Blind Date Read Online Free PDF

armchairs.
    “Again?”
    “Hmmm.” Her dark eyes cut to me, and one of her perfectly shaped eyebrows quirks up in displeasure. “I think he was supposed to book this consultation with you, given your empty schedule this morning.”
    “Mrs. Cortez cancelled again. Something about having to get her bunions removed.” Having an empty morning is a rarity, and she knows it. We didn’t build this interior design company overnight. While I worked my ass off in college for my degree, Mom was working to build a clientele with one of the most prestigious interior design firms in New York City.
    The day Donnelly Designs Inc. became a registered company with the state of New York, she brought the clientele with her—and with the clientele came rave reviews and solid recommendations.
    This is the first empty morning I’ve had in weeks.
    Mom tuts and puts a book back on my bookshelf. With her slim figure and almost wrinkleless skin, you wouldn’t believe she’s fifty. Of course, I’m certain her skin has had a little help from Botox, but she’ll never admit to it. Unfortunately for me and my theories, she has Grandpa on her side insisting that Nanna was the same.
    “Sienna Cortez has more bunions than anyone I’ve ever met in my life. If she does it for a fourth time, you politely tell her that she’ll have to find another designer to… What does she want doing now?”
    “Her kitchen.”
    “Tell her to hire a builder.” Mom sniffs and turns. “Anyway, as I was saying, Carlos double booked me. Since one of my appointments is a home visit with Louis, I need you to take over the other.”
    “Sure.” I reach for a notepad and eventually find one in my desk drawer. And a pen… Ho hum.
    Mom rolls her eyes and hands me a pen from a pot on my windowsill.
    Aha. That’s where I put the fuckers.
    “Thanks. So, where do you need me to go?” I ask, looking up, pen poised and ready to write down the address.
    “A restaurant on 58 th street.” She wipes a fingertip across one of my shelves, and I barely hold back my own eye-roll when she wrinkles her face up and wipes the dust from her finger. She focuses her dark eyes on me, then glances pointedly at my notepad. “Two eighty E, 58 th street. Carter’s.”
    I freeze, horror washing over me in a chilling shiver. “Wh-where?”
    “Good Lord, Bee, don’t make me repeat myself.” She sighs. “I’ve called ahead and said you’re going. The owner, Carter Hughes, will be waiting for you at eleven a.m. You have plenty of time to wipe a wet cloth over your shelves and perhaps have Carlos order you some form of filing system. Then again, he’d probably purchase you a dressing table instead.”
    Carter Hughes. A consultation.
    Right.
    Because we didn’t have enough of a consultation not forty-eight hours ago.
    “Bee?” Mom says my name for what I’m assuming isn’t the first time. “Can you do it?”
    “I…” Damn you and your bunions, Mrs. Cortez. “Sure, Mom.”
    “Excellent.” She claps her hands together, and for the first time she entered my office, her face breaks into a wide smile. “I’m lead to believe that he’s meeting with several companies throughout the day, including Parker Interiors.” Her smile drops and her lip curls in disgust.
    Ah. That’ll be her old employer who tried to sue her when she left, taking half their client portfolio with her.
    Excellent. So this consultation is personal. In more fucking ways than I’d like it to be.
    “Make sure we get this contract,” Mom orders me, stalking back toward my door. “I’m counting on you for this, Bee. Carter Hughes is incredibly influential and if he hires us and is happy with us, it opens even more doors for us.” The door clicks shut with an echo that’s all too final.
    Believe me, Mom. I know exactly how influential Carter Hughes is—he’s also real convincing. After it, it took him all of ten minutes to get his hand inside my panties.
    I shudder at the memory. God, what are the