Secretly More Read Free Page B

making me feel better.”
    “Oh yeah?” Jay grinned. “So it’s working?”
    “Yes, damn it.” She lay back on the carpet with a groan, pressing the heels of her palms to her eyelids. “Leave me to my misery.”
    “What good would that do?”
    “It’ll help me focus on how I’m going to murder everyone but you for not helping me move today.”
    “Ferney looked really sick every time we went over there to load up.”
    “Don’t be fooled. She’s hung over.” She uncovered her eyes and noticed Jay’s quizzical look. “She’s very high-maintenance the morning after.”
    “I believe it. I’m surprised Paul wasn’t by her side, hand-feeding her ice chips.”
    “He had to work, but I don’t think he would’ve been much help to us. Ferney’s less effeminate than he is.”
    Jay scooped up Pepperoni, who’d returned, and blew a raspberry on the cat’s back. “And Dane, what’s his deal? Did Congress call, requesting his presence on the floor?”
    Kimber stiffened at the sound of her boyfriend’s name. “He’s a bastard.”
    “That’s some old news right there.” He dropped Pepperoni on Kimber’s stomach, and Kimber let out an oof as the cat leaped off her like she was a springboard. “See, this is why you should’ve got with me all those years ago. Then we wouldn’t even be having this discussion.”
    Kimber looked at him, startled, then relaxed and laughed, interpreting the proposition as a joke. “Right. Brilliant plan.” She sat up and gave his shin a nudge with the ball of her foot. “Better get to work on that time machine. Then we can start fixing all my problems.”
    His expression turned serious as he jammed his hands in his pockets and took a deep breath. “No time machine necessary. Just—” A thud sounded at the door, and the look in his eyes darkened. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”
    “Oh shit.” Kimber scrambled to her feet and snatched Pepperoni from where he’d settled on top of a desk chair, and he let out a meow in protest. “Is that someone knocking? What if it’s someone from the office to tell me that cats aren’t allowed here?”
    “I’m sure it’s just some idiot.” Jay stalked toward the interruption while Kimber shut the cat in the bathroom anyway. When she returned, Jay opened the door, revealing a tall brunette coiled around a short, yellow-haired, baby-faced man who appeared to be in the process of devouring her face, starting with her mouth. No longer alone in the hallway, they jumped apart and stared at Jay and Kimber, red-faced, as if they’d forgotten other people existed.
    “Oops. Sorry.” The brunette pinched her lower lip between her index finger and thumb and winced. “Brad just got back from his trade fair in Germany so I was a little happy to see him.”
    Her paramour—Brad—nodded with the vigor of a bobble head on a dashboard. “After sitting in on meat conservation seminars all week, I’m a little happy to see her, too.”
    “We have a lot of lost time to make up for.” The brunette giggled, and Kimber tried to mask her incredulity. With wide, pale green eyes, a plethora of freckles covering her face and arms, and a thin body that looked like it had been built from Tinker Toys, she was not someone Kimber wanted to picture having sex. “I’m Taryn, we live next door. You two are the new neighbors?”
    “Just me.” Kimber placed a hand over her chest. “I’m Kimber, and this is my friend Jay.”
    Brad peered beyond Kimber into the apartment. “A friend who helps you move?” His lips twitched in a knowing smirk. “You got yourself a pretty good pal there.”
    The look in Jay’s eyes darkened even further, and Taryn nudged Brad in the stomach and cleared her throat. “We’re going to take our reunion inside and let you get back to unpacking. Let us know if you need anything.” She wiggled her fingers in a wave as Brad grabbed her by the waist and all but hauled her inside the apartment adjacent to Kimber’s.
    Jay shut