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“I dropped off Justin for his practice and he heard through whatever ways kids do these days that Dex James was here.” She said all that but ignored me and looked over my shoulder at Dex. “Which he is.”
Dex shifted slightly so he wasn’t completely behind me, dropped my hand and held it out for Claudia to take.
“Claudia Crummer.”
“Nice to meet you.”
“I didn’t know you knew each other.”
Claudia didn’t miss the way Dex’s hand settled on my shoulder.
“Yes, um… Bridget is dating his brother.”
“We’re dating.”
Dex and I spoke at the same time but said two completely different things.
She looked between us and gave a little laugh, clearly amused.
“Lindy must be an invaluable employee working all those hours,” Dex continued.
That right there was why I was my concern. Dex let me think he was a slacker billionaire and I let him think this woman had me working sixty hours a week.
Claudia frowned slightly, but her smile didn’t slip at Dex’s comment.
Shit. This was bad. It was time to go. Claudia didn’t know I was writing romance on the side. Not that she’d have a problem with it. I worked for her–and her father before her–for over a decade and I considered her a friend. They ran a casual, relaxed office which had worked well for me when Bridget was younger, and I had to work my schedule around hers. Claudia had three kids–Justin was her oldest and played hockey–and she did the same.
But I’d pretty much lied to Dex about my writing time at night, letting him think I was doing accounting work when I wasn’t.
I was just about to have sex with Dex. A fling. I didn’t want to know what he would think of me if he found out I wrote word porn on the side. Not that it mattered since he was leaving soon, but still.
This was supposed to be fun, dirty, wild sex. That was what Bridget and Aspen said I was to have with him. It was what I wanted. I didn’t need to share all my secrets. Including this one.
So I had to separate these two pronto.
“She is,” Claudia agreed. “We balance work and family life, so we stick to normal business hours.”
“Really?” Dex commented, as if what she was saying was fascinating.
“We should go. We have that thing you wanted to do,” I said, shifting and turning toward the door, making it very clear I was ready to leave. And end this conversation.
“So no tax season crush right now?” Dex asked Claudia.
She sighed and offered a relieved smile. “After June fifteenth, it’s quiet for the rest of the summer.”
“Dex, you didn’t want to be late,” I urged, taking his hand and practically tugging.
“Is that so?” he asked Claudia, not budging and pretty much ignoring me and everyone around us. We were in the middle of the complex’s large, busy lobby with kids lugging sports equipment followed by harried parents.
Claudia took in our joined hands and said, “I don’t mean to keep you and I’ve got to stop at the store while Justin’s in practice. Nice meeting you, Dex.”
She strode past us toward the exit, weaving around a woman with a screaming toddler.
I tugged on his hand once more to go.
“Not so fast, sugar.”
“Please.” I was begging, but for a completely different reason than a few minutes earlier.
