Slashed (Extreme Risk 3)
Page 65
He laughed. “Not even close.”
“How much?”
“Not telling you.”
She frowned. “Why not?”
“None of your business, li’l sis.” He leaned against the island and crossed his arms. “Now tell me what you’re doing here.”
She swallowed her sigh. “I’m moving to Chicago.”
He choked. “What?”
She lifted one shoulder. “I decided there’s not enough for me in Madison. I’m moving here. I want to live in a big city. There are more career opportunities.”
“Did you get fired again?”
“No!” She frowned. “No, I did not.”
He waited.
She pursed her lips. “I quit.”
He shook his head. “Why, Lovey? I thought it was a great job.”
“It was okay.”
“Then why did you quit?”
She avoided his eyes and wandered back into the living room. “It wasn’t my dream job.”
He snorted and followed her. “Dream job?”
She whirled around. “You have your dream job! Why shouldn’t I?”
She knew he wouldn’t understand. Growing up, everyone had known he was going to make it big. His hockey talent had been evident from an early age, and their parents had dedicated their lives to helping him achieve his dreams.
Lovey, on the other hand, hadn’t even had a dream.
She’d never begrudged Duncan his success. She was proud of her brother. He’d worked hard his whole life to achieve what he had and he totally deserved it. But there had been times she’d wished she had some kind of super talent that would make everyone proud of her.
“You’re giving me the gears before I’m barely in the door. Not cool, Dunc.”
His lips quirked as if he was repressing another smile. He gestured to one of the brown leather couches. “Sit down.”
She sank into the couch and crossed her legs.
Duncan sat across from her. “You don’t quit a perfectly good job just because it’s not your dream job, Lovey. If you don’t like it, you look around for something else and then you quit.”
“Not if you’re moving to Chicago. I had to quit so I could move here. I’ll find something here, I’m sure.”
Duncan thought she was a flighty, impetuous screwup who’d quit a good job and moved to another state on a whim. And she wasn’t about to set him straight on that, because…it was true.
Well, to a certain extent it was true. But she didn’t want to tell him about her goals and dreams because…because she wasn’t entirely sure she could do this…and she didn’t want him saying “I told you so” if she failed.
She pushed down her misgivings and smiled at him. “I just need a place to stay for a while.”
“You can’t stay here.”