Page 46 of Snap Shot

Bea grabs my shoulder. “You're wearing work clothes!”

“Sleeping at the office again?” Gabe raises an eyebrow.

“No.” What the hell am I supposed to tell them? “I…” Hurry up, brain.“…Spent the night somewhere else.” Genius!

“Somewhereelse?” Gabe asks. “Weren't you going to Radek's to make peace or something?”

I did tell her that. Crap. “Oh, yeah.” I wave it off. “We're all good there. I bought him dinner and worked it all out.”

You did nothing of the sort. This is not good. Not good, Indi. You're building a Jenga tower of lies.

Bea snickers. “Men are so easy. Feed 'em once and they'll do whatever you ask.”

“So where did you go?” My best friend's eyes narrow.

Sammie interrupts with an apology and our drinks, giving me twenty seconds of sucking this coffee down before I have to answer. A runner outside the window swerves through the line of people waiting to have brunch. And then it hits me.

“I ran into this guy from the gym.”

Gabe stirs her drink with a stick of celery, the ice clink-clink-clinking against the glass. “And what? Had a sleepover? You've never done that before.”

She’s right. I've never spent a night like that with any man. Landon’s the first.

“And who is this 'Gym Guy,' anyway?”

“He's a guy.” Excellent. She'll totally buy this.“We've been flirting or something, I guess. He invited me over, we had some wine and I had too much, so I stayed.” Only one lie there.

“That's so dangerous.”

“Alright,calm down, everyone.” I hold up my hands. “I'm a grown woman and I can handle myself.” This is not at all true. I'm a big dummy who's fallen into old, bad habits.

Bea takes a break from her mimosa. “Is he hot?”

Ah, yes. Behraz, my voice of reason. I roll my eyes. “Yes.”

“Is he packing?” She prods, grinning over her glass.

I cover my face with my hands. “It iswaytoo early—”

“That means 'yes,'” Gabe butts in.

“Noice. And you like him?” A complicated question if I ever heard one.

Head tossing back with a weary sigh, I admit my indecision. “I don't know, I have no idea what I'm doing.” Landon turns my brain to mashed potatoes.

My legal secretary leans in, smiling with impish glee. “You gonna let him” —she waggles her eyebrows, then creates anowith one hand and pokes the index finger of the other through it, whistling once— “wet your whistle?”

Gabe chokes on her Bloody Mary and reaches for the napkin from her lap.

“Shut up,” I hiss through my teeth and elbow her.

“What? There's nothing wrong with having fun.”

“I agree,” Gabe chimes in again. “It's time, my friend. I say, let the man play your vocal cords like a violin.”

Bea cackles, pounding her fists lightly on the tabletop. “Do him! Do him! Put his crocodile in your swamp!” Eyes wide as they can be, my face reddens. It does nothing to deter their teasing.

“Swirl his meat tornado through your southern region!” Gabe twirls a finger in the air, making a quiet drilling noise. “Vvvvvvvvvvvvvooo!”

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