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CHAPTER ONE

SUSANNAH stepped from the shorapped herself in a towel and raced down the chilly hallway to the kitchen

This day—this very iood start

The shower had been so cold it had h to wake the dead, but the heat trickling out of them wouldn’t have heated a dollhouse And, as she set the kettle on to boil, a cockroach the size of Godzilla scurried across the linoleum

But it hat she read on the clock over the stove that set her heart pounding

Seven-fifteen?

It couldn’t be No way It was six-fifteen, it had to be She’d set her alarh tiet dressed, put on her makeup and blow-dry her hair, have a slice of toast with her coffee, make Peter his breakfast and still arrive at the office before anyone else

It was important to see, and never mind that her heart would be in her throat Even the fortune cookie that had coht’s order of take-out General Tso’s chicken had said that much

Tomorrow, the little slip of paper in the cookie had promised, is the first day of the rest of your life

Well, of course it is, the practical little voice in Susannah’s head had whispered, but the other voice, the one that lived in her heart or her soul or wherever it was hopes and prayers lived, that voice had said, You see, Susannah? The whole world knows that you’re standing on the edge of your dream

Editor-in-chief Not in five years, or ten, but right now A giant step up the ladder A Career, capital C, and all that ith it—independence, respect and security That was the dreained it would happen, she had her shot at achieving it And she wasn’t going to be shoved off course by akitchen clock

The clock was definitely broken, that was all there was to it She’d set her alarone off…and if she needed any further proof that it was after six, not after seven, all she had to do was take a look at Peter, as still lying asleep in her bed

Susannah gave a sigh of relief That was soht noas to have to deal with Peter’s early-eous, and she adored hio He was, typically, disgustingly, arrogantly male

Well, no Mr Matthew Ro smiles and the decorative blondes, he was typically male Peter, on the other hand, could be a sweetheart when he wanted to And he understood that her life could not revolve around him He didn’t complain if she worked late or expect her to put her career on hold so she could be there to take care of his needs

“It’s because he doesn’t really love you, Suz

e,” Claire had said more than once