Page 184 of Slap Shot Seduction

“Oh, screw that. He cheated. He’s an asshole. Live it up.”

“I’m just glad it’s all done now.”

“So you ditched him. You took on some new work. I mean, this whole thing with theSOLA Empireis huge. If something even happens, you need to travel and you need to close up and fire me, do it. I will never get mad at you.”

“Wow. That’s a lot to think about. I’m nowhere near ready for that. I’m not even sure this hockey thing is going to work out. It’s not what I thought. I mean, if you want to know the truth, I’m worried about my entire career.”

“Why? Herbert?”

I shook my head.

“What’s there to worry about? You’re great at what you do. Now, if you were screwing a client…”

I coughed.

Bethany gasped.

“No,” I cried out. “Bethany. No!”

“Who?” Bethany asked. “Who is it? Is it Herbert?”

“No. He’s not a client. This is…”

“Then who is it? Huh? I’ll start naming names.”

“Bethany. You can’t do that. You have no idea what you’re-”

She gasped again. “I’m such an idiot!”

“What?” I asked.

“Your face is turning red. You know that I know.”

“Please.” I shook my head. “Don’t say-”

“That hunk of hockey meat,” Bethany said.

I closed my eyes.

My face burned hotter by the second.

“Holy hell, Anna. I mean, you know, sleeping with a client isn’t a good thing. But if there was one person to break all the rules – and laws – for… that guy. Joe? Whew.”

“Bethany.”

“No. You’re not going to get me to shut up about this. No way. I’ll keep it a secret. But this is… this is sexy. This is hot. This is steamy. This is like one of those books…”

“This is my life right now,” I said. “And it’s not as clear as it seems. Okay?”

My jaw quivered, wanting to tell Bethany everything about Joe and me.

She was too busy fanning herself.

Then she dug a half-melted cube of ice out of her soda and rubbed it on her forehead.

All she could do was picture Joe naked.

Which… I mean… I totally understood.