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“You can sleep in every morning,” he says. “Since your commute will be a lot shorter.”
That’s one of the reasons I offered to stay at my sister and brother-in-law’s apartment when Abby asked me if I’d be willing to watch their cat when they jet off to Europe.
The travel time from the Upper West Side to Fifth Avenue is much shorter than my regular route from Brooklyn.
“Maybe they have a single neighbor you’ll fall in love with.”
I shoot Telford a gaze. “Since when do you talk about me falling in love?”
“Since Rook Thorsen dropped to one knee the other night and fake proposed to you.”
My hand jumps in the air. “You said it yourself, Tel. It was fake.”
“True,” he acknowledges with a brisk nod. “But, for a split second, I saw your future playing out in front of me. One day, a guy is going to propose to you, Carrie. I want that for you.”
I want that for me, too, but not until I’m at least thirty-two. I’ve already penciled that into my future calendar.
“Let’s focus on your proposal for now.” I flip the conversation back to where I need it to be since I don’t want to think about how I felt when Rook was down on one knee in front of me.
I know it wasn’t real, but a tiny sliver of my heart didn’t get that memo.
For a brief second, I imagined what it would feel like to have a man like Rook ask me to marry him. I can’t deny that it felt damn good.
“Will you go to Berdine with me after work one day this week to pick out a new suit?”
“Berdine?” I follow the name of the men’s clothing store with a whistle. “Who’s fancy now?”
“Me?” Telford adjusts the collar of his shirt. “I’m not fancy. I’m just in love, and I want the proposal to be perfect.”
“Of course, I’ll go with you.” I crumple up the wrapper from my bagel before I push to stand. “We should get to work.”
“Right.” Tel follows my lead and tosses the wrapper from his breakfast into the wastebasket next to our desk. “I need to brush my teeth first.”
As he takes off toward his messenger bag, my phone pings a notification.
I tug it out of the pocket of my black pants. It’s an email from the hookup app that I downloaded, reminding me to set up my profile.
“In due time,” I whisper before shoving my phone back in my pocket.
I have months before the day I plan on losing my virginity. Between now and then, I know I’ll find a man who will give me a birthday night to remember.
As much as I wish that man could be Rook, I doubt he wants anything to do with me after I confessed that I’m a virgin.
Men like him are looking for experience in the bedroom, and that’s something I don’t have.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Rook
“You’re thinking about how much extra work you’ll have now that I’m leaving New York,” a soft voice says from behind me.
I take one last look out the window of my office at Lower Manhattan in all its mid-day glory before I turn to look at Abby Wells.
“I thought you weren’t coming in today.” My gaze drops to the black skirt and white blouse she’s wearing. “You’re dressed for work.”
“I have two meetings.” She raises two fingers in the air. “I need to touch base with those clients before I head out for my honeymoon.”
Someone else could have covered those for her, but Abby is devoted to her clients. Since joining the firm, she’s become an asset to our team. I wish more of our attorneys had the same drive to succeed as she does.
