Chasing After Him Read Online Free PDF Page B

word.
    Should have been more realistic. Just because his cousin stopped going
out with him on weekends, didn’t mean he wouldn’t find something else—or some one else to do.
    I pulled into my driveway and turned the key, heaviness laying over me
like a shroud.
    There’s always tomorrow.
    The car door creaked as I opened it. Cold air bit my nose and whipped
at my ponytail. Cursing winter for the first time, I hunched my shoulders and
hurried up my front steps.
    A car pulled into Theo’s driveway, his floodlights coming on and
illuminating a BMW I didn’t recognize.
    Tall and slender, a black-haired model hopped out of the car in painted
on jeans and ridiculous heels. I didn’t return her cheery, big wave and bright
smile. “Theo around?” she called.
    “No.”
    She strode across the sidewalk and up my walkway, her arched brows
furrowed, full, red-painted lips pouted. “We were supposed to meet for dinner a
half hour ago, but he never showed. He’s not answering his phone either.”
    She clutched her designer coat tight and shifted on her engine red
hooker heels with their five inch stilettos.
    I cleared my throat as my stomach clenched, not bothering to keep the
chill from my glare. “I’ll tell him you stopped by, Miss…?”
    “Oh.” Her smile reappeared, brightening dark eyes and lifting prominent
cheekbones. “Livi.” She held out her hand, but I crossed my arms and stiffened
my spine, making my scowl more than apparent. Laughter escaped her. “I’m Livi Risso . Theo’s baby sister. You’re
Charlene, right?”
    Heat flooded my face, and my hands dropped to my sides as I closed my
eyes. “Yes. Sorry.”
    “No worries.” Livi laughed again.
    “Here.” I turned and unlocked my door. “Come on in.”
    Livi kicked off her heels and hung up her coat on the rack, same as me.
“Nice place,” she said, padding behind me to the kitchen.
    “Thanks. Wine?”
    “Sounds great.” Her chipper tone reminded me of Theo. I should have
recognized the similar wave when she’d climbed out of her car. I dropped my bag
on the island and gestured toward a stool, warmth flooding my face again.
    “Just getting off work?” she asked with a quick glance down at my
scrubs while sitting.
    “Yes.” I grabbed a bottle of Pinot out of the fridge and two glasses.
    “Theo said you’re studying to be a pediatrician. Impressive.”
    “And hard as hell.”
    “Exhausting?”
    A tired smile appeared on my lips as I poured us both a generous splash.
“Like you wouldn’t believe.”
    “Well, here’s to you,” Livi said, her eyes bright and twinkling. “May
the next six months of your residency breeze by.”
    “I’ll toast to that.” I swallowed down a good gulp. “How’d you know I only
have six months left?”
    “Theo likes to talk.” She leaned onto the island, chin in hand.
    “He talks about me?” My voice sounded tiny.
    “Lately, you’re all he talks
about.”
    My knees gave way, and I slumped onto a stool. “Seriously?”
    Her eyes twinkled again. “He’s got it bad.”
    “What?”
    “Oh yeah. He told me you’d hit on him a few times in the past year, but
he thought you were too young.” She raised her glass in toast similar to how
Theo always did.
    So he had noticed. Heat flooded my face.
    Livi sipped and lowered her wine to the island. “To be honest, I
couldn’t be happier.”
    “Why is that?”
    “You’re a good, stable woman, not a floozie like most of those women he
hooks up with at Chantelle’s. That’s what he says, anyway.” She smiled, her
gaze open and accepting. “I’ve spent all of five minutes with you, and I’m sure
he’s right.”
    My responding smile came easy. “Thanks, but what is Chantelle’s?”
    “It’s where he and Zane went almost every weekend until our cousin finally
collared Raquel.”
    Again, Theo’s word ‘sordid’ whispered across my mind. “Chantelle’s is some
sort of club, I take it?”
    Livi chuckled again and sipped her wine. “You could