Burn This! (A 300 Moons Book)(Bad Boy Alphas) Read Online Free PDF Page B

her pride and purposely undervaluing herself. This wasn’t about her.
    “Oh,” the girl sounded surprised.
    No one ever asked a follow-up question when you said you were a nurse. As a matter of fact just a nurse, in addition to being the greatest understatement ever spoken, would be a great cover for a spy.
    “Well what are you doing here?”
    “I thought you might need some company,” Neve replied.
    “Uh, no,” Jocelyn said. “I came here to get away from all that. I don’t want company.”
    But her voice was plaintive.
    “You came here to get away from the company of people who want something from you,” Neve agreed.
    “ You want something from me,” Jocelyn said, determined to be disagreeable.
    “Yes, that’s true,” Neve agreed again. “I want to borrow your view. I had a really shitty night. And since you just yelled at the nicest old lady in the whole world and I had to calm her down instead of taking my break, you’re going to shut up and let me sit here with you and look out the window for a little while.”
    There was a moment of stunned silence. Then the bed groaned as Jocelyn Wylde crawled up to sit on the edge, where she could see Neve better.
    “You do look like shit,” the girl said plainly. “What happened last night?”
    “You don’t want to know,” Neve hid her smile.
    “Let me guess,” the girl offered, warming up.
    Neve nodded her assent.
    “You wrecked your car,” Jocelyn guessed.
    Neve shook her head.
    “Got drunk?” she asked hopefully.
    “Nope.”
    “Cat put to sleep?”
    “No.”
    “Gross roommate stuff?” she asked.
    “No. Do you really want to know?” Neve asked.
    “Yeah.”
    “My boyfriend dumped me,” she told the kid.
    “Classic,” Jocelyn laughed. “Well, if you came here thinking I could help you, you’re in the wrong place. You know that, right?”
    But Neve heard the hurt in the girl’s voice and it pained her that Jocelyn could be so worried about break ups when she was so young and on top of her career.
    “Sure, I was up all night, it was pretty ugly,” she admitted. “But if I’m honest with myself, I’m more disappointed that I don’t have a built-in wedding date anymore, you know? Someone to take home for the holidays. But the guy himself… meh.”
    As soon as she said it, she knew it was true and a small weight was lifted from her.
    “Look,” Jocelyn said calmly. “I’m sorry about Tacos.”
    “Oh, you mean the iguana?” Neve asked.
    “Yeah, I didn’t mean to yell at that other lady,” she said. “But she called him a dinosaur. Said he needed to be in a cage. I just don’t like him being boxed in.”
    Neve wondered if Jocelyn would see the parallels.
    But patients seldom did.
    “I’m just bored,” the girl continued. “And I don’t like anyone telling me what to do,” she confided.
    Surprise, surprise.
    “He’s important to you, I respect that. Let’s see if we can get maintenance in here to put up some baby gates or something so we can make sure he doesn’t escape or get hurt. Does that work?” Neve offered.
    “Yeah, I guess so,” Jocelyn replied.
    They looked out over the reflecting pool a while more.
    “I guess I should get going,” Neve said at last, and rose, smoothing down her skirt.
    “Can you come back later?” Jocelyn asked suddenly.
    “Did you need something?” Neve asked.
    “No, I just want to hear about your break-up. Maybe I’ll get myself another song out of it,” Jocelyn smiled.
    There was a hint of life in her tired young eyes now. It did Neve good to see it.
    “Sure, I’ll come back and tell you everything. But be warned, it won’t take long,” Neve told her with a smile. “Meanwhile, if you’re bored, why not go to a group session?”
    Jocelyn was already shaking her head.
    They never wanted to go in the beginning. They saw it as embarrassing to share their dirty secrets with strangers, Neve understood. After the addiction claimed her mother, she had felt the same way.
    Being