Hope Smolders Read Online Free PDF Page B

curvy and you have legs a mile long. You’ve always been way too harsh on yourself. I’m going to give you an assignment. Tonight, get naked and stand in front of your mirror and tell yourself how lush and gorgeous you are.”
    Jane laughed. Chelsea didn’t.
    “You’re kidding, right?
    “Nope. Do it. Tonight.”
    “I do not look at myself naked.”
    “Why the hell not?”
    “Because…because it’s stupid.”
    “It is not. Every woman should look at herself naked and tell herself how gorgeous she is. Pick out your good points and highlight them.”
    Jane stared at Chelsea, who had the most beautiful red hair that didn’t come from a salon, the most gorgeous breasts that any human—man or woman—could appreciate, and a tight, toned body that Chelsea worked on with yoga. Of course she had no problem looking at herself naked. Jane, on the other hand?
    “I don’t think so.”
    “I do think so. You just haven’t looked at yourself in so long, and haven’t had a man appreciate that beautiful body of yours in so long, that you’re picking out imaginary flaws. Tonight that ends. Get naked. Do inventory. And tell yourself that you’re beautiful. Because you are. Obviously Will thinks you’re hot or he wouldn’t have been kissing you last night.”
    “I’m…mushy.”
    “You are not. You run around like crazy after those kids and at school. You get more exercise than the average woman. I think when you give your body a critical look, you might be surprised.”
    “I think I’ll be depressed.”
    Chelsea huffed out a frustrated breath. “Do it. That’s an order.”
    She sighed. “Fine.”
    “And when Will calls you for that date, you say yes.”
    She would, but she still wasn’t sure about the sex part.
    * * *
    W hen she got home that night after working at the gym, something was different, but she couldn’t put her finger on what it was.
    “Did you hire someone to mow the lawn, Mom?”
    Leave it to Ryan to figure it out. Someone had mowed the lawn. And weeded, too.
    “Uh, no, I didn’t.”
    So, who had? She hustled the kids inside and asked Bill Doughty, one of her neighbors, thinking he’d probably gotten tired of her extra-long grass. She’d meant to get around to mowing it, but it was her least favorite chore and she always left it ’til last, which only made it harder to mow. She knew that, of course, but she still procrastinated.
    Bill said he hadn’t done it, but he told her Will Griffin had come by with his mower and weed eater on the back of his truck and had taken care of it this afternoon. Then Bill’s wife, Claire, had come outside and asked if Will was Jane’s new boyfriend.
    Jane had smiled politely and thanked them for letting her know. She wasn’t about to give Claire, a very nice woman but one of the worst neighborhood blabbermouths, any information.
    She fed the kids, they did homework, and after they went to bed, she graded papers, took a shower, then opened her closet door where she hid her full-length mirror.
    This was stupid. She rarely looked at herself naked. Typically after she showered she slathered on lotion, always trying to avoid catching sight of herself in the bathroom mirror. She knew what waited for her there—disappointment. After Vic left, she’d stopped caring what she looked like because there was no one around to impress.
    But Chelsea was right. It was time to take a critical look at her body, especially if lean and muscled Will was possibly, maybe going to be touching it.
    The thought made her squeeze her eyes shut and cringe. She was thirty-two years old. She’d had two children. Will was single and no doubt used to smooth, unmarred bodies that hadn’t delivered two babies.
    Yikes.
    Might as well get this over with. She hit the big light and threw her eyes open.
    Wow. She desperately needed a haircut. That was a mess.And her eyebrows had nearly reached unibrow status and were in desperate need of waxing. Taking a glance south, she realized other parts