar for the Sandburg wedding to check what she had missed from the day before.
“Okay, what kind of pills are you popping, and how do I get my hands on some?”
She slanted a sarcastic glower toward the perplexed crease in Tiffany’s brow. “Not funny.”
“How can you not be interested in that gorgeous example of the male physique? I thought you said the sex was fantastic.”
“Look.” She swiveled her chair to her desk. Time for a refresher course in Dating Delusions 101. “Who they are or what they look like doesn’t matter. Relationships always end the same. Brad Pitt could be begging me to marry him, but in the end we would still end up hating each other and going our separate ways. That’s just the way it is.”
Disbelief twisted Tiffany’s lips. “Not all relationships are like that, Tessa.”
Oh, really? She opened her side desk drawer, yanked the folders out one at a time, and slapped them onto her desk. “Divorced, divorced, separated, divorced, I heard this one’s having an affair, divorced.”
Tiffany rolled her eyes. “Not the folders again…” she mumbled.
“Do you realize over two million dollars passed through this office last year?” Tessa aimed a finger at her desk. “And of that two million, I would say approximately ten dollars and fifty cents was spent wisely.”
Tiffany crossed her arms, sighing.
“Now, far be it for me to tell these people how to spend their money.” Tessa straightened the folders into a neat pile, tapping the bottom edge against her blotter. “After all, we would be out of business without them. And if they want monogrammed toilet paper, then, by all means, we’ll get them monogrammed toilet paper. But forgive me if after everything is said and done, and paid for , it still doesn’t matter. Marriage is a farce, and true love does not exist.”
“You’re never going to get over him, are you?”
“Please.” Try though she might, Tessa couldn’t keep the sarcasm from her voice.
“You are never, ever going to be normal again.”
“Normal’s overrated.” She shoved the folders back into her desk and slammed the drawer.
One of Tiffany’s eyebrows lifted, her foot bouncing a saucy jig over her crossed legs. “It’s been three years. Just how long are you planning on letting this destructive behavior of yours continue?”
“I’m not going back out there, Tiffany. I told you. I simply refuse to put myself in that situation again.”
Tiffany’s blonde bob swayed when she shook her head, lips compressed in a firm hard line…but the dark-blue misery in her eyes told a different story.
And, unfortunately, those unspoken
The first easy breath came in the cab, on the way to the airport.
Chapter Four
“I cannot believe you are such a bitch.”
Tessa pinched the bridge of her nose. “Can we not do this?”
The whole exhausting ordeal of returning to Chicago—the first available flight re-routing her through Atlanta, not to mention negotiating the over-crowded subway—had taken most of the day. Maybe she’d made the wrong decision, coming in to touch base with Tiffany instead of heading straight home. Either way, it didn’t matter. Being at the office was basically the same as being at her condo, except now she was forced to deal with her best friend’s prudent wisdom.
“You just left.”
Tessa filled her lungs to explain, stopped, and stared Tiffany dead in the eye. “Yes.”
“I cannot believe you are such a bitch.” The gold charm bracelet on her wrist jingled and winked in the light as she tossed a manila file folder onto Tessa’s desk. “Here.”
“What’s this?”
“Everything I found out. You asked me to do a search, remember?”
Oh, yeah. That. Chalk one up to a temporary moment of misguided curiosity. Tessa set the folder aside, faced her computer and pulled up the calendar for the Sandburg wedding to check what she had missed from the day before.
“Okay, what kind of pills are you popping, and how do I get my hands on some?”
She slanted a sarcastic glower toward the perplexed crease in Tiffany’s brow. “Not funny.”
“How can you not be interested in that gorgeous example of the male physique? I thought you said the sex was fantastic.”
“Look.” She swiveled her chair to her desk. Time for a refresher course in Dating Delusions 101. “Who they are or what they look like doesn’t matter. Relationships always end the same. Brad Pitt could be begging me to marry him, but in the end we would still end up hating each other and going our separate ways. That’s just the way it is.”
Disbelief twisted Tiffany’s lips. “Not all relationships are like that, Tessa.”
Oh, really? She opened her side desk drawer, yanked the folders out one at a time, and slapped them onto her desk. “Divorced, divorced, separated, divorced, I heard this one’s having an affair, divorced.”
Tiffany rolled her eyes. “Not the folders again…” she mumbled.
“Do you realize over two million dollars passed through this office last year?” Tessa aimed a finger at her desk. “And of that two million, I would say approximately ten dollars and fifty cents was spent wisely.”
Tiffany crossed her arms, sighing.
“Now, far be it for me to tell these people how to spend their money.” Tessa straightened the folders into a neat pile, tapping the bottom edge against her blotter. “After all, we would be out of business without them. And if they want monogrammed toilet paper, then, by all means, we’ll get them monogrammed toilet paper. But forgive me if after everything is said and done, and paid for , it still doesn’t matter. Marriage is a farce, and true love does not exist.”
“You’re never going to get over him, are you?”
“Please.” Try though she might, Tessa couldn’t keep the sarcasm from her voice.
“You are never, ever going to be normal again.”
“Normal’s overrated.” She shoved the folders back into her desk and slammed the drawer.
One of Tiffany’s eyebrows lifted, her foot bouncing a saucy jig over her crossed legs. “It’s been three years. Just how long are you planning on letting this destructive behavior of yours continue?”
“I’m not going back out there, Tiffany. I told you. I simply refuse to put myself in that situation again.”
Tiffany’s blonde bob swayed when she shook her head, lips compressed in a firm hard line…but the dark-blue misery in her eyes told a different story.
And, unfortunately, those unspoken
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