Free Never Con a Corgi by Edie Claire Page B

she'd put in place that it would be difficult for anyone else to take over. Never mind how hard it is to find a decent administrative assistant in the first place."
    "So it wasn't a spur-of-the-moment thing," Leigh reasoned. "She had a master plan?"
    "She had him pegged as a target before she sent her resume," Cara confirmed. "And when he refused to cooperate, after she'd invested so much time and energy, she got desperate."
    Cara picked up the knife Leigh had used to slice the watermelon and cradled it in her hands.
    Leigh leaned in slowly and took it away from her.
    "What happened?"
    A growl rose from low in Cara's throat. "She made arrangements to go on a business trip with him. It wasn't the first—all his assistants travel with him from time to time. But she had a special agenda. She booked two rooms and they went their separate ways to unpack, but by the time he got out of the shower that first night, she had already moved herself into his room."
    Cara's knuckles whitened as her hands clenched the countertop. " Without her clothes."
    Leigh winced. "You really can't get any more blatant than that."
    Cara sucked in a breath. "He threw her out and fired her, of course. And you might expect she wouldn't take it well. But there you'd be wrong. The woman is calculating and as cool as a cucumber. Once she gave up on Gil for good, she changed her whole tune. Apologized profusely. Claimed it was all a horrible mistake—she was just so deeply, hopelessly in love with him. But now, she respected his decision entirely, he was such a wonderful family man... yada yada yada."
    Leigh frowned. "What a load of—"
    "Clearly," Cara interrupted. "A load only a man would buy. What she wanted, of course, was her last paycheck and a spanking clean reference. What happened with Gil would never happen with any other boss, you see, because Gil was special, and because she'd learned how important it was to 'guard her heart.'"
    "Oh, please."
    "Tell me about it. But Gil believed her. At least a little bit... because he wanted to. And before you know it, the wench was working for the next most promising target on her list—a man that her job with Gil had already conveniently introduced her to."
    Leigh's eyebrows lifted. "Brandon Lyle."
    Cara put a finger to her nose. "You got it, cuz."
    "But couldn't Brandon see—"
    Cara threw her a look.
    "Right," Leigh corrected. "The man thing. And Gil wouldn't say anything because, if he believed her story about having real feelings for him—"
    "Then it would be like betraying a confidence," Cara finished. "He did wise up, eventually. Once Diana started working for Brandon, Gil could see her playing the same games. But Brandon was a big boy who'd cheated before; as far as Gil was concerned, it was their business. He was just glad to be out of it."
    Cara looked thoughtful for a moment. Her shoulders slumped. "Gil thought it was over and done with, Leigh. And I let myself think that, too. But I should have known better. When a woman lays it all out on the line like that... and I mean everything , and the man rejects her..." She bit a fingernail.
    "I see what you mean," Leigh said gently. The image of Brandon's stiff face and glassy, unseeing eyes swept unbidden across her mind.
    Shot in the back.
    She straightened. "Did Diana have a falling out with Brandon, too? I mean, do you think she would be capable..."
    "I have no idea what the woman is capable of," Cara responded grimly. "But at the very least, I intend to make sure Maura knows just how skillful a manipulator they're dealing with." Her voice caught. "Because if Diana Saxton resents my husband as much as I'm starting to think she might..."
    The words hung unspoken in the air.
    Gil could be in far worse trouble than he knew.
     
    ***
     
    Diana drummed her fingernails on the steering wheel of her "preowned" Audi, contemplating which direction to turn. She should not have to drive a second-hand anything. She should be tooling around in an Aston Martin