Free Made for You by Lauren Layne Page A

mayor . But…nothing.
    Knock it off. You love your job. You’re just irritated because you let Will Thatcher kiss you.
    And the kiss had been fierce and unwanted. And if she’d felt a little bit of a tingle, it’d definitely been irritation. Not lust.
    Brynn jumped at a knock on the door, seeing her partner and friend standing in the doorway.
    “So how’d it go with the pseudo-celeb’s daughter? Was she a total prima donna?” Susan Wee asked.
    Brynn smiled in welcome, gesturing her partner into her office. As far as work relationships went, Brynn and Susan were perfectly suited.
    They were both calm, and friendly without being bubbly. Most importantly, they were damn good orthodontists.
    When Brynn had decided to start her own practice, she’d known a partner would be inevitable, but finding someone she could trust and who wouldn’t drive her nuts had taken longer than expected. Susan was younger than Brynn had wanted—only a couple years out of school—but her work was flawless and her chair-side manner was perfect.
    The fact that the women had become friends was icing on the cake.
    “I wouldn’t say Lizzie Blanton is a prima donna,” Brynn said, idly tapping her pen against her desk. “She is, however, a major brat.”
    Susan shrugged as she dropped into the chair across from Brynn. “She’s twelve. Of course she’s a brat.”
    “I don’t think I was,” Brynn mused, pursing her lips.
    “Me neither,” Susan said cheekily. “I was a perfect child. And pretty perfect now, if I do say so myself.”
    Brynn forced herself to smile back. It was a long-running joke between the two of them. Perfect jobs, perfect boyfriends, perfect lives…
    It was supposed to be a point of pride, having crafted her dream life through sheer organization and hard work.
    But today it felt…stale.
    Damn Will Thatcher.
    Her wave of self-doubt should have been limited to one day of birthday blues, but instead her discontent had been hovering above her head like a cartoon storm cloud. His unexpected presence brought back too many memories of her less-than-stellar moments.
    Like the time she’d keyed his car. Or the time she’d told his junior-year girlfriend that he was gay.
    Or the time she’d woken up in his bed. Naked.
    Don’t go there. The man had no bearing on her future.
    Maybe that was her problem. Brynn was a big believer in always keeping one eye on the future, but perhaps she was trying to focus on too much at once. Her life list had become overwhelming instead of being the beacon of focus it was supposed to be. Perhaps it was time to focus on just one item.
    The most important one.
    Marriage.
    And James would propose this year. She was sure of it. And then her next birthday would be perfect.
    Except…while focusing on the future usually centered Brynn, today it wasn’t working. Did she really want to spend her life merely ticking off days until her next big Life Event?
    Wasn’t there supposed to be…more?
    “You okay?” Susan asked, tilting her head to study Brynn. “You seem kind of off.”
    “A little PMS,” Brynn lied. “And the Blanton meeting gave me a headache. The mayor seems so levelheaded on TV, but up close she’s a little…intense.”
    “Aren’t they all when it comes to their darlings’ teeth? Slight overbites are the quintessential first-world problems.”
    “Does it ever get to you?” Brynn asked. “The fact that the majority of our clients come in for cosmetic reasons?”
    Susan lifted a shoulder. “I guess I sort of knew it coming into it, ya know? I mean, I know it’s not saving lives, but it’s good money, good hours…”
    “But is it fulfilling?”
    Susan blinked in surprise. “Of course. I love my job.”
    Brynn loved her job too. At least, she was pretty sure she did. Sometimes it felt a little less like love, and a lot more like… contentment .
    But that was good enough, right?
    “I’ll grab our lunches,” Susan said, standing. “You bring a salad?”
    “Yeah,”