Page 77 of Once Upon A Time

Surely their friendship, their relationship before the sex, was worth saving.

She slapped his knee to show that she was still in good humor. “Help me up off the floor,Leiblingwächter. I’m going to find a new supplier for the napkins. I can’t believe that, after all these delays, he had extra time to get the napkins right, and he blew it.”

She put her fingers in Dieter’s outstretched hand with their thumbs locked, and he pulled her to standing. She shook off his hand to brush imaginary lint off of her bum and legs.

A smile softened Dieter’s storm-cloud gray eyes. “Anything you need,Durchlauchtig.”

He exited the room, maybe with a bit more spring in his step.

Maybe Flicka and Dieter could be friends again.

Maybe.

In the meantime, she did need to find an alternate supplier for three thousand pristine, unbleached silk napkins, so she called the hotel concierges to start the search.

A Human Resources Decision

Flicka von Hannover

Good admins are hard to find.

A few hours later, Flicka blazed into her suite after being driven to look at a crop of napkins from another napkin supplier. The fine cloth squares were unbleached, but they were definitely not raw silk. Surely, they could do better.

She dropped her purse on the couch and made for the bedroom. These high heels were already blistering her feet, and her feet needed to start the day tomorrow in tip-top shape if she was going to make it all the way through Wulfie’s wedding and reception.

So she needed to change into flats for a bit today.

She shoved the bedroom door out of her way as she blew in.

Two bodies were entwined on the bed, writhing.

The one on top had long, strawberry blond hair that streamed on the white sheets.

Pierre was chuckling underneath the woman.

Flicka yelled, “Damn it, Pierre!”

The woman turned, horror forming her mouth into a roundO.

The woman was Flicka’s admin Alcide, because of course she was.

“Alcide, get up! Get out of that bed!” The next words on Flicka’s tongue were,you’re fired,but it was always the woman who bore the brunt of workplace indiscretions. Knowing Pierre, he’d probably offered her expensive gifts, the kind that surrounded Alcide but she probably wouldn’t ever be able to afford.

Also, Pierre was still ripped, stacked, and hot as sin.

Yeah, Flicka could see the temptation.

She said, “Alcide, get out there and work that phone. I need an alternate napkin supplier, and I need oneright now.I can’t believe you were in here screwing Pierre when you know that this napkin problem is a catastrophe waiting to happen.” Flicka pried off her high-heeled pumps and nudged her toes into a pair of ballet flats. “I need you out there. Go now.”

Alcide dragged the sheet off the bed, wrapping it around herself in a kind of ersatz sari, and scooped her clothes off the floor as she ran to the bathroom. Her eyes were still huge with embarrassment and mortification.

Yes, well,good.

When Alcide closed the door of the bathroom, Flicka turned back to Pierre, who was grinning from the bed, having pulled the comforter up to cover himself. She asked him, “Did you get your rocks off?”

“No,” he said, good humor sparkling in his dark eyes. “Now whatever shall I do?”

Flicka wiggled a shoe onto her foot. “Serves you right to have a case of blue balls. Keep your dick out of my admins, Pierre. Good admins are hard to find.”