Total pages in book: 96
Estimated words: 89093 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 445(@200wpm)___ 356(@250wpm)___ 297(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 89093 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 445(@200wpm)___ 356(@250wpm)___ 297(@300wpm)
My luck wanes when I slide into the driver’s seat of my convertible. Within a second of stabbing the start button, the playlist I created for our trip commences blaring out of the speakers. It’s brimming with heartfelt songs that tear my heart out as effectively as my tires shred up the salt Cedric’s family laid in preparation for his arrival.
Do they know he’s screwing a blonde-haired, blue-eyed hipster with an exotic name like Rosha in the master suite of their family cabin?
I bet they do.
Nothing gets past Cedric’s mother. She knew her beloved son was planning to propose even before he asked her advice on what type of ring someone like me would like.
In case you’re wondering, his swipe had nothing to do with my heritage. It was solely based on my intelligence.
According to Cedric’s mother, I’m not his type. He likes busty girls with air for brains—Rosha on tap—something I’ll never be even with me winning a handful of beauty contests during my teens. My green, almond-shaped eyes paired with my father’s tanned skin gives me a distinct look not many mixed-race women have, and when added to the fact I’m a stickler for believing you are what you eat, I have unblemished skin that hides the fact I’m rarely seen without a book in my hand.
I don’t read romance novels like the nurses at Ravenshoe Private. I love a good fiction book, but non-fiction medical theses are more my jam. Summarizing a seemingly impossible surgical procedure was one of the rare things Cedric and I had in common. He loved a good hypothesis on the anomalies of the human anatomy as much as me.
He just took his research one step further by conducting his revisions on breathing specimens instead of cadavers.
As the scene I interrupted rolls through my head like a film in a movie projector, I exit the windy driveway of the Lancaster winter estate. The roads are extremely slippery but isolated. It’s almost midnight, so a lack of traffic is understandable, not to mention the fact that the Lancasters own almost every property from the foot of the mountain to its peak.
This region of Cataloochee is prime ski territory, and although you can ski at one of the many resorts located within the area, you won’t see the Lancasters sharing their splendor any time soon.
They value exclusivity even more than morals.
My eyes snap from the road to the radio in my Audi S5 when the song Cedric proposed to booms from the speakers. While endeavoring to switch the song to one about cheating spouses getting what they deserve, the moonlight bouncing off my engagement ring captures my attention. It’s a monstrosity of a ring that I happily stored in my locker at the beginning of every shift. It’s too large to wear with gloves, and since they’re a part of my personal protective equipment, I used them as my excuse not to wear a piece of jewelry that was meant to signify that Cedric and I were off the market.
God, I’m a fool.
How could I have not seen the signs sooner?
I’m not a first-year college student or a medical intern with no prior experience. I’m thirty-five years old, for crying out loud. I should have spotted Cedric’s game plan from a mile away.
I probably would have if I hadn’t been blinded by his handsome face and unblemished grin. It also doesn’t help that he was my first serious boyfriend. You don’t become the Chief Medical Officer of a world-renowned hospital just shy of your thirty-second birthday by scrolling dating app sites every night. I worked my butt off the past sixteen years, and what do I get for it? A cheating fiancé who wants to take his mistress on the global adventure you planned together.
As Cedric’s final words ring in my ears on repeat, and before I can yank off the ring that exposes all my flaws, I dig my cell phone out of my medical bag. While darting my eyes between my phone screen and the road, I log into the travel app our itinerary is saved in, then click on the link to check-in for our flight tomorrow.
I’m not going to Paris—I’d rather volunteer to do every colonoscopy for the next calendar year than surround myself with loved-up couples in one of the most romantic cities in the world—but I am sure as hell going to make sure Cedric doesn’t profit from my decade-long slog. I put in the hard yards to splurge on a trip of a lifetime, so only I will benefit from it.
My father’s favorite saying is that you’ll never hit a six with another man’s bat, so if Cedric wants to take Rosha to see the lights of Paree, he’ll need another batsman because his big hitter was just bowled out.