Page 26 of Indiscretion

“Nice. But those people drive like lunatics. They make New Yorkers seem tame.”

The bartender brought our drinks. Ben lifted and sipped. “So what happened after the wedding? You left so early the next morning, I didn’t get to talk to you. Lily said you and Naomi shared the cabin.”

I nodded. “We did.”

“And…”

“And nothing. I slept on the couch, and she slept in the bedroom. I got up the next morning and left.”

“Really? I thought for sure you two would hook up. I saw you sucking face out on the dance floor.”

“That was to piss Emily off.”

“Looked like a lot more than that from where I was sitting.”

I sucked back my drink. “Nope.”

Ben rubbed the stubble on his chin. “You know, Naomi is looking for a job.”

“You mentioned that before.”

“And you need a paralegal.”

“I thought she was looking to change careers?”

“She is. She worked as a paralegal in Virginia for a few months before she left.”

“Why would she want to do that? She’ll make half the money an attorney would for doing all the grunt work.”

Ben shrugged. “Does it matter why? She’s smart and available, and you need someone.”

But the last thing I needed was to mix business with pleasure again. And if I told my buddy that, I’d be admitting I thought of Naomi as pleasure, and then he’d tell his wife, and she’d sink her teeth in and never let it go. I loved Lily, thought she was great for Ben. But she loved doing coupley things, and she’d be relentless if she saw an opportunity for her friend and her husband’s best friend to potentially get together.

“No thanks. I’m hiring an all-male staff.”

“Why would you do that?”

“Because the men in my life don’t abandon me for ten grand extra and an expense allowance.” I shook my head. “I still can’t believe Margaret did that.”

Ben grinned. “It would take at least twenty for me to ditch you.”

“Thanks, buddy.”

“I’m not going to harp on the subject, but Naomi could take a lot off your plate. She can do more than just a paralegal—graduated second in our class, and Lily says she’s the best researcher she knows.”

“Oh yeah? Then why don’t you or Lily hire her to work at the DA’s office? They’re always looking for people.”

“We both tried. They wouldn’t hire her.”

My brows pinched. “Why not?”

“Long story, and not mine to tell.”

That made me curious. But I managed to not push and instead added it as yet another reason to steer clear of the woman. Clearly she had some skeletons in her closet.

Chapter 8

DAWSON

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