I looked around. Margaret was packing up her purse. Adam was locking the front doors. Gail, my manager, was locking her office and leaving.
It was Gail who gave it away. She caught my eye quickly as she turned to go—the first time she’d looked at me all day. Then she gave me a little apologetic wave and hurried away.
Everyone knew.
“You should go out with Dave in Client Management,” Dar said. “He’s divorced, and a single dad. He’s super stable, dependable, and cute too. He was asking about you at the last Christmas party. I think he likes you.”
I jerked on my coat and picked up my purse. “I think I’ll just go home.”
I hurried through the parking lot—it was raining again—and got into my car, slamming the door. I was breathing hard. How was this happening? And how had everyone at the bank known about Gina? Had she come into the bank or something? Was she a customer? I had no idea how they’d even met.Whenthey’d met.
So hey, your asshole of a boyfriend is cheating on you, Evie Bates.
All of those nice people at work, and not one of them had cared enough to tell me. Even though he was a jerk, Nick, at least, had had the guts to say the truth.
It was infuriating.
Maybe you should fuck someone,his low growl of a voice said.
“Be quiet,” I said out loud.
Get someone to fuck you until you can’t stand up.
“Shut up,” I said to the empty car. “I’m not fucking anyone. I’m going home to bed.”
Come meet me if you want to work up a sweat.
And then:You’re not the kind of woman I fuck.
Maybe he’d found someone else already. Some woman who looked like a Victoria’s Secret model, loved anal and one-night stands, and had no baggage.Dirty, he’d said. That seemed like Nick’s kind of woman, instead of neurotic bank tellers who had quit Weight Watchers twice and sat alone ranting and raving in their cars.
Have some orgasms. You’re missing out.
Those muscles. That ass. That mouth, that fuck-me voice. New Evie never got guys like that. God, I hated him.
Ishouldhave a guy like that. Hot, muscled, and dirty. A few hours of no-holds-barred fun for once, instead of it always being about who’s acceptable, who’s long term. Just…fucking.Like Nick had said.
Except not with Nick.
The phone rang, startling me out of my crazy thoughts. “Are you kidding me?” I said when I answered, because Josh didn’t deservehello.
“Evie.” Josh’s voice was slightly muffled, probably because his nose was swollen. “We have to talk.”
“No,” I said. “We really don’t.”
“I get that you’re mad. What I did was wrong. Just don’t say anything at work, okay?”
“People already know,” I said. “In fact, people at work knew before I did.”
Now he sounded panicked. “Who told? What did they say?”
For God’s sake. Why did he sound so freaked about a secret that was already out? “Ask everyone yourself. Goodbye.”
“Wait, Evie, wait! Just give me a minute. I fucked up, I know. But our relationship wasn’t working. You know that.”
That hurt. “It seemed like it was working to me. But then again, I guess I’m not very smart.”
“Evie. You and I didn’t have very much… spark.”