Page 11 of Rejected Pretend Mate

"Sounds like you did a lot. Cayden and I spotted you guys out with the ladies having breakfast the other day. You seem to be settling well."

She shrugged. "I'm trying."

"Found any work yet?"

She shook her head. "No. Nothing has caught my attention."

"And have you thought about the fake marriage?"

April scowled. "No."

I pulled my hands up. "Really? Not even after seeing me clean these dishes?" I set another dish aside, starting on a pan. "I'm a catch, you know. I'm not just something pretty to look at."

She rolled her eyes. "It would be fake whether you were a catch or not. It wouldn't matter."

"True," I said, cleaning the pan and setting it aside. Shall I give you more good reasons to marry me? I keep a clean house. Ilike my space—I love my space, actually. I know how to cook and do laundry."

She smirked. "As much as that is all tempting, it isn't giving me any new reasons."

"You'd be safe," I said, starting on some silverware. "You wouldn't need to be worried about Ivan."

"While that may all be true, I'd be glued to you. Legally. I don't want that."

"But I'm a catch, ask anyone. It would be worth all of that."

She laughed and shook her head. But after a moment, she leaned back. "Fine, I'll think about it. But only because I don't want to hear more about why you're so great."

"Good call because I could go on for a while."

She snorted. I pulled another dish out, unplugging the water. "Did I also add that my apartment has an amazing view."

Chapter 5 - April

I flipped the page of the newspaper and sighed. "Nothing. None of this seems like something I would be interested in." I said, glancing at Riley as she sat on the other end of the couch. She had a glass in one hand and a newspaper in her lap.

"Not even one?" Riley asked, flipping her newspaper over. "They had an opening for a bank teller at Blue Bank. Or a salesperson for the car dealership."

I started to laugh. "Could you honestly see me trying to sell a car? I think you're forgetting, but I can't remember brand names. They would fire me before I could even finish the first day."

Riley's lips curled up slightly, and she giggled. "It's hard to picture. But you never know. You might be good at it. You won't know until you try."

"Let me put it in your head for you." I set the newspaper down and faked a smile. "Hello, welcome to the dealership. What can I help you buy? A car? A truck? Or an SUV? I don't know any brand names, but they still hired me here."

"Okay, okay, so not either of those. How about the daycare? We could always use another set of hands."

I shook my head. "No, that's too…kidsy for me."

"You like kids, though," Riley said, giving me a whining face. "You're being too picky now."

"I like kids, but that doesn't mean I want to work around them."

Riley shook her head. "I'm sorry to say, but at this point, April, you just don't sound like you want to work. You've hardly looked, and I have yet to hear you actually going on an interviewfor one. I'm starting to worry you're in a rut and can't get out of it."

I didn't want to tell her I didn't know what I wanted to do. I didn't know what I was supposed to do. Just a year ago, I was married, planning out birthday parties and cocktail hours. I was worried about when we were going to have babies and how we would decorate the rooms. I didn't love it, but it still felt like a purpose and direction. It was something.

Now, I was jobless, and if it weren't for my brother having sway in things, I would be homeless at this point. I was dipping hard into my savings and needed to figure something out. Riley wasn't wrong that I was in a rut and needed to get out of it.

I looked back at the newspaper and decided Riley was right. I needed to at least be serious about looking for a job. Even if I wasn't good at it right now, it was money. It was something to do.

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