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She shared everything about the last few days, except for running in to Jackal. She started with the pressure of the Grunge City Girls losing their practice rink then being the point person for Mags’s engagement. Then she continued, talking about the intensity of the sexual encounter with Ryder and the constant worry of someone sabotaging Cavendish, and last, the bar exam.
“I can’t handle it all,” she said, her voice just short of a wail.
Kensley, seemingly unfazed by Nita’s outburst, said with a laugh, “Well, it’s not like you’re going to spontaneously combust, right? Take a deep breath, Nita.”
She took a deep drink instead, which helped. Then she laughed and took another one. “Who needs deep breaths when there’s tequila?”
“Uh, lady, it’s not even noon yet,” Kensley said with a small laugh.
“Ah, but after my shitty morning, it feels like it’s almost happy hour,” she replied dryly, then laughed when she thought of how close she’d been to quitting on Hartley.
“Okay, that’s valid,” Kensley agreed. She paused and then continued in a continuous voice, asking, “So, who’s this intense sexual encounter you mentioned?”
Nita groaned. She had let that slip into her list of grievances, hadn’t she? She wasn’t ready to admit she’d had sex with someone who wasn’t a stranger, but she didn’t hide things from Kensley, either.
“Ryder Crawley. He’s Cavendish’s director of security for the engagement in two days.”
There was silence on the phone, and Nita groaned again.
“Sooooo,” Kensley murmured in a too-interested tone. “You’re screwing someone who has a first and last name. And somebody who you see regularly—”
“I don’t see him regularly,” she denied hotly.
“I mean, as part of your life, not like a dating thing,” Kensley explained. “I know you’re not in the market for any commitment. Not after Luke.”
“That’s right,” Nita agreed, but something about the way Kensley said it irked her. She’d said something like it before, and it had rolled off her back. Hell, Nita was the first one to make fun of other people’s relationships, so she didn’t know why Kensley’s statement dug at her. “He’s just another page in my book.”
“Right, the Fuck Book,” Kensley murmured.
“Yeah. In fact, I was just going to write him up when you called,” Nita stated, and strode into the bedroom where her book lay at the bottom of her bag.
Seeing the rumpled sheets on the bed made her pause. Memories of last night swirled in her belly, and she almost felt a little dizzy.
“…so no pressure. Nita? Nita!” Kensley said, jarring her back to the present.
“What was that?”
“I said just look at the bar exam as just another practice test. I know you won’t fail, but if you do, you just take it over. No pressure. Although I didn’t know you had so much going on this week. Normally you review a few contracts and have free time,” Kensley said.
“Yeah, that’s how it normally is,” she agreed, digging in her bag for her book. “Nothing seems normal right now, though.”
“Do what I do when I feel I’m in over my head. Breathe once. Breathe twice. Then just take it moment by moment. Maybe hit up this security guy for some recreational fun. What do you always call them? Your bottom-dwellers?” Kensley finished with a laugh.
Nita would have laughed along, but something about the comment hit a raw spot. Of course, Kensley could laugh at her from high on her happiness mountain with her lawyer husband and a baby on the way. No cares in the world about paying rent or a phone bill.
Her back straightened and instead of laughing the comment off, she said, “He’s not like that, but I get what you’re saying.”
“Oh,” Kensley replied, all humor gone from her voice. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to imply—”
“I mean, the guys in my book are bottom-dwellers. But not Ryder. He’s not like that,” she insisted, her voice firm.
“Okay. I hear you,” Kensley said, wariness in her tone. “You’re not… getting feelings for this Ryder guy, are you? I mean, it’s great if you are, but it sounds like with everything going on, and now this bar exam—”
“Which you set up. Without my permission,” Nita inserted.
“True. Absolutely true, however, there’s no pressure. You can blow it off. I mean… I already paid the fee, but that’s—”
“How much?”
