Page 46 of One Sweet Lie

SEVENTEEN (B)

HARLOW

Yards of fuzzy brown fleece and robin blue buttons lay scattered on the nursery floor.

My fingers were numb from hours of needlework, but I was too wired and livid to stop.

Bzzzz! Bzzzz! Bzzzz!

“Hello?” I answered my phone without looking at the screen.

“What are you doing?” Sasha asked.

“Sewing an army of Binky Bunnies.”

“Um, okay…Why?”

“Because I need to get this done before the twins wake up,” I said.

“So, you’re not slipping out to join me in the lobby for ‘Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde’ tequilas?”

“After I’m finished.”

“Harlow, I’m already downstairs, and it’s ten o’clock.”

“AfterI’m finished.” I stabbed the needle through the pacifier, giving the first bunny a new eye.

“Would you like me to come up and help you sew, then?”

“Yes, please, but we can’t talk about anything except these bunnies. We must make sure each one is one-hundred-percent perfect.”

“Oh god, Harlow…” She sighed. “Tell the security guy to let me onto the elevator.”

It wasfour in the morning when we completed our first set. I compared the picture of the custom pacifier to our editions and couldn’t spot a single difference.

Two down, twenty to go.

EIGHTEEN

PIERCE

Denise pulled her Bentley in front of my condo on a Saturday night.

After sixteen hours of nonstop work, I’d hoped to feel a boost of euphoria like I used to, but the only thing I felt was exhaustion.

And I couldn’t admit to anyone that my reason for working late every night didn’t stem from passion; it was because I couldn’t handle sharing my home with the sexiest woman on the planet.

I need to see if I’ve broken the record for cold showers.

“It’s so good to have you back with the team.” She looked at me.

“I feel the same way.”

“Really?”

“Yeah.” I opened the door. “I missed working with you and Brian.”

“Wait.” She grabbed my arm. “I’ve been holding off on this, because I didn’t know how to bring it up, but…Are we ever going to pick up where we left off at the charity dinner?”

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