Page 9 of Grumpy Boss in Love

She frowned. “Oh. Do you need?—”

“No. I’ll be fine. I’ll get the car sorted out tomorrow. Now, back to my outfit.”

April huffed. She knew how much I hated when they offered me money.

Tessa got us back on track. “You look great. You’re rocking that suit.”

I grinned as I ran a hand over the front of my blazer. “I know, right? Turquoise meshes well with my hair.”

Cassandra peered at her phone screen and tapped her chin. “Let me see the pants.”

I tilted my phone down, giving the full view of my straight-legged slacks. To accessorize the turquoise suit, I wore nude pumps and understated rose gold jewelry. Fashion jewelry, of course. I was on a tight budget and couldn’t afford real diamonds and gold.

“Gosh, Rubes, you look so… bright,” Cassandra finally commented.

I rolled my eyes. “I’ll ‌take that as a compliment. Maybe I want to lookbright.”

“You won’t fit in with everyone else in their plain getup,” she said.

“Who said I want to fit in?” I shook my head emphatically. “There’s no way I’m going to become one of those dull suit-wearing duds who have robot-like personalities.”

Cassandra laughed. “That’s my girl. Never let the cut-throat executive world suffocate the girly girl that you are. I’m proud of you, brat.”

I held a hand over my heart. “That’s the nicest thing you’ve said to me in months.”

Cassandra snickered, and I grinned back at her. She was only three years older than I was, and we bickered like we were still kids.

I zeroed in on the fourth face on my screen. “Lucy, you have yet to comment on my outfit.” This was our usual thing—chatting on the phone before we started our days. Maintaining a close bond with each of my sisters despite the distance was much easier thanks to the creation of FaceTime.

However, I knew Lucy, Tessa, and April still wanted me to move back to Oakland to be closer to them. Cassandra lived in New York now, but she traveled to Nebraska often. I, on the other hand, hadn’t been home since April’s wedding last year.

Instead of commenting on my outfit, Lucy choked out, “I can’t believe you’ve graduated college. You’re about to start your first job.”

“Are you crying?” I asked, peering at my screen. “This is all Nic’s fault. He knocked you up again.”

“I heard that!” A male voice shouted from somewhere in Lucy’s background.

We all laughed, and Lucy rolled her eyes. She was four months along with a boy this time.

“Lucy, stop tearing up please,” I sighed. My big sister in mom mode was the biggest sap on earth.

“I’m just so proud of you.”

“Thanks, but this is hardly my first job. I’ve held down others throughout school.”

“But this is the first one in your field,” she countered. “You’re on your way to starting your career.”

“Yeah… but this is just an internship, Luce. Calm down.”

“I’m still super proud.” She smiled, and it wobbled a bit.

I feared she’d burst into tears at any moment. Pregnancy hormones.Yikes. There were no kids in my near future, that was for sure. Then again, I supposed I needed a man to make those kids with and there was no man in my near future.

I gazed at Lucy, at all my sisters, and my heart warmed. “Thanks, Luce. Thank you, all of you. You guys raised me right.”

Cassandra laughed while the others gazed at me with a hint of sadness. I guess my comment struck a few nerves. It was indeed my older sisters who raised me. My dad disappeared when I was barely one and my mother mentally checked out when I was about two years old.

“You guys nurtured me. Loved me. Taught me. I’m the confident woman with astellarfashion sense?—”

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