Her Best Match: A Romantic Comedy (The Best Girls Book 1) by Tamie Dearen Read Free Book Online Page A

grandmother’s interviews.”
    “Well, maybe you can be a little more understanding since you know all this stuff. You know, maybe you can keep from yelling at him like you did during the interview. I’d like for you to keep this job for at least three weeks so I can come to visit.”
    “Yay—three weeks. Really just two and a half weeks, now—I can hardly wait. And Charlotte’s coming too?”
    “Yep, she’s flying in from Denver, but we’re on the same flight from Dallas to New York.”
    “Awesome. I have three weeks to find two nice, good-looking, guys for you.”
    “And don’t forget, we want them to be rich and have ripped abs. Mine needs to be a reader, and Charlie wants an adventurer.”
    “Believe me. I know exactly what you two need.”
     
    Anne arrived early to work, anticipating her first day actually working with Steven Gherring. She wore her nicest wool skirt and blouse, silently thanking Emily for lending her some clothes that fit and were appropriate for a business office. She traveled to work in her bright blue running shoes, which looked absolutely ridiculous. But she couldn’t walk well in the high-heeled fashion shoes most New York women seemed to sport.
    Once she arrived at the office, she stashed away the running shoes and pulled on the uncomfortable three-inch high pumps that put her eye-to-eye with most of the men in the office. She checked her hair in the ladies room, distressed to find the humidity had re-curled the locks she had worked so hard to straighten that morning. Resigned, Anne pulled her hair back into a pearl clip.
    She swiped on some mascara, dabbed concealer under her eyes and smoothed some tinted balm on her lips—her only concessions to wearing makeup. She’d always felt inept at applying makeup, thinking any more than these three staples made her look like a clown. She assessed her face. No wrinkles yet, although there were some crinkles that appeared around her eyes when she smiled. But she’d rather have those than frown lines. Her eyes were like large brown saucers. You couldn’t even see the pupils. She got compliments on them, but she’d rather have had blue or gold or green. Brown was boring. Boring or not, time to go upstairs.
    She checked the time on her cell phone—still thirty minutes early—and squeezed onto the almost full elevator. Why was it crowded at seven-thirty a.m.? Perhaps everyone was arriving early since Mr. Gherring was back in town. Gradually, the elevator emptied until she was the only one left. Her arms were full, balancing her purse, her shoes, and her newly purchased laptop bag, when the doors opened on the top floor to reveal an office already bustling with activity.
    Panicking with the knowledge she must somehow be late, Anne rushed off the elevator. But in the doorway, the three-inch spike of her heel caught in the crack. She flew forward, launching the contents of her hands into the air. As she tumbled to the floor, she managed to catch her laptop bag but missed the purse, which flipped upside down and spilled its contents. Almost in slow motion, she watched one of her lightweight running shoes soar through the air to strike a coworker squarely on the back.
    He flinched slightly and spoke without turning around. “I assume, Ms. Best, you’ve arrived, and the intent to cause physical harm is once again confirmed.” Steven Gherring smiled as he looked over his shoulder. But his face went pale when he spied Anne’s prone figure and the blood on her elbow. In an instant he was kneeling beside her, supporting her as she tried to stand up. “Are you alright? You’re bleeding. Let me help you.”
    But as Gherring’s words sunk in, Anne’s pain and humiliation was driven away by her fury. She shook his hand away. “Believe me, Mr. Gherring. This was an accident. If I’d meant to hit you, I would have hit you in the head, and I would have used something harder than a shoe so it would have done some damage!”
    “I think you’ve