Free The Smart One and the Pretty One by Claire LaZebnik Page A

guess.”
    “That’s stupid,” he said. “I could guess for hours and still not get it.”
    “I could give you the first letter—”
    He made an impatient noise. “Just tell me the name, will you?”
    “It’s Lauren.”
    “I never would have guessed that,” he said.
    The coffee was old and sour, even with the creamer. Lauren gave up on it and tossed it into the plastic-lined trash can. The cup had been pretty full and coffee sloshed over all the garbage. “I better go check on my mom.”
    “Do you know when her next appointment is?” Daniel asked as they made their way back to the chemo area.
    “In a week, I think.”
    “We’re back then too. We’re on a twice-a-week schedule for six straight weeks. Which doesn’t even include the checkups with her oncologist. I spend half my life on the freeway between Encino and here.” He stuck his hands in his pockets and then said, “Sounds like there’s a good chance we’ll run into each other again next week. Maybe we could play some more cards.”
    “I’d like that,” Lauren said.
    “You should practice playing poker until then,” he said, and she couldn’t tell if he meant it as a joke or not. “So I don’t keep beating you so easily.”
    “I don’t mind.”
    “I do,” he said. “It would be more fun with a challenging opponent.”
    “Well, then, I’ll try to improve my skills,” Lauren said. “For your sake.”
    “Hope to see you next week then,” he said and walked off, toward his mother’s chair. He sat down on the stool next to her. She opened her eyes briefly and managed a smile before closing them again. For a moment or two, Lauren just stood there watching Daniel watch his mother absorb the poison that would make her sicker for now and probably wouldn’t ever cure her.

Chapter 6
    A va wasn’t the kind of boss who kept track of how many personal calls her assistant made on any given day or whether he was five minutes late coming back from his lunch break or anything like that, but right now her door was open and she could hear him talking on the phone, and it felt like the call had been going on forever. She was dying for a cup of coffee. She could have buzzed in and interrupted him at any time, of course, but a cup of coffee didn’t seem important enough to make him hang up—just important enough to make her aware he had been on the phone for at least half an hour.
    Finally, she called out, “Jeremy? Got a sec?”
    He immediately stuck his head around the doorway, phone clasped against his chest. “Sorry, Ava. I’m right here. What do you need?”
    “I’d love a cup of coffee when you get a chance. No rush.”
    “Sure. I’ll get it right now.” He held the phone up. “Can you talk? It’s your sister.”
    “My sister? Is that who you’ve been talking to all this time?”
    “Um, yeah?” he said uncertainly.
    “Oh. Okay. Could you please shut the door, too?” As the door swung shut, she picked up the phone. “Lauren? What were you talking poor Jeremy’s ear off about?”
    “I was just saying thank-you to him.”
    “For what?”
    “For tracking down Russell’s address.”
    Ava sank into her desk chair. “Oh, God, Lauren. Tell me you didn’t tell my assistant about that stupid,
stupid
contract.”
    “Of course I didn’t. I just said that you and I were curious about an old friend and he offered to see if he could get any information about him online. Is Jeremy gay, by the way? He’s cute enough to be. And he’s just so darn
sweet
. But I can’t quite tell.”
    “Hold on a second,” Ava said. “I’ll ask him. Or maybe I’ll just speculate on the phone about it really loudly so he can hear me.”
    “It’s a perfectly reasonable question,” Lauren said. “Don’t get all huffy. I just thought the subject might have come up. He might have mentioned a boyfriend. Or a girlfriend. Either one would answer my question.”
    “Jeremy and I have a professional relationship, Lauren, which means I don’t ask