Read Online Up to Date (Better Date than Never Book 8) by Susan Hatler - Free Book Online Page A

be out on the street.
    ****
    Although I’d had the strong urge to waste the rest of Friday afternoon in bed with the covers over my head—man, that sounded good right about now—I forced myself to drive to the office supply store and purchase blank business cards.
    When I got home, I carried the framed pictures from my ex-office into my condo, and set them against the wall next to the couch. Then I popped two aspirin, hoping to get rid of the raging headache I’d acquired, and plodded to the corner of my bedroom where my tiny desk sat next to my easel.
    Needing an original logo for my business cards, I picked up a piece of charcoal and sketched design after design, trying to come up with something I liked. After several hours, I’d drafted a bunch of squiggly lines that didn’t add up to anything remotely appealing. How could my muse desert me at a time like this?
    Suddenly, I heard a quick rap-rap-rap on my door, before it burst open. Mary Ann sailed in, snapping bubble gum. “You’re home early.”
    “Yep.” I set the charcoal down, rubbed my black fingertips together, then turned to face my sister.
    She wore her honey-blonde hair pulled back in a bun, a pink blouse tucked into gray slacks, and looked business-casual—just like she dressed for the office every day. She held down a good job in property management, and it suddenly burned me up that she couldn’t be bothered to pay rent every month. I needed to check my tally to see how much she owed me by now, assuming I could count that high.
    “What gives?” She plopped down across my bed, then propped her chin on her fists. “And what’s with all those pictures in the living room? Are you redecorating?”
    “They’re from my office at work.” I stood, scuffled into my bathroom, and pulled the faucet on. “My former work. I got fired today.”
    “What?” Her shout came from the other room, but seconds later she appeared right next to me, waving a stack of envelopes. “You can’t lose your job. We’ve got bills and I’m short on cash. Electricity, water, Internet . . .” She flipped through the envelopes, then smacked the top one. “This one is due by next week. Maybe you could apologize for whatever you screwed up on.”
    “Great idea.” I place my hand on her shoulder, then tilted my head with a mocking grin. “I’ll just tell him we need high-speed Internet. That will get him to hire me back right away.”
    “At least I’m trying to come up with ideas.” She brought her hands to her chest. “I don’t want to have to take cold showers in the dark because you blew something at work. What did you do wrong, anyway?”
    Irritation washed over me. This was so typical of Mary Ann. All she could think about was how my sad situation affected her.
    “Thanks for your faith in me, but I didn’t mess up.” I pumped liquid soap onto my fingers, then rubbed them together under the warm water. “The company’s cutting costs so they laid me off.”
    She stared at me wide-eyed. “What are you going to do?”
    Ah. The question I’d been worrying about since Kaitlin had given me the ax. “I have no idea,” I said, turning the water off and drying my hands on a towel.
    “I’m sure you’ll think of something.” She followed me back to my bedroom, leaned back on my bed, then smiled. “At least you have a hot date tonight. That should be a nice distraction. Huh?”
    I groaned. “I totally forgot about Trenton.”
    But I definitely remembered Greg’s kiss. The feel of his arms around me, his mouth ravaging mine. Shiver. No matter how hard I’d fought my attraction, there was only one man who interested me. The thought of going out with another guy felt wrong. “I’m going to cancel my date.”
    She gave me a knowing look. “Because you have the hots for Greg. He’s an even better distraction. Are you finally going to stop over-thinking everything and go for it?”
    “No,” I said, but my heart rate kicked up a notch just thinking about