Page 22 of Secret Desire
“Well well well, what have we here?” Ariel teased as they stopped to greet me. “Look who’s doing the walk of shame!”
I was still wearing my dress from the opening last night, although it was impossibly wrinkled.
“And she’s got the sex hair too,” Grace chortled.
I resisted the urge to reach up to smooth what I knew would be a tangle of wild hair on my head. I hadn’t even bothered to run a brush through it before I left, which was stupid of me given thatthe local paparazzi sometimes hung around AGM Tower looking for a scoop.
“What are you guys doing?” I asked, trying to distract them. “Are you going somewhere?”
“Oh no you don’t,” Ariel said. “Who is she? Someone from the opening?”
“Ah, yeah kind of.”
My besties were studying me carefully. We’d had years of practice ferreting out each other’s secrets and teasing each other. I made my face as neutral as possible.
“Was it one of the catering crew?” Ariel asked. “Were you slumming it?”
“Hey!” Sadie smacked her on the arm. “That’s rude.”
Ariel gave her puppy dog eyes. “Sorry babe, I’m just teasing.”
“I need to take a shower,” I said, trying to walk around them. Grace and Ariel blocked me.
“I have a conference call soon,” I said impatiently. “I’ve got to go.”
“That dress is ruined,” Grace said. “You’ve got lipstick stains on the chest.”
I glanced down before I thought better of it, making my friends and their partners laugh. Of course there was nothing there.
“I hate you all,” I grumbled as I walked away.
“I would have thought getting laid would have made you more cheerful,” Ariel called out after me. “Maybe try harder next time.”
Ashley
“Where’s Maeve?” I asked as I sat down at the table.
My sister had invited me to her monthly Found Family Dinner again, so of course I’d said yes. We’d been spending more time together the last two months, getting to know each other as adults, and I was happy about that. She and Sadie had me over for dinner twice now, and Ariel and I’d even had a solo lunch together last week.
Her inclusion of me for Found Family Dinner felt good, plus I’d had a great time last month, even before I snuck upstairs to have sex with my boss.
“Maeve’s probably having a quickie with her secret girlfriend,” Ariel answered my question.
I promptly knocked over my water glass, sending cold water cascading down the tablecloth and onto my lap. Theo tossed his napkin across the table at me, his expression amused.
“Secret girlfriend?” I asked, striving for a casual tone.
“She hooked up with someone at the opening a few weeks ago,” Grace said from her spot next to Theo. “We caught her doing the walk of shame the next morning, and she’s been suspiciously absent from her condo several nights since then. She refuses to answer any questions about this mystery woman, but she has the look of someone who’s getting good sex on the regular.”
Theo’s look turned calculating as he watched my reaction. I had a feeling he’d already figured out that Maeve was spending most nights at my house. Or if not, he suspected it anyway. Fortunately he kept his mouth shut.
“Hmm,” I said noncommittally, striving to look uninterested.
Just then Maeve rushed in, looking good enough to eat in form-fitting purple A-line dress that highlighted her generous cleavage and soft curves. She always wore the best dresses.
“Look who decided to join us,” Grace teased as Maeve slid into the chair next to mine.
She frowned and lifted one butt cheek, making me realize that she’d just sat in some of the water I’d spilled. Oops. I handed her a napkin.
