Page 11 of Marry Your Best Friend

“Gabriel.” She huffs in frustration.

I stand up and back away. “I promise. I won’t mess with your date.”

She laughs, and it makes me thankful that she at least finds the humor in it. “I’ll believe that when I see it.”

“Drive safe, Chrissy. See you soon.” With that, I shut the door and stand in the driveway and watch her back out.

It gets harder and harder to watch her walk away from me. I can’t keep this up. Somehow, someway, I need to find a way for Chrissy and me to be together.

5

CHRISSY

I SHOULD HAVE STAYED WITH MY FAMILY.

That’s what I’ve been thinking for the last hour.

I should have listened to my gut and skipped this date because it’s proving to be one of the worst dates of my life. Not that I’ve been on a lot, but the few I have been on have been way better than this one.

If I have to listen to Roger say one more thing about how much money he has, or the country club he’s a member of, or the brand new Porsche he bought with cash, I’m not going to make it. I’m going to have to excuse myself and walk out of here.

It’s not in me to be rude, but Roger is on my very last nerve. He’s been rude and condescending to the waitress, and any time I try to carry on aconversation, he cuts me off like he doesn’t have the time—or the desire—to hear me talk.

Finally, as if he’s noticed my lack of conversation, he stops and smiles at me. “So tell me about you, Christine.”

I barely resist rolling my eyes because I’ve told him at least five times to call me Chrissy. I’m not going to correct him again because I doubt he’s going to listen. “Well, let’s see. You want me to tell you about me?”

I wait to see if he’s going to respond and if he says no because at this point nothing will surprise me. When he nods his head, I tell him, “Well, let’s see—”

Before I can get anything out, he leans forward. “Is it true you’re related to King?”

I cross my arms over my chest. “He’s my brother.”

His eyes light up. “Your brother? You know, I’ve heard that he was hiring an in-house doctor for his company. He wants to offer services for his employees and their families.”

I hate where this conversation is going. I’ve had numerous people befriend me to try and get close to someone in my family. It's either so they can get their car fixed by Dom, they want to date one ofthe boys, or they want to work for King, and they’re trying to use my relationship with my brothers to get them in. I would never ask any of my family to do something for me as a favor like that. I mean, they would do anything I asked of them, but I would never put them in that position.

I look around the room and notice Gabe coming in the door of the bar. He spots me instantly, and I smirk at him. I’m actually a little surprised it took him an hour to get here. I turn my head back to Roger, wishing this night would end. “Yeah, King is hiring a doctor.”

He smiles like the cat that just caught the canary. “Can you put in a good word for me?”

“Actually, he asked me to work with him on a list of applicants, and he’s already narrowed it down to two doctors.”

He doesn’t like the sound of that. He sits up straight, and his eyebrows practically disappear into his hairline. “Am I one of them?”

Even though I know he’s not, I shrug. “I’m not sure. You would need to call King’s office to find out.”

“But… maybe you could call him. I’d be happy for him to join us here, and he can get to know me.”

This time, my mouth drops. The audacity of this guy. “Uh, King became a father two weeks ago. He’s not going to come down here tonight to get to know you.”

My refusal doesn’t even faze him because he throws a hand up. “But I’m sure once he looks at my credentials and knows that we’re friends, he will want to take a closer look.”

“Look, Roger. I’m not sure how to say this in a way you’ll understand, but I’m not going to talk King into hiring you.”

“But—” he starts, and then his eyes swing over my shoulder. I can feel Gabe’s presence before I can see or hear him. I turn to look up into Gabe’s eyes. The stool I’m sitting on is high enough for Gabe to press his shoulder against mine.

“Hey, Chrissy. How’s it going?”

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