Free Made for You by Lauren Layne

reverse. “Thanks for helping with the tire,” she called. “And thanks for making me feel like a prostitute to pay for it.”
    Brynn gave one last jaunty wave before she began driving down the street. She hated that he’d probably leave the flat tire sitting messily in her driveway, but it was worth it to make the dramatic exit.
    And she’d needed to get out of there, fast. Another second with Will pressed against her and she wouldn’t have been thinking about braces, or the mayor’s daughter, or James. Heck, she probably wouldn’t have even made it into the office.
    Thank God she hadn’t kissed him back. She wouldn’t do that to James.
    Or to herself.
    She heard her phone vibrating in her purse, and reached for it as she pulled to a stop at a red light.
    It was a message from Will. You kiss like a houseplant. And you still owe me a favor.
    All the smugness she’d felt a moment ago began to fade. Every instinct told her that being in Will Thatcher’s debt was very, very bad news.

C HAPTER SEVEN
    A solid career will never let you
down the way a man can.
    —Brynn Dalton’s Rules for an
Exemplary Life, #39
    S he needn’t have worried about not making it to work on time.
    The mayor and her daughter were fifteen minutes late, and neither an apology nor an acknowledgment of the tardiness was forthcoming.
    Basically, she was indebted to the devil’s son over a flat tire for nothing. Awesome.
    “But I don’t want braces,” Lizzie Blanton said, folding her arms over her thin preteen waist, and sounding more like a spoiled five-year-old than an eighth grader.
    “I can understand that,” Brynn said with a reassuring smile. “Few kids that come in here want braces, but I can pretty much guarantee you’ll be grateful you had them when you’re grown-up.”
    Lizzie gave a huff. “That’s ages away.”
    Brynn and the mayor exchanged a commiserating glance over Lizzie’s head. Not as far as you think, honey. After her near breakdown in the bathroom on her birthday, Brynn knew all too well how fast time went. No matter how carefully you planned, no matter how diligent you were, time kept chugging along and soon you were thirty-one and falling rapidly behind on all the things you’d thought you’d have checked off by now.
    She wished someone would have told her when she was twelve not to let any of your life goals depend on someone else. Because even the most perfect guy could drag his feet to the altar and then you were screwed .
    “Dr. Dalton?”
    “I’m sorry, what?” Brynn said, forcing her attention back to her sulky patient.
    “I can wait for a couple months? At least until after yearbook pictures?”
    “I don’t see why not,” Brynn said with a careful glance at the mayor, making sure she wasn’t contradicting parental preference. “My braces recommendation for you is primarily for cosmetic reasons at this point. You won’t be doing any harm to your teeth or jaws if you hold off.”
    Actually, Lizzie Blanton’s mouth would be just fine without braces for a lifetime , but Brynn wasn’t about to volunteer that.
    Still, the cosmetically fueled recommendation brought to mind Will’s accusations that her career choice was superficial and shallow.
    He was wrong.
    She knew firsthand that having straight teeth wasn’t always about vanity.
    Sometimes it was about confidence.
    Twenty minutes later, the mayor and her daughter were off to buy some frilly “fro-yo” milkshake the mayor had promised, and Brynn was in her office reading a mind-numbing article about some newfangled retainer.
    But she couldn’t concentrate.
    It seemed she couldn’t go two minutes without some flare of self-doubt creeping into her brain, and the latest offender was wondering why she’d busted her ass to get to work for such a mundane appointment.
    Not that there was anything wrong with the daughter or the mother, but they’d been pretty standard patients. She waited for the zip of excitement that she’d just met the