Page 8 of Discretion

“Inappropriate?” She arched an eyebrow. “Now I’m even more intrigued.”

Should I tell her?

No. I shouldn’t tell her.

Should I?

I trusted Zara not to tell anyone. Honestly, I’d thought about telling her so many times already that I found myself whispering, “Jasper,” before I could stop myself.

I tried to suppress the way my body responded to the sound of his name alone. It had been easy to ignore those feelings when we were separated by an ocean. I wasn’t sure how I was going to react when he was sitting across a boardroom.

Her eyes widened. “JasperJasper? As in Jasper Mackenzie, one of the world’s most eligible billionaire bachelors and your boss? That Jasper?”

My cheeks heated at the reminder of Jasper and all the reasons I shouldn’t have slept with him. Still, I felt compelled to defend myself. “He’s notmyboss. He’s my boss’s brother. And anyway, it was a one-time thing.”

I snapped my mouth shut to stop my continued rambling. Okay, so maybe we’d had sex more than once. But it had been confined to thatonesummer. And that’s how it would stay. Zara didn’t need to know that. Eight months had passed since, and it was done. Over.

Too bad the thought of ending things with Jasper didn’t make me any happier now than it had then. But such was life.

“Mm.” Zara crossed her arms over her chest, grinning. “Naughty. Naughty. Does this mean we’re finally entering your ‘fuck it’ era? How delicious.” Her eyes gleamed with mischief.

“It was not delicious. It was bad.”I’m bad. I’m a terrible person.I covered my face with my hands and groaned.

“The sex? Sex with Jasper was bad?” She sounded offended by the mere suggestion.

“No. No.” I sighed, lowering my hands. “The fact that I slept with him is bad.”

“So the sex was good,” she said, leaning forward with a wicked grin. It wasn’t a question. Not really.

“Very good.” My cheeks heated. Amazing. Out of this world. Even now, all these months later, I still found myself daydreaming about it.

She arched her brow. “Good to know the rumors about him are true.”

Ugh. I hated any reminder that I was yet another notch on his bedpost.

“Oh, don’t look so disgusted,” Zara said. “Anyone would understand why you did it. Even if he weren’t rich, the man is hot. No one would blame you for sleeping with him, especially after all the shit Craig put you through.”

“Not sure Sloan would be too pleased, let alone the Huxley brand. I could lose my job.” My chest tightened. It was the first time I’d admitted that aloud, and it seemed much more real now.

“Do you think that would happen?” she asked. “Because I think Jasper would be in more trouble than you.”

I’d spent a lot of time actively tryingnotto think about it. Because when I did…it wasn’t good.

It was bad enough that I’d slept with my boss’s brother. One of the owners of the family business. Jasper was now head of the entire company. And soon, I’d be working in the same city, the same office, as him.

I wondered how Jasper was adjusting to his new position. I tried to picture it and failed. Jasper was charming, yes. Detail-oriented. But I’d never gotten the impression that he wanted to run the company. He may have butted heads with Graham on occasion in the past, but he’d always seemed content to play a supporting role.

Zara was quiet for a few moments, helping me fold. I hoped that was the end of it, but I sensed it wasn’t.

“Well, you certainly have a type,” she finally said.

I turned to her and frowned. “I donothave a type.”

“Oh, come on,” she said. “Wealthy. Charismatic. Emotionally unavailable.”

That wasn’t true. Was it?

Yes, Jasper was wealthy. Much,muchwealthier than my ex. Charismatic. Yes. But emotionally unavailable?