Page 64 of Never Tell Secrets

“Promise.” I nodded. “And thank you.”

“For what?”

“For having my back.”

“Always,” she said as she expertly threaded a needle on her machine, “unless you’re being an idiot. Then I reserve the right to slap you upside the head.”

“Fair enough.” I laughed. “So, how did Maia cope last night?”

“I don’t really know, we split off pretty quickly. She seemed fine on our way home though. Quiet but that’s not unusual.”

“And you?” I asked. “How was your night?”

“Fine,” she answered, not meeting my eye.

“Fine? That’s it?” I pressed and she shrugged again, but I wasn't letting her get off that easy. “I saw Damien before I left, hesaid you were part hellcat.” I nudged her, waiting for the usual detailed play by play, but she didn’t even look up.

“I don’t really want to talk about it.” She sounded distracted, a groove between her brows that I’d never seen there before.

“What? You always want to talk about your sexcapades!” I was about to let it drop when a horrible thought occurred to me. “Did he hurt you?”

“No! At least, not in any way I didn’t like.”

“So, why the vague?” Something wasn’t right here, Keira was a classic oversharer. I studied her face, my best friend antenna tingling. “You like him!”

Her warm brown eyes flashed up to me. “Fuck off, Lola. He’s an arrogant dick.”

“Right,” I grinned, “and what kind of idiot would fall for one of those?”

“Not this idiot.” Her tone was grim, a cynicism there I didn’t like. What was going on with her? Sure, Damien Marx was cocky, but so was Keira.

“Maybe he’s different when you get to know him.”

“Oh, I got to know him.” She pulled at the collar of her shirt, revealing an impressive love bite. “I got to know him really well.”

“You know what I mean. Maybe?—”

“I have to finish this costume.” She cut me off, her tone harsh. It stunned me into silence. Keira had never snapped at me like that before, ever. I guess we were definitely over her boundary line. I came to a screeching halt and backed up a few paces onto safer ground. There, behind her bolshy exterior, was a glimmer of fear. I was getting too close, I guess Damien had gotten too close too. Maybe there was more to her love of the wild, single life than she’d let on. Whatever the reason, now wasn’t the time to explore it.

“Alright, I’ll leave you to it.” I stood and began to retreat. I paused, wanting to try one last time to save the conversation bytrying something right up her alley. “By the way, do you know what a Sybian is?”

Her head shot up. “Yes, but I’ve never been on one. Do you have something to tell me?” I grinned and jumped back on the couch, settling in to tell her every detail of my night at the notorious Never Tell Club.

It felt strange to sit at my desk on Monday morning, doing something as mundane as paperwork after what I’d experienced that weekend. I felt like I had this big secret.

I wondered about Alfie, about where he was, what he was doing. I didn’t know what the protocol was for this–was I supposed to call him? He hadn’t texted me last night–should I have expected him to? I tried to shake all thoughts of him away and focus on my work instead.

Working for Imani was easy, in fact, it only took up a few hours of my day. I wondered if she’d known that when she hired me. That she was giving me a full time wage for part time work. By lunch I was already finished. I stood, pausing in the open doorway partitioning her workspace from mine. She sat at her drafting table, working on her latest design. I hated to disturb her, in fact, I’d much prefer to just sit back and watch the genius work. I knocked lightly on the door frame. She dragged her eyes away from her work, looking up at me in a way that told me I only had ten percent of her attention, the rest was still firmly in her designs.

“Hey, I’m done for the day, unless you have anything else for me to do?”

“No, that’s fine.” She returned to her work, running her pencil lightly over the paper. “Will you be planning your showpiece this afternoon?”

“I’m going to try.” I turned, then paused. “Imani…you know I’m actually only working a few hours a day for you, right?”

She raised her brows at me. “Your point?”

“Well, I’m really not working enough to justify the full time wage you’re paying me…” I let my voice trail off, hoping she would fill in the blanks.