Page 86 of Fourth Point Of Contact

Not that I have.

I probably shouldn’t have put that. Not that you care. You know, this isn’t really going how I thought it would. I’m going to end this here before I really stick my foot in my mouth.

Patrick

I couldn’t believehe actually wrote me back. I loved it. I had actually gotten my ID and paperwork not long after I sent that first letter, but this was so much fun. Sure, texting was good too, but this put some distance between us that I greatly needed at the moment. If I texted him, I might find myself waiting on pins and needles for a response, and that would only make it harder to cure my broken heart.

I stuffed the letter back in my purse just as I was called back to my next interview. I had gone everywhere else before deciding to interview at the dentist. The smell made me nauseous and the whirring noise felt like nails on a chalkboard, but I was determined to go through with this. I needed a job, after all.

“Hello, Ms. Monroe,” the woman said as she took a seat behind the desk. “I’m Dr. Lipska. I see you’ve been a secretary before.”

“Administrative assistant,” I corrected, earning me a not-impressed raised eyebrow. “Yes, a secretary.”

“Right. I wasn’t able to get a reference from your last employer. He said you left on bad terms and he wasn’t able to give you a recommendation at the time. Would you care to explain?”

God, I knew this might happen, but I had been hoping it wouldn’t. “Um…it was just one of those things that you want to forget.”

I hoped that would appease her, but she just stared at me.

“Well—” There was no good way to say it, and I really didn’t want her to get the wrong impression of me. I had to make something up. “Our personalities clashed. It was no longer a good fit.”

Her lips pursed as she closed the folder. “I think it’s best if we end this interview now. I don’t see how I can hire you without a recommendation.”

She started to stand, but I was desperate. I needed a job, so I blurted out the story. “I was engaged to my boss!” She stopped and slowly sat down, interested now. “I was the typical secretary who fell in love with my boss. Cliché, I know. But we really were in love, and I never did anything with him at work. It was wonderful. I even got engaged,” I said, holding up my ring finger. “And then the next morning, I walked into the office and everyone was giving me these looks. I didn’t see it coming. I walked right into the conference room and found him screwing another woman on the desk. His old girlfriend. And I was so stupid because he went to London once a month, and it never crossed my mind that he would cheat on me because he loved me. And then I quit and destroyed his apartment and rubbed insulation into his clothes.”

Her eyebrows lifted in surprise at my outburst. “Is that it?”

I started to nod, but then shook my head. “No, I went back because I was missing some of my things, and he said he wanted me back. I knew I could never take him back, but he was crying, which should have been my first clue. And then I realized the only reason he wanted me back was because his life was a mess without someone to organize it for him. I started to leave and he grabbed me, so I?—”

She looked at me expectantly.

I winced and finished the story. “I slapped him. So…that’s the story.”

She nodded slowly, closing the folder. That was it. I was sunk. I stood with a sigh and slung my purse over my shoulder. “I’ll just be going now.”

“Not so fast.”

I turned and faced her, wondering if she was going to call the police on me. But instead, she grinned and held out her hand. “You’re hired.”

“Really?” I was shocked. So completely stupified that she was actually hiring me. “Why? I mean, I don’t want to jinx it, but why?”

“Girl, there really should be more women who take revenge on their cheating exes by rubbing insulation in their clothes.” She laughed as she waved her hand at me to follow. “I’ll have to remember that one.”

“So…that’s it?” I asked, hurrying along behind her. “You’re really hiring me?”

“Well, unless you plan on sleeping with the boss? But that’s me and I’m not gay.”

“Definitely not. I’ve learned my lesson and will never sleep with anyone I work with again.”

“Good, that’s all I needed to hear. Now, let me introduce you to Leo. He’s the other dentist in the office.”

I let out a sigh of relief and for the first time in a long time, I felt excited for work. That is, until she opened the door to his office and I set eyes on my other new boss. Handsome smile, dimples, puppy dog eyes, and silky hair that brushed his ears in the cutest way.

And his muscles. Lord, did he have muscles. He stood and slung his lab coat around his back, covering up those gorgeous arms. The beginnings of a dentist/secretary romance novelplayed out before me. “Hello, I’m Leo Webster. You must be our new hire.”

I whimpered under my breath, but bit it back. I was so screwed. “Piper. Monroe,” I finished lamely. “Happy to serve.”

Dr. Lipska’s gaze snapped to mine, so I schooled my features and pretended to be unaffected by the man’s good looks. I would not sleep with my boss. I would not sleep with my boss. I would not sleep with my boss.

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