“Ah, darling. Class has nothing to do with fucking. You’ll learn that in time.” Diana spritzed some cleanser on the board to erase a stray mark. “I don’t know what to make of you. The past few days you’ve been quiet, devoted to the job. And in those clothes, a perfectly harmless little mouse.” She laughed. “Well, notlittle.”
Oh no, she didn’t. Kelly started to toss back a retort of her own, but Diana cut her off. “So what can I do for you? I’m guessing you didn’t shut us in here so you can sign up to bring meatballs to the company picnic.”
“Hardly.” Kelly crossed her arms over her chest and decided she didn’t have time to pussyfoot around. “I know you slept with Spencer Saturday night. I hope it was good for you, considering he’d just been with me that afternoon.”
She wasn’t completely sure she was right—part of the problem with operating on little to no actual facts—but from the look on Diana’s face as she spared her a glance, she’d guessed correctly.
The bastard.
“How do you know we slept together?” Diana asked, her voice much quieter than Kelly expected.
“He told me.”
“He told you.”
“Is there an echo in here or what? Yes, he told me.” That’s what he’d said, right? How could she have misheard that one?
Diana finally set down her cloth and her spray bottle and faced Kelly squarely. “We didn’t sleep together, Kelly. I don’t know why he told you we did, but maybe he wanted some space.” She shrugged and picked at her flawless manicure, suddenly seeming a hell of a lot less confident. “Are we done now?”
Kelly gripped her elbows. “And you expect me to believe you over him?”
All at once his words came back to her.Another woman invited me into her bed tonight, Kelly. And I accepted.
“I don’t care what you believe. I’m just telling you the truth.” Her lips curved in the shadow of a smile. “But before you canonize him, we had a…moment, let’s say. One where one or both of us was missing some vital pieces of clothing.”
Kelly swallowed hard. “I’m sure you’ve been in that position often. Both the lacking clothes and being left before you could get them back on.”
“This conversation’s over.“ Diana resumed making her list on her whiteboard. “In case you didn’t hear my announcement that I’m stepping back into the company, I’m now your boss. And pretty soon you’re going to be skirting the line of insubordination.”
“Won’t be the first time,” Kelly said under her breath.
“Leave that door open,” Diana said, clearly assuming their conversation was finished.
Kelly stared at Diana’s trim ankles, wrapped in thin straps of buttery leather. She had flawless skin and long, lustrous brown hair that belonged in a shampoo commercial. What was it like to be that sort of woman? To be pretty and perfect and so certain of herself, even if the mask had dropped briefly.
“Did you love him?”
“What?” Irritation laced the question.
“Spencer. Did you love him?”
Do you still love him? Does he love you? Is that why there’s no room for me?
Diana laughed softly. “Who can say what love is? It’s such a fluid thing. Here today, gone tomorrow.”
Her blithe answer brought tears to Kelly’s eyes. As if it were that simple for her. “For you, maybe. For some of us it doesn’t work that way.”
When Kelly’s voice cracked, Diana glanced at her in alarm. “Then I’m truly sorry for you.”
Kelly wiped her eyes. Her parents might’ve been unreliable, but the one thing they’d taught her was the importance of love. She wouldn’t allow herself to turn off that side of her nature, as much as it hurt right now.
She loved. She wanted to be loved in return. And one day, she would be.
“Don’t be. I’m better off.”
“If you say so. I have a lot to get done, Kelly.”
“Why aren’t you going to the new Virginia store? Since you’re so eager to take over, wouldn’t it make the most sense to start there fresh?”