Page 7 of Miss Understood

“You’ve been MIA again, Lucey. What gives? Big case?” Kennedy asks.

I nod. “One of these days, I’ll take a vacation.”

“I’ll believe it when I see it.” Monica clinks her glass against Kennedy’s.

“When the world stops churning out cheating, lying dirtbags, I promise you’ll find me on an island with a frothy umbrella drink in my hand. But I don’t see that happening anytime soon,” I say.

Kennedy frowns.

“What?”

“Your job makes you jaded. Not all love is bad,” she says.

The hearts in her eyes make me miss cynical Kennedy a little. Even as matchmaker, she used to think of love as a sham like I do. All that changed when she met Zac. He flipped her dark little heart upside down.

“I’m not saying it’s all bad,” I tell them. “But I’ve seen the ugly parts, and they’re hard to unsee. So I’ll leave the matchmaking and love stories to you two. Besides, I’ve got my hands full with this case. When I have time for myself again, then maybe I’ll consider bringing some unsuspecting hottie into the mess that is my life.”

Monica’s eyebrows pull together.

“Don’t be sad, Mon. Just because I’m not cut out for the married-with-a-white-picket-fence life doesn’t mean I’m not perfectly happy with the dick I do get.” I hold my hands a good amount apart and grin.

“The accountant?” Kennedy’s eyes go wide.

I shake my head. “No, that would be his assistant.”

Monica mouths,Wow.

“Miss being single yet?” I ask, but they both shake their heads. They’re drunk off love, so I’m not sure what else I should expect. “Fine. But on that note, I have to skip out on our plans this weekend. Brad is sending me to Vegas for work.”

“You make Vegas sound like a chore.” Kennedy laughs. “Did they close down all the strip clubs or ship away all the single men?”

“I wish that was the issue.” I roll my eyes. “Jesse is coming. God forbid they trust me to handle a simple little interview by myself. He’s got to have his grimy paws all over it. I swear this man thinks I’m incapable. Like I haven’t proven myself already.”

Kennedy gives Monica a sideways smirk.

“No.” I point at them. “None of that.”

“We didn’t say anything,” Monica says with a sugary sweet smile.

“You didn’t have to. I can see the wheels in your heads spinning, and you’ve got it all wrong,” I tell them. “Jesse is the most unbearable man on the planet, and even if he wasn’t, he’s a managing partner at the firm. I haven’t come this far to mess it all up with hot sex.”

“So you admit it would be hot?” Kennedy smiles.

“I admit that any sex withmewould be hot,” I shoot back. I don’t need a man to rock my world upside down and have a good time. “But that’s beside the point. If I want to enjoy myself, I don’t need to ruin my career to do it. Maybe I’ll find a hot dancer at one of the clubs who would like to assist.”

I glance over to the end of the bar, and the dark eyes that bought me my current drink are still pinned on me. He’d be game to help me ease the tension. And I’m leaving town tomorrow—an excuse to ditch out on him early.

My phone vibrates, and an email from Jesse pops up, breaking my train of thought. So much for Jesse’s hot date. It’s ten thirty at night, and he’s still working. Not that I wouldn’t be doing the same if I wasn’t out with the girls.

“Let me guess,” Monica says, looking at my screen.

“A list of to-dos for tomorrow.” I close the email without responding. “Like I’m not capable of figuring out what we need to prep for the initial interviews. Maybe if he’d been this overbearing with Marcus, they wouldn’t have had to bring me on to begin with.”

Pounding throbs between my temples. Brad’s micromanaging is one thing; he doesn’t actually want to be hands-on. But Jesse is going to be another story entirely. He’s overbearing, controlling, and I already feel his fingers all over everything.

“No more work talk,” I say. “I’ve got thirty minutes before I turn into a pumpkin, so distract me.”

“Well, I have a bit of news.” Kennedy grins. “Zac and I are headed to Paris next month. He’s got some business over there with investors for the Waterfront expansion project, so I’m tagging along.”

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