An Enchanted Spring: Mists of Fate - Book Two Read Free

Josh instructed. “I need you alert, Perkins. In the morning, you’re going to drink a small glass of orange juice. No coffee.”
    “What?!”
    “Trust me, Emma. Keep it simple, right?”
    Emma smiled a little. That was her mantra for her clients—keep it simple. Simple press releases, simple statements, simple truths—or lies, as the case warranted.
    If only real life worked like that.
    “Good night, Josh. I’ll see you in the morning.”
    “Six thirty, Emma.”
    Emma hung up, morose. Work always came first; everyone always needed something from her. But that was how her world worked—she gave, everyone took, and she was paid for it. Emma squared her shoulders and reminded herself that she didn’t need anything else from anyone. She had herself, and that was enough. It had been that way for years before Ben, and she was committed to being that way for years to come. She had her job, her health, and her true passion.
    When Emma was small, maybe seven or eight, her father had given her a giant toy castle. It was enormous, one of the spectacular dollhouses they sold in department stores, and it sparked her imagination like no other toy. Her mother gave her a tiny princess doll, and an entire garrison of knights to protect it. Emma usually made the princess rescue the knights, which made her mother laugh. The tinkling sound was full of joy; she always said how proud she was that her daughter was willing to save herself from any evil princes.
    It was Emma’s clearest memory from her childhood, aside from the day her teacher led her into the principal’s office, where a police officer told her that her parents had been killed in a car accident.
    When the time came for her to move into her grandparents’ house, she left the castle and the toys behind.
    But in college, something propelled her to take a medieval studies class, and in it, she found peace and a rediscovered love of knights in shining armor, which led to a major in Medieval Thought and Antiquities. It was her passion, and even though her job was demanding, she made time every month to write an article or two for various obscure publications. Articles that she told no one about, and even wrote under a pseudonym. It was her last shred of that girlhood dream, and she didn’t want reality to ever intrude.
    She blinked back the prick of tears. Her reality was anything but valiant knights. No, hers only included the evil prince. She was grateful her mother wasn’t alive to see what a failure she’d become.
    Emma shook herself from the direction of her thoughts, refusing to start a pity party that would no doubt have her reaching for another bottle of wine. She couldn’t go down that path, not when she had an important meeting in the morning about some hotshot client. She looked up at the sky, wishing she could see the stars, but in the city, all she ever saw was the kind of star who demanded more and more of her.
    Her phone buzzed with a text from Josh, reminding her to take the aspirin. Emma headed inside the empty apartment, trying to ignore the loneliness that threatened to overwhelm her.
    • • •
    “Ms. Perkins.” Paul Price clasped his hands tightly in front of his protruding belly. Although she tried to avoid looking directly at it, Emma always found herself staring at his shirt, her eyes locked on the bottom button as it strained against the hole. She wondered, if it did pop off, whether she’d have to dodge left or right.
    Mr. Price cleared his throat, and Emma’s eyes snapped up to his. Caught . She mentally chastised herself and resolved to pay better attention.
    “You’re certain there’s no prior connection to this client?” Mr. Price asked.
    Emma slid a glance to the clock that hung on the wall behind Josh, who was also forced to sit through this meeting. It was barely past eight a.m. She wasn’t sure how much longer she could hold out before asking for coffee.
    She carefully folded her hands in front of her and rested them on the