Page 175 of Dirty Damage

My fault. My fault. My fault.

“Are you still looking at the wanted ads?” Mara asks as she walks into the apartment, her cheeks bright pink from the wind.

“I found something I’m suited for,” I tell her with false cheer, pointing to my laptop screen. “‘Busty blonde with poor judgement wanted as mannequin for storefront window.’Perfect for me, wouldn’t you say?”

Mara sighs. “You’re being hard on yourself.”

“No, I’m not. I’m being fair. Iama busty blonde with poor judgement.”

“Okay, this calls for some serious reinforcements,” Mara declares, moving to the fridge.

“If you’re looking for ice cream, I finished it all around 11:00 A.M. this morning.”

Raising her eyebrows, Mara closes the freezer door. “You could have sent me a text. I would have stopped at the grocery store.”

I just shake my head in embarrassment. “You’re already doing enough for me without wasting your money on ice cream to satisfy my depression.”

“First of all, spending money on ice cream is never wasted. And second of all—” She plops onto the bean bag next to the coffee table. “—you need to get out of this funk and get proactive with your life.”

I point to my laptop. “What do you think I’m trying to do here?”

She throws a skeptical look at the wanted ads on my screen. “Found anything good?” I open my mouth but she cuts me off at the pass. “And no more mannequin cracks, either.”

I snort. “Damn it. I had a couple more lined up. They were good, too.”

“Don’t care. I want to hear a legit plan from you.”

“My plans haven’t been very successful lately.” I grimace, aware that I sound like a spoiled child. “Maybe instead of Vegas, I should move somewhere completely new. A real fresh start.”

“Move? Where would you even go, boo?”

“Anywhere else,” I sigh. “There’s nothing for me here anymore, Mara. The whole of Palm Beach will have been my boudoir shoot by now. No one worth their salt is gonna hire me. And if they do, I probably wouldn’t want to work for them anyway. Las Vegas is full of ex-boyfriends and bad memories. I just… I don’t know what to do.”

“Don’t give up!” Mara insists. “That’s what you should do. You’re acting like it’s all over for you.”

“I don’t mean to be dramatic,” I say dramatically. “But itis.”

“Because you broke up with your boyfriend?” Mara balks.

To her credit, it’s the first time she’s really brought him up. She’d been true to her word about not prying.

“Come on, Sut; that’s not you.”

“I broke up with myfiancé,” I correct. “And also, he broke up with me.”

“Surely there are some nuances to that story.”

“None that matter.” I shrug. “It’s just us Palmer women. Can’t keep a good man. Can’t avoid the bad ones.” I drop my face intomy palms. “I should have known better than to get involved with Drew.”

“Drew?!” Mara cries. “Your breakup has something to do with Drew?”

It’s not exactly the truth, but it’s the closest I can come to it without getting my ass sued, so I nod.

“It was stupid, I know, but hindsight is twenty-twenty. At the time, I was worried about Sydney. So, when he said he was back to working for Paul and he would keep an eye on Sydney for me?—”

“Oh, God.” Mara cringes. “He used her to get close to you. Then he fucked up your relationship with Oleg. That’s classic.”

“In a nutshell.”

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