Page 61 of Pretty Little Thing

My desk phone rings and I lay my sticks down. “Hold that thought.” I swallow my mouthful of deliciousness before picking up the phone. “Nora Payne,” I answer.

“Friend of yours?”

I shift in my chair as warmth rushes between my thighs. “Yes,” I answer, playing cool.

“Does she know?”

I lick the flavor off my lips. “Know what?”

“Where you spend your nights now.”

I glance over Trix’s down-turned head, trying to find Clive, but I can’t see him. “No,” I say.

“Do any of your friends know?”

“Not yet.”

He lets out that soft laugh. “Come to the club again tonight. Eight o’clock. I have something for you.”

My body aches with anticipation. “Sounds good,” I say. “Let me know how it goes.”

“Bye, Ms. Payne.”

“Bye.”

I drop the phone back onto its cradle, looking up to try and catch Clive again but the angle is nowhere near his desk block.

“Anyway,” Trix says with a thick sigh, “what are you wearing to Mel’s thing tonight?”

I blink. “Thing? What thing?”

“Her book signing,” she says. “We talked about it at brunch this week. And the week before that. And the week before that. I think. Not gonna lie, that one’s a bit fuzzy…”

“Shit,” I breathe.

“Did you forget?”

“No, I didn’t forget. Just slipped my mind, I guess.”

“I was thinking we could coordinate something and go as her cheerleaders,” she says. “It sounds like this book is getting just as ripped apart in reviews as the last one. She’ll need some tender loving care afterward, I bet.”

“Absolutely. We’ll do whatever she wants.” I twinge with sympathy. “Poor thing. Wonder why she’s struggling all of a sudden.”

“Oh, come on.” She tilts her head. “We both know why.”

I shrug and shove another roll into my mouth.

---