The Wedding Wager (McMaster the Disaster) Read Online Free Page B

been home for two months now. I should probably start thinking about finding a job.”
    She crinkled her brow. “But what about Jake? Why would you need a job?”
    “Um… because I still have to pay rent until I get married. Not to mention I still want to have a job. I mean, what the heck would I do with myself all day if I didn’t have a job?”
    She shrugged. “Watch Ellen?”
    I gave her a look. I mean, I liked Ellen as much as the next person, but I could seriously not see myself holed up in one of Jake’s houses, sitting on the couch and eating bonbons all day. “Would you be able to live with yourself if you didn’t have a job or any sort of identity of your own?”
    She seemed to consider this for a moment. “I guess I see what you’re saying, but, the thing is, this is kind of your opportunity to do whatever you want now.”
    “Not until the wedding,” I said. “I only have enough left over from the ghostwriting job to get me through another month or two.”
    She rolled her eyes. “Don’t you think if you just asked Jake for the money, he’d be more than happy to tide you over until the wedding.”
    “Oh yeah, that would be fun. ‘Hey honey, could you just go ahead and pay my rent while I wait for you to marry me?’ I don’t think I’m quite that desperate yet.”
    Jen made a face. “I guess that would be a tad humiliating.”
    I nodded. “Exactly,” I said, typing in my job search.
    “So… another copywriting job?” she asked.
    I shrugged. “If I have to, I guess. I’d rather find something a little more interesting, but I don’t know if there’s anything out there. Especially for someone like me.”
    “You are a bit of a spotlight hog,” Jen said, gesturing to the papers. “Hey,” she said, brightening. “You do have all that disguise experience from the Prince Leo job, maybe you could go incognito.” She giggled, turning her attention back to the tabloid she was holding.
    “Har, har,” I said, although I couldn’t help but give the idea just a moment’s thought. I mean, I didn’t have to do a full-fledged top-to-bottom disguise, but a little change in hair color or a hat or something might not be such a bad idea. Of course, most people would probably recognize my name in an instant. McMaster isn’t all that common, not to mention no one could seem to say it anymore without adding the lovely ‘the Disaster’ to the end of it.
    I broadened my search to include anything in the telecommuting realm. At least when people saw my name then, I could just lie and say it was a different Josie McMaster, right?
    But the choices were few and far between.
    “Aargh,” I yelled, making Jen jump. “There’s nothing in here.”
    “Don’t worry, you’ll find something. And even if you don’t it’s not like you can’t just go to Jake.” She shrugged.
    SHRUGGED!
    As if I would be okay with taking handouts. Say what you want about my mother, but at least she raised her daughters to be self-sufficient. You know, mostly. I tried not to think about the whole Bridesmaid Lotto thing where I agreed to participate just for a trip to Europe. Of course, it was a dream trip, but still.
    I guess we all had our weaknesses.
    But I was not going to live my life being somebody else’s burden.
    What I really wanted to say to Jen was to stuff it, but instead I exited as gracefully as possible with a simple, “I think I need a walk.”
     
     

 
    CHAPTER 4
     
    I put on my biggest pair of sunglasses and stormed out of the apartment building, pausing only to smile as I passed by the few paparazzi who always seemed to be hanging around. Of course I hated having to be all nicey-nice to the evil jerks all the time, but they held the power to either make me look fabulous or set me up for disaster. It was an odd dynamic, all the photogs looking all greasy and wearing clothes that had seen the better part of last decade, and they had the power to trash you if you didn’t look glamorous or beautiful