Anything For You – Emma Collins (1)

“Where are you guys?” Denise turned to Kelsey with the easy warmth of someone who collected new people the way other lawyers collected billable hours. “In the city?” “Astoria,” Kelsey said. “Queens.” “Oh, I love Astoria. We almost rented there before we got the place in Gramercy. The food alone.”

“The food is insane. There’s this one bakery that does these amazing cookies, and I’m not exaggerating, I would commit actual crimes for them.” Denise laughed. “Okay, I need the name.” “Artopolis. But go early, they sell out.” Elizabeth took another sip of vodka and tried to look like she was listening. Kelsey’s thumb had started moving.

Small circles. Deliberate or unconscious? Elizabeth couldn’t tell. Either option was a problem. She shouldn’t have stared. An hour ago, when Kelsey had stepped out of the bathroom, Elizabeth had been at the mirror fastening her second earring. She’d glanced up, meaning to say something about the time, and the words had died somewhere between her brain and her mouth. Pale gold silk. A halter neckline that tied behind Kelsey’s neck and plunged in a sharp, clean V that stopped just above her sternum.

The dress clung to her waist, her hips, the fabric heavy enough to drape but light enough to shift when she breathed. Elizabeth had seen Kelsey in her work uniform a hundred times. Black apron, fitted tee, jeans. She’d registered that Kelsey was attractive in the way you registered any fact: noted, filed, moved on. This wasn’t a fact to be filed. This was Kelsey’s collarbones, bare and angular.

The soft shadow at the lowest point of the V, the line of her throat when she’d swallowed hard and asked, her voice going small, Is it too much? Elizabeth had frozen. Stood there. Let the silence pull open like a wound while her body responded to something her brain wasn’t ready to authorize. Heat in her face and lower, in her chest, behind her ribs. A dull, physical pull that had nothing to do with contracts or appearances or Grace’s wedding.

She should have said You look beautiful. She should have crossed the room and straightened the necklace that sat slightly off-center in the plunge, her fingers brushing Kelsey’s skin, and said, This is perfect, you’re perfect, stop worrying. She should have done anything other than stand there with one earring in and her lips parted and her composure six feet behind her.

Instead, she’d managed “amazing.” Like a movie review. Like she was rating a restaurant. And then turned away, because if she’d kept looking, she would have done something she couldn’t take back. She’d watched in the mirror as Kelsey’s expression shifted. Something bright dimming behind her eyes, her mouth pressing flat, her hands going to the fabric at her waist and smoothing it in that anxious tell.

he fundraiser was the kind of event Elizabeth Moretti tolerated rather than enjoyed. The kind where the air smelled like expensive perfume, and the clink of crystal glasses competed with the low hum of legal small talk. She stood near the bar, one hand wrapped around a glass of whiskey she hadn’t yet touched, the other tucked into the pocket of her tailored blazer. She scanned the room, her gaze skipping over the usual suspects— partners from her firm, a few judges she’d argued before, the occasional client who liked to pretend they were friends.

Her fingers tightened around the glass. One drink. That was the rule. Just enough to look like she was participating, not enough to dull the edge she needed to get through the night. Then she saw Grace. Grace stood bathed in the warm glow of the chandelier, her laughter cutting through the murmur of the crowd—a sound Elizabeth knew too well.

That slight tilt of her head, the way her fingers curled around the stem of her wine glass, the way her eyes crinkled at the corners. It was the laugh that meant she wasn’t just being polite. Elizabeth’s breath hitched, her ribs pressing in like she’d forgotten how to expand them. She’d told herself she was prepared for this, that running into Grace before the wedding would be good practice. The lie tasted bitter now. It wasn’t that Elizabeth still had feelings for her ex-wife.

Not at all. But it was hard to see someone you once loved moving on so easily. She looked good. Of course she did. Her dark hair was swept into an elegant twist, her dress a deep emerald that made her skin glow. She was still beautiful, still effortlessly poised, still everything Elizabeth had once thought she wanted. And then there was the woman beside her. Tall, polished, her blonde hair catching the light as she turned to say something to Grace.

Charlotte. The fiancée. Elizabeth had seen photos, of course, but seeing her in person was different. The sharp angles of Charlotte’s jawline, the effortless drape of her blazer over her shoulders, the way her fingers lingered on Grace’s wrist—each detail hit Elizabeth like a punch to the gut. Not just because she was beautiful, but because she was there, standing beside Grace like it was the most natural thing in the world, and in two weeks’ time, that would be Grace’s new wife.

Elizabeth exhaled. She wasn’t going to hide. That wasn’t who she was. She crossed the room, her heels clicking against the polished floor, her posture unshakable. Grace turned as she approached, her smile faltering for just a second before she smoothed it back into place. “Elizabeth,” Grace said, her voice warm but careful.

“I didn’t know you’d be here.” “Neither did I,” Elizabeth replied, her tone light, practiced.

This is a short excerpt from the opening of “” by Unknown, quoted for review and introduction purposes. All rights belong to the copyright holders.

Book Information

• Unique ID: 94644a42bf67bcec
• File Extension: .pdf
• File Size: 2,313,571 bytes (2.206 MB)
• Title: –
• Author: Unknown
• Pages: 237
• Language: English (en)

Reading & Word Statistics

• Estimated Reading Time: 388.53 minutes
• Total Words: 77,706
• Total Characters: 458,355
• Average Words per Page: 327.87
• Average Characters per Page: 1933.99

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