Page 35 of One Big Little Secret

Everyone has long memories here.

I should know.

I also can’t stand the fact that she’s been jumping around and flailing like many serial entrepreneurs. The scattershot approach usually ends in defeat, rather than stumbling on the next big thing.

I look across at her, at her set face and the hard line of her mouth under those big brown eyes.

What happened between us years ago hasn’t stayed locked up in the past like I hoped. She may not remember me, but I think the energy is there. Call it subconscious or whatever the fuck.

It’s here, right now, this ugly dynamic that has us bowing up at each other like alley cats.

That’s why I’m snapping at her. Not that she’s pissing me off. This shadow of a one-night stand I never imagined I’d relive.

Maybe we need to talk about it and drag this monster out in the open.

Goddammit, Pat, couldn’t you have just kept it in your pants for one night on that boat?

I pull up outside the office. She throws her seat belt off like she can’t get out of my sight fast enough.

“Salem, wait,” I tell her.

She hesitates, and I hate every bit of this situation as she twists back around.

“What is it? What now?” she asks sharply.

It guts me how badly I messed up. I’m supposed to be the professional mentor, the leader. Not the guy who’s losing his shit at snide remarks every five seconds she’s in the room.

“I need to ask you something,” I say. “You won’t like it, I’m not going to like it, but it needs to be done before this relationship—our professional relationship, obviously—goes any further.”

Her face pulls tighter.

She faces me with wide eyes, glistening until the flecks of gold in them shine.

I hate that I notice her eyes so much.

I shouldn’t notice fucking anything.

Sighing, I release the steering wheel with effort, trying to ignore the horror in her expression. According to her, I’m the bossman from hell.

And to make this better, first I have to make it worse.

“So here’s my question,” I tell her, locking eyes. “Were you ever on a riverboat casino?”

5

MISS UNLUCKY (SALEM)

Were you ever on a riverboat casino?

My heart stops ticking like a broken clock.

Patton Rory’s words bounce around my head like a stray bullet, lodging between my ears.

Oh, here we go.

I wondered if he knew.

Right from the start when he gave me that strange, slowly dawning look of horror.

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