Page 45 of Shattered

“What I could. Bane did the rest, using my design. I did most of the snake except the back I couldn’t reach.”

“I like them,” she says, paying particular attention to the snake.

“So why are you a nurse and not an artist?”

She shrugs. “Practicality, I guess? I tried to pick it back up at one point, but then I met my ex-husband, Ian. Things with us moved so quickly that the rest of the world sort of fell away.”

“What happened with him? Was he a deadbeat?”

“No,” she fires back quickly before softening a little. “Ian’s a good man. Sexually, we didn’t click.”

“He didn’t treat you like the slut you are.”

She rolls her eyes. “No, he didn’t.”

“Now THAT I can believe,” I say with a smirk. I can’t imagine Sunshine being with anyone who doesn’t use her up like the slut she is. “How did you not know you weren’t compatible before you married him?”

She hesitates, averting her gaze, which only makes me more interested.

“Come on, Sunshine. Spit it out.”

She rolls her eyes, her voice coming out short. “We both saved ourselves for marriage. Our wedding night was the first for both of us.”

“Andthatis exactly why that saving yourself for marriage shit doesn’t work.”

“Yeah, well, I know that now,” she says, angry. “Ian’s engaged to my friend Allegra, a dominant woman.”

“And how do you feel about that?” Once the words are out of my mouth, I feel like a dumbass. I don’t give a fuck.

“I’m happy for them. But all my friends are giving me grief and treating me like I’m heartbroken when I’m not. I really am over Ian.”

Our conversation is interrupted by a knock at the door. Before I can move, Lila jumps up from her chair to answer the door. I can see her hesitate when she spots Jared’s face in the doorway.

“That’s him,” I say. Smart girl.

Jared eyes her up as he walks in, blatantly looking her up and down, and I snap my fingers at him, grabbing his attention.

“Down, boy,” I say.

Jared grins, walking straight past Lila and up to my desk.

“I hate to tell you, but you’re stuck with me today,” I tell him.

He grins. “Oh no, what ever will I do?”

Rolling my eyes, I hand the tablet to him, and his jaw drops.

“This is fucking sick!”

“My assistant suggested we add some small trees for scale.”

Lila bristles, just like I knew she would. “Your assistant, my ass!”

“Short fuse on that one,” Jared says.

“Yeah, but she’s more fun when she’s fired up.”

Before she can open her mouth again, I reach under the desk and grab a sketchpad and some pencils, offering them to her, and she takes them.

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