Page 24 of Playing Flirty

“I guarantee it’s worse than you think. Between having Hannah in our bed and the hospital needing him all the time, it’s almost impossible.” She blew out a long breath. “But it’s not that strange. I’ve spoken to other people. Unfortunately for you, Shaun and Neema are terrible examples. They’re like rabbits.”

This got a loud squawk of laughter out of me, and a few people turned to look at us. I covered my mouth with my hand.

“I know for a fact that Lincoln hasn’t been with anyone in forever,” she whispered.

“What about the girl he games with online?” I said, turning my focus back to the screen.

“They haven’t met.”

“It’s been years!” I said, my jaw dropping.

Claire only shrugged. “You know Lincoln. He’s… shy.” A small smile crept onto her face. “He let you call him Link for four months before you found out that wasn’t his name.”

“He should have corrected me,” I said, mortified at how I’d misheard him when we’d first met. Between the volume and depth of his voice, it was sometimes hard to hear him.

“It’s nice to be able to talk about this,” Claire said, looking up at the exposed trusses. “Marriage isn’t always easy, and I didn’t want to be a bummer when Neema and Shaun are so excited about their wedding.” She fiddled with the gold band on her ring finger.

“Do you still love him?” I asked, thinking about how my mother always asked me.

Claire nodded before I could get the words out, a sparkle returning to her eyes.

The scoreboard lit up the screen, and Claire giggled.

W.A. still topped the chart, with R.J. in second place. I’d had the best score for months until I bragged about it toWilliam. After that, he came here and topped me. I’d been trying to beat him ever since. I wasn’t even getting close.

The mere thought of William made my stomach twist, or flutter, or clench.

“Uhm…” I faced my friend. “Would you rather I tell you a secret and you can’t tell anyone, or would you rather I keep it to myself?”

She quirked a brow. “Not even Neema?”

“Neema will tell Shaun, and Shaun will freak out even though he shouldn’t… I mean, he’ll hit on anything that moves. We know that so it’s not even a big deal,” I rambled.

“‘He’ as in William?” Her eyes went so wide that the whites were visible all around the irises. “Williamhit on you?”

My heart stilled at hearing it out loud.

“No. He just… ugh.” I groaned, my cheeks heating like a flame. “There was a moment… I guess? I don’t know.”

“I want details. I’ve always wanted to know what it is about him that has women following him around. Immerse me in this moment. Okay? Start at the beginning.”

I slammed restart on the screen. I would need another game for this.

Round 9

Since receiving my warning at work for being toodistracting, I’d made an effort to blend in as much as possible. Yet whenever I turned around, Jeffrey Markham was there, his eyes searching for something to linger on. He paused behind me and peeked at my emails, made himself a cup of coffee when I went to the kitchen, and timed his lunch break to coincide with mine—all while staring at me with his beady eyes.

And he made a point of never doing it in front of anyone else. I started wondering if I was imagining it.

“Rose,” he said, pausing at my desk, “perhaps you could stay late and help me with the I&I report. I’d love to have your input.”

I cleared my throat, thankful my black blouse was buttoned to the top. I knew one thing for certain: I would not be staying late to work with him alone.

But I wasn’t sure how to say no either.

It was game night, and I had been looking forward to it for ages, but that wouldn’t quite cut it as a good enough reason to reject my boss. I&I was one of our biggest clients.

“I could take it home and finish it this evening,” I suggested.

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