Chapter 10 #2
“Yeah, thankfully, or I wouldn’t be here right now.”
His brows lifted as if he hadn’t been expecting that.
Though I wasn’t surprised he didn’t know just how volatile our relationship was.
No one did. My parents were very careful about that—had to keep up appearances, so they’d made sure to berate me only in the privacy of our own home.
To everyone else in town, they were the perfect couple, the perfect parents, and we were the perfect family.
“You wouldn’t have moved back to Starlight Cove if they were still here?”
“Definitely not.”
“So, you’re not close.”
I laughed. “Um…no.”
“I sense a story there.”
Before I could answer, our waitress showed up with our entrees. After placing our meals in front of us, she asked, “Can I get you anything else right now?”
Ford glanced at me with a raised brow, and after I shook my head, he said, “We’re good. Thanks.”
“I’ll check on you in a bit,” she said before leaving us alone once again.
She’d barely walked three steps when he gave me an expectant look, obviously wanting to continue our conversation.
I twirled some of my pasta, gathering a bite, and shrugged. “There’s no story. I’m not the daughter they wanted, and they have no problem reminding me of that every chance they get.”
Ford’s face clouded over with what looked an awful lot like anger. “Seriously?”
“Seriously.”
“What, becoming a doctor isn’t good enough for them?”
“Not really. They’re more of the mentality that Dr. Dicknose is.”
Ford coughed, sputtering on the bite he’d just taken. After drinking some water, he asked, “Doctor what?”
“You heard me.” I picked up my wineglass, smirking at him over the rim. “You didn’t think I could work with him every day and not have a derogatory nickname for him, did you?”
“I didn’t really think about it, but it fits.” Ford speared a bite of his seafood lasagna. “And what’s their mentality?”
Thank God I was on my second drink of the night so I could affect a nonchalance I definitely didn’t feel. Lifting my shoulder in a shrug, I said, “That I need to have a husband to be of value, and since they’re certain I won’t find anyone who wants to be with me, I’m basically worthless.”
Ford’s mouth dropped open as he stared at me. “What the fuck?”
“Yeah.”
“And you chose to work with him? Why?”
“Because I was promised a chance at purchasing the clinic. That’s something that would take another decade at least in a bigger town.
When I got the call asking if I’d be interested in taking a position here with that as an opportunity, it felt like it was meant to be.
” I blew a breath out slowly, shaking my head.
“But if this awful month has shown me anything, it’s that he has absolutely no intention of selling it to me unless I suddenly show up married one morning. ”
“What a complete shithead. Addison always told me that guy was an asshole.” He pressed his lips in a tight line, his jaw flexing.
I’d never seen Ford anything but cool as a cucumber, but this was getting under his skin, no doubt realizing just what his sister had been putting up with at the hands of the doctor.
“You know what? I think this calls for a little street justice.”
A grin kicked up the corner of my lips. “I have been tempted to slash his tires on more than one occasion.”
“Now I see why you’ve needed the extra late-night emotional support coffees the past couple weeks. It makes the run-in with my ex look like child’s play.”
“Your ex?”
“Chelsea Dread. You remember her?”
It was hard to forget a bitch like that.
I didn’t like to fall into the catty female stereotype and preferred to support women and lift them up rather than tear them down, but that sentiment didn’t extend to Chelsea.
She’d been the epitome of a mean girl in high school, and she’d made my life a living hell every chance she got.
All because Ford and I had always seemed to be paired together in any classes we shared—an extra-special little punishment that’d lasted nearly all four years.
Why she’d been jealous of me when she’d been his girlfriend, I had no idea. Little did she know, we’d spent the entire time at each other’s throats, and I’d had to stop myself from strangling him just to shut him up.
“I may have a vague recollection…” I said.
“Yeah, well, just be glad it’s only that. She cornered me in the grocery store a couple weeks ago. She’s getting married and doesn’t think I can handle it because I’m apparently still hung up on her.”
“Are you?”
He laughed. “Fuck no. Which pisses her off, I’m sure. But I had to make sure she knew that, so somehow I got myself wrangled into attending her wedding with my girlfriend.”
“You have a girlfriend?” I couldn’t keep the surprise out of my voice.
“No,” Ford scoffed. “So you can see my problem. Now I just need to find someone who pities me enough to go.”
A flash of him attending this wedding with someone else made the bottom drop out of my stomach, and I had no idea why.
“Oh please,” I said. “You haven’t had a single pity date in your entire life. Women are lining up for a chance to go out with you—hell, you had three of us willing to pay for it—so it shouldn’t be hard.”
“Actually, I was planning to sweet-talk my auction date into it, and, well…” He lifted his brows and gestured to me. “Besides, a one-off date is going to do fuck all to prove I don’t give a shit about who she’s marrying. I dodged a bullet with that one. What I need is a relationship.”
Around a bite of my scampi, I said, “Sounds like what we both need is a spouse.”