Page 10 of Discretion

“Look at these guys. Just look!” She held the screen in front of my face. “He’s fit.” She swiped. “And he’s fit.” She swiped again. “And he’s fit as fuck. Mm.”

“Yes, yes, I get it.” I propped myself up on my elbow. “They’re all hot. And half those pictures are probably fake. Imean, look at that one.” I zoomed in on the photo. “That’s totally AI.”

“Fake or not, they’re all interested in you.”

I scoffed. “Um. Right.”

“I’m serious, Halle. All three of them—and several others who don’t count—messaged me. I mean, you. And they’re interested in meeting up.”

“Meeting up or hooking up?” I asked, still unconvinced.

“Does it matter?”

“I thought you wanted me to find happiness.”

“Well, a few orgasms won’t make youunhappy.” She shrugged.

I tossed a pillow at her, laughing the entire time. “You’re terrible.”

“Terribly awesome.” She tossed it back at me.

“That too.” I hugged the pillow to my chest.

“Is this because of Jasper?”

I handed her another dress and took a long sip of my rosé. “Jasper has probably moved on by now.”

According to Sloan, Jasper had always been a bit of a player. But I didn’t need my boss to tell me that. I’d seen the gossip blogs, the society papers. Jasper was almost always pictured with a different woman on his arm.

Zara arched her brow, probably trying to determine whether the idea of Jasper with someone else bothered me. It didn’t. Or, at least, itshouldn’t.

It doesn’t,I told myself firmly, willing it to be true.

CHAPTER THREE

Idrummed my fingers on the conference room table, anxious energy coursing through me as I waited for everyone else to arrive for the board meeting. Today was Halle’s first day in the LA office, and I was simultaneously eager to see her again and filled with dread.

“How’s it going?” Nate asked, clapping a hand on my shoulder.

I jolted from the unexpected contact, my heart jump-starting once more. “Fine. You?”

“Good. You looked lost in thought.”

I chuckled, returning my attention to my laptop. “Just thinking about Pops’s favorite quote.”

Nate started to recite it before I could. “True hospitality consists of giving the best of yourself to your guests.”

He’d mimicked Pops’s voice so well that if I’d closed my eyes, I could’ve imagined he was standing before me. It filled me with an ache so powerful, I almost couldn’t breathe. Pops had repeated the line so often it had become ingrained in me.

“Eleanor Roosevelt.”

Before I could dwell on my grief, Nate leaned into myshoulder, keeping his voice low. “Remember that night we thought it would be a good idea to incorporate it into a drinking game?”

“How could I forget?” I chuckled.

Years ago, Nate and I had gotten wasted at the gala. Whenever Pops or Graham had repeated certain words or lines, we’d taken a drink. We’d ended up consuming a lot of alcohol.

Talking about that night was a good distraction, because every time someone new entered the conference room, I felt as if I might jump out of my skin.