Free What Happens After Dark by Jasmine Haynes Page B

Stupid. “I don’t know why I didn’t think of that before.”
    Bree flexed her fingers and rolled her lips between her teeth as if she were trapping everything inside.
    “It’s all right, Bree, let us help you.”
    Erin counted the seconds that Bree stared at the stapler on her desk. Ten. It seemed a very long time. “I appreciate it.” Then finally she looked at Erin. “But I need to come in for a little while every day. Please let me.”
    Duh, Erin should have understood right away. Bree didn’t need the work. She needed a break from home for a few hours. Things had been so different for Erin. She’d lost Jay in the blink of an eye. She didn’t know how she’d have felt or what she’d have done if she’d known it was coming. And he was just a little boy. Bree’s father was at the end of his life. The emotions were poles apart. She would never think of Jay without the ache of loss, but over the past couple of months, Dominic had helped her remember the joy of her son, too. And she’d needed that joy.
    What Bree was dealing with wasn’t the same. “You come in whenever you want,” Erin said softly. “And you leave when you need to. At a moment’s notice.”
    Bree’s eyes glimmered with something, not quite tears, but a shimmer of emotion. “I’ll get everything done, I promise.”
    “I know you will. You’re the best accountant I’ve ever had. I have complete faith in you.” Erin felt a twinge in her gut about that one moment when she hadn’t shown complete faith. But that had been more about herself, her own emotions at the time, and not really about Bree at all.
    “Thank you, Erin.”
    For once, Erin felt like she’d said the right thing. Bree was so quick to find fault with herself. She needed to be told she was okay. Sometimes Erin simply forgot that.

8
    BREE’S HEAD ACHED WITH AN INCESSANT POUNDING AT HER TEMPLES. It was Monday morning and last night, she and her mother had once again eased the tribulations of the day with a couple of glasses of wine. She should have drunk more water before she went to sleep. Or taken an aspirin. Instead, Luke had called her. She’d come. It had been mind-numbing, exactly what she needed. It could only have been better if he’d been standing at the foot of her bed watching. She’d appreciated that he didn’t ask questions, that he told her eloquently and explicitly how good she was, how special. Precious .
    But that was last night, and this was today. She’d forced herself to talk with Erin, and Erin was fine about her shortened hours. The rain had stopped, and the sun had begun heating the office through the window that overlooked the parking lot. The leaves of her philodendron seemed almost iridescent in the sunlight. She’d coaxed it from a six-inch pot to a massive growth of greenery that hung down in vines from the top of the bookshelf. Somehow taking care of that plant soothed her in dark moments. She couldn’t quite believe she’d made it blossom into this lushly gorgeous foliage that practically took over the office. It was the one thing she seemed to have done right.
    “How’s your mom doing?” Rachel asked. They were seated at Bree’s desk, Rachel in front of the computer. As Erin had dictated, Bree was teaching Rachel the ins-and-outs of invoice matching and cash receipts.
    Rachel was DKG’s receptionist, pretty, blonde, four inches shorter than Bree, two cup sizes bigger, divorced, and a single mother of two teenage boys. Except that her husband had dual custody. Did that mean she wasn’t a single mom since the kids’ dad got them every other week? Bree wasn’t sure how that worked.
    “My mother is stoic,” Bree said.
    Which didn’t necessarily mean her mom was okay, but Rachel took it that way. “I’m sure she’s glad you’re there to help.”
    Bree dipped her head, letting her hair fall across her face. She’d just had virtually the same conversation with Erin, and dammit, she’d come across as a diarrhea mouth. What