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“Umm… no.Of course not.I’m giving this commission my full attention.”
“Yeah, I’m sure you are,” Sheena murmured.The snarkiness in her tone was unmistakable, but there was also a wariness in her eyes that made Bethany frown.
“Is there something going on I should know about?”Bethany asked.
Sheena smirked.“You tell me.”She took another sip and slid a hand through her strawberry blonde hair, tousling it into comical disarray.“You’re the one who’s landed the big fish.Trust me, I’m all for it if it brings Neon other fat commissions.You better not think about jumping ship anytime soon.”The mild threat was delivered after another gulp of her wine.
Bethany frowned.“What are you talking about?”Trepidation started beating an erratic tattoo in her chest.
“Your picture, dear.It’s doing the rounds on social media.”
“My picture?”she screeched.
Sheena nodded.“I don’t blame you, really.Zach Savage is the fucking hottest thing since… God, since the history of the world.All those animalistic vibes he throws around.”She leaned forward, and Bethany could almost smell the wine on her breath.“I have to know.Is he a beast in the sack?”
Bethany froze, her body going from warm to icy within a millisecond.“Excuse me?”It couldn’t be… Zach had assured her the windows on the plane where they’d made love were mirrored.And surely she hadn’t been too far-gone to notice a camera flash, had she?Yes.She had.
Her body grew icier.
Sheena shrugged a bony shoulder.“I get it now why he demanded that we have you on the project.And like I said, I really don’t mind.I’d do it too in your shoes.In less than a heartbeat.”She drank some more, gave a little giggle, then noticed Bethany’s cold silence.“Hey, if you don’t want to share, that’s fine.But you really can’t blame a girl for trying.”
Bethany’s phone buzzed again.
Zach.
There was a photo floating around on the internet.A photo to do with them.
She now understood why he was calling.Her fingers itched to grab her phone, but she stopped herself and returned Sheena’s blatant stare.
Ideally, she didn’t want to lose her job before she’d taken her next Indigo Lounge trip.Most likely, Zach would still take her with him if she were fired.But still, she bit her tongue against the anger roiling through her.
She realized she didn’t mind being fired, if it meant putting this bitch in her place.“Are we done here, Sheena?Because I don’t believe requesting inappropriate details about my sex life is part of my job description,” she enquired frostily.
For the first time since she’d started working at Neon, Bethany witnessed a touch of embarrassment flicker over her boss’s face.Followed closely by a dart of envy.
“Sure… we’re done.”She seemed to realize what had just happened, and the fact that their exchange had been recorded.“Umm… Bethany,” she said, leaning forward.
“See you at work tomorrow, Sheena.”She ended the call and realized she was trembling from head to toe.
She quickly accessed her search engine and exhaled when the mysterious picture popped up.
Except it wasn’t mysterious anymore.It was very current; as in less than six hours old.And the article that went with it was accurate enough.
Her phone buzzed.She leaped for it.
“Zach, I know someone took our photo?—”
“No, it’s not Zach.But I guess that tells me everything I need to know.What the fuck, B?”Keely’s voice held a world of hurt.
20
Bethany gripped the phone harder.She’d been putting off telling Keely about her renewed reconnection with Zach.Now it was too late.
“I meant to tell you.I really did.”
“Right, you had your chance when I asked you what you were working on.Obviously, you chose not to share that you were working on a commission for the Indigo Lounge and for none other than Zach Savage, the man you’re obviously banging again.”
Bethany cringed.“I wasn’t… I didn’t know how things would pan out.I still don’t… I’m sorry.”