Page 53 of Bargain with the Bachelor
As much as I hated to admit it, it was time to go—not just away from this house but away from Rhode Island.
My phone rang. I picked it up from the bedside table and checked the screen. It was Cinda—our friendship ESP must have pinged her.
She was exactly the person I needed to talk to right now.
“Hey, what are you doing?”
“Honestly? AJ’s down for the night, and I’m sucking down a glass of chardonnay like it’s myjob,” she drawled. “Because of my actual job. Is it frowned on tofirefamily members, by the way?”
I chuckled in spite of my own misery. “Why did you hire your lazy step-sisters in the first place?”
“Because they begged, and I’m a complete sucker? I don’t know—I guess I felt bad for them and somewhere deep down inside I’m probably still trying to recreate my dad’s dream of a ‘family business.’ Of course it helps if the family members in question actually show up for work every once in a while.” She blew out a long breath. “Okay, rant over. What are you doing? Did I wake you?”
“No. I can’t sleep. I’ve actually been doing a lot of thinking.”
“About...” she prodded.
“Pulling the plug on my job search in Rhode Island. I’ve been trying, but all my efforts are coming up empty.”
“I’m sorry. You know I’d hire you in a heartbeat, but I can’t afford to pay you what you’re worth. Besides, I know you want something in the art field, and I don’t think dust doodles count. Where are you thinking of expanding your search to?”
“New York.”
“Oh.” She sounded surprised, but then she said, “Yeah, actually that makes sense. There have got to be so many more opportunities there with all the galleries and museums in the city.”
“Exactly. When I told Larson about my degree—oh, wait—I didn’t have a chance to even tell you because everything happened so fast. I went out with Larson Overstreet today.”
“What? Larson Overstreet as in the guy whose gorgeous face is on my TV screen every weeknight at six-thirty?”
“That’s the one.”
“Oh wow. How did that even come about? Do you know him from like, college or rich-kid-summer-camp or something?”
I laughed. “No, I met him at the Cliffhouse this morning. And there’s no such thing as rich-kid-summer-camp... I don’t think.”
“There totally is,” she said. “I’ve heard my clients talking about it. I’ve never seen people so eager to ship off their kids for months at a time—and this is when their kids aren’t away at boarding school. I can’t imagine doing that with AJ.”
“I know. I can’t see you doing that, even if youwererich. No offense,” I added hastily.
“None taken. So anyway, what did Larson say?”
“About what?”
“You were saying when you told Larson about your degree...”
“Oh right. When I told him what my degree was and about my unpaid directorship at the local Art Preservation Guild, he had all kinds of leads for me. He knew of several job openings right off hand in Manhattan. The rents there wouldn’t be any more affordable there than they are here, but I could get a roommate—or two—or three.”
The thought of leaving pinched my heart, but I kept my tone upbeat. “At least I’d be using my degree and building a future. Alone.” So much for being upbeat. “Ugh. It’s so depressing, but what am I going to do? I have to face reality.”
“And where does Hunter Bestia fit into this reality?”
My sigh was audible. “Nowhere, I guess. You know I’ve always liked him, but either he’s not interested, or heisinterested but not enough to actually do anything about it. I’m at the point now where I’m kind of making a fool of myself over him. Even if he returned my interest, that still doesn’t solve my employment issue. I’ve made up my mind—tomorrow I’m going to start looking into the New York City job market and check on those openings Larson mentioned.”
“I get it. I hate to think about you being so far away though,” Cinda said.
There was that pinch again. “Me too. But you and AJ can come visit me in the city. I bet he’d love riding the train there.”
Dropping the cheerful façade, I admitted. “I’m going to miss you so much.”
