In Her Way by Eryn Scott Read Free Book Online Page B

commenting on the crutch crawling secretary at the front desk and my face is slowly losing the battle of looking normal.
    "What?" Em narrows her eyes.
    I press my lips together. "Nothing -- er -- you'll see." A giggle bursts out before my hand can fly up to hold the rest in.
    Em's confused, I can tell by the small line her mouth purses into, but I just can't say anything more if I'm going to keep it together, so I motion for her to follow me, keeping my hand firmly in place where it covers my mouth.
    "Is anyone else joining us?" she asks as she cranes her neck this way and that, looking for what I'm acting weird about.
    I shake my head to show her it's just us, and then I watch her. I can tell when she sees because her head moves forward as if to get a better look, her eyebrows shoot up, and her hand covers her mouth just like mine.
    I raise my eyebrows as the door shuts safely behind us and the giggle I stuffed earlier finally gets to come out. "So that's the person you think is going to be good for me, is going to teach me about chilling out? Look at her!"
    Em walks forward, only looking at me out of the corner of her eye. "It's a little ridiculous. I'll give you that," she says as I catch up to her and we start down the sidewalk. "But seriously, people really like her. If you want to make money, I think she's the key."
    I let out a long breath. "It's hard to believe that's the key to anything, but we do have to be serious about making money. Em, we have to pay Mama and Daddy back earlier than I thought. They’re having some trouble and I'd hate to think I was the cause." I cringe and look at her.
    She nods. "Yeah, and I've been opening bills most of the morning. Our budget is going to be tight with Kaylee on our payroll now."
    There aren't any answers other than to get our business going and start making some freaking money, so we walk in silence the rest of the way to the sandwich shop.
    "Any more calls from Sir Andrew?" Em asks as she sits down next to me with her sandwich. She's been calling him Sir Andrew ever since Kaylee started kicking butt at getting us customers. Says he's our hero.
    I shake my head and it's not just the bite of sandwich I just chewed that drops to the bottom of my stomach as I swallow. It's been days since our coffee meeting and although I have plenty on my mind right now, I can't seem to keep Andrew out of the mix. It doesn't matter how many times I remind myself that a relationship is not happening right now, my heart still aches as it clings to the lovely shivery-feeling I get when he stands near me.
    Em frowns. "Sorry, sweetie. Like you said, though, maybe this is for the best."
    I nod. "Right. I mean, I'll meet tons of cute guys that kinda look like Captain America and that I don't have a conflicting business relationship with once we're all settled in the practice." In lieu of pouting, I focus on my tuna sandwich for a few seconds before Em brings up Kaylee and the crutches again and we start laughing too much to eat any more. Wrapping up the rest of our lunch to go, we head back to the office.
    The sun is shining, the air is cool as it sweeps off the water and brushes past us, and I start thinking that I was right to pout. Guys like Andrew don't come around every day. Maybe I should go for it; maybe I should see how I do at juggling (disaster that was my elementary PE juggling unit aside).
    As we round the corner, though, there's no room for thoughts of Andrew in my brain because there's a full-on fire truck, lights flashing, parked hurriedly across the whole lot in front of our office. My stomach flips as I drop my sandwich remains in front of me. Em and I suck in breath at the same time, look at each other with wide quivering eyes, and haul ass over to our place.
    "Shitshitshitshitshitshit," I can hear Em mumble as we run.
    "Pleasebeokay, pleasbeokay," I add. We were only gone for twenty minutes or so. How could everything come crashing down so quickly? My gut twists at the thought that