Las Vegas Sidewinders: Drake (Book 2) by Kat Mizera Read Free Book Online Page A

always
planning events and playing matchmaker for everyone but herself. Though she was
gorgeous, with long dark hair and beautiful brown eyes, she struggled with her
weight and while not obese, she definitely was not long and lithe like Tessa
and Erin. She’d fought her self-esteem for years, despite her friends always
telling her she was beautiful.
    Together, they’d been
through a lot and Erin’s accident had brought them back together like never
before. Erin wished it hadn’t taken something so dramatic to bring back the
closeness they’d had in college, but life, she’d discovered, wasn’t always
black and white.
    “Okay, I have to be at
Dr. Riser’s office in an hour and I’m a mess.” Erin stood up. “Please come with
me?”
    Both women nodded as
they hurried to get ready.
     
    Sitting in the waiting
room, Erin felt her phone vibrate. She saw she had a text and smiled when she
saw Drake’s name. They’d been talking all morning, and though she’d told him
she just wanted to be friends, their constant conversation since he got up felt
like it was leading to something more. She wanted to fight it, but everything
was so easy with him, she wasn’t quite sure what was going on with them.
    Sitting on the plane,
ready to take off. Fair warning: Mack knows about last night.
    “Shit!” Erin muttered.
    “What’s wrong?” Kate
looked at her.
    Erin showed her the
text. Kate and Tessa both snickered.
    Is she mad? Erin wrote back.
    No! I told her we were
going to see each other after the surgery.
    I’m waiting to see her
now.
    I’ll text you when I
land.
    Fly safe.
    Good luck. Xoxo
     
    “Ms. Gentry?” A nurse
came out and showed the three of them to Dr. Riser’s office. They sat in the
two plush chairs behind the desk, and waited while the nurse brought a third.
Mackenzie Riser sat behind her desk looking more like a supermodel than a
doctor. Her ash-blond hair was swept back in a messy bun and her chiseled
features showed no signs of aging, even though Erin knew she was 48—17 years
older than Drake.
    “Erin, it’s so good to
see you.”
    “These are my friends,
Kate Lansing and Tessa Barber, and her baby Raina.” Erin had gone to the
initial appointment by herself.
    “Well, isn’t she the
little cutie?” Mack came around the desk to smile down at the baby. “I loved
having them, but I do not miss the stress of having them at this age!”
    “How many kids do you
have?” Erin asked.
    “Two. They’re in
college now, though, so we’re going through a bit of empty-nest syndrome.
Probably why I decided to work on more burn-related surgery, instead of
cosmetic.”
    “Well, whatever the
reason, I’m grateful to be here,” Erin said.
    “So have you decided
what you want to do?”
    “Yes. I want to go
ahead. I can’t keep living in limbo. If you can make me look even a little bit
better, I have to take that chance and then I have to come to terms with the
fact that I will never look the same. Until I do, I’ll never be happy.”
    “I can definitely fix
your eye and your hair line,” Mack came over and explained how she would do it,
using a mirror so that Erin could see as well. “The rest, well, I guess we’re
going to see. I’ve done this procedure only six times, three times with
children, and three times with adults. All three of the children are completely
normal now. The skin took and grew back like it was supposed to. Unfortunately,
although all three of the adults look better than before, none of them had the
kind of results I got with the children. I made notes and changes with each
subsequent procedure, so each one has been better, but I can’t promise you it
will be what you want, Erin.”
    “I know.” She swallowed
nervously but looked the doctor squarely in the eye. “I realized last night I
can’t get on with my life while hiding behind long sleeves and baseball caps.
So whatever you can do will have to be enough. Not having a droopy eye will be
a huge improvement in that