Page 57 of Masked

In the office, she checked her email and waited for the woman to arrive.

“Reva, I’m so sorry I’m late,” she said as she rushed through the door twenty minutes later. “I hope I’m not messing up your schedule too badly. The baby spit up all over me when I picked him up to say goodbye, and I had to change.”

Reva smiled and waved her in. “Oh man. I’m so sorry. No stress. It gave me a chance to catch up on some emails. I’m drowning in them.”

Darci nodded. “Tell me about it. The best thing about my life now is that someone else screens all my emails, and I only get a handful of them.”

Reva grinned. “That sounds amazing. Between teaching and this job, I swear I get hundreds a day.”

“Speaking of this job, are you settling in OK?”

“I really am. This place is great. Did Jim tell you his good news?”

Darci’s eyes lit up, and she clapped her hands together. “He did. It’s so weird. When I was working here, that girl was skipping school and causing trouble, and now she’s having a baby. I’m so old.”

Reva snorted. “Please. You are not even close to old.”

Darci grinned. “Thank you for that. Are you ready to go to lunch? I’m really excited about trying this place.”

Reva opened her bottom drawer and grabbed her purse and keys. “Let’s do it. I assume we’re riding together in your car?”

Darci looked sheepish. “If you don’t mind? It makes things easier with the Secret Service detail. Honestly, I’m ready to drop the protection, but Bradley insists we still need it. Something tells me he’s itching to get back into the politics game and might run another high-profile campaign soon. But he’s not telling me about it yet. I only know because my girlfriend, Carrie, got a tip from one of her sources at the news network she works for.”

Reva raised an eyebrow. “Can I ask a personal question?”

Darci nodded. “Of course.”

“What is your relationship with her? I… saw you together the other night, and it surprised me.”

Darci blushed. “I’m bisexual and she was my best friend and casual play partner before either of us met our husbands. We still love each other deeply and are involved. It’s complicated to describe it because if either of our husbands had a problem with it, we would just stop having sex and go back to being best friends. Usually, the four of us play together, but our husbands are straight.”

“That’s so awesome. I love that falling in love with your husband didn’t stop you from being with her.”

“It really is nice that we didn’t let things like jealousy get in our way of loving each other.”

In the backseat of the SUV, it seemed awkward to continue the conversation, but Darci jumped right back in. “Don’t worry about them. They ignore us and I forget about them half the time. Unless Peter is the one driving.”

Reva laughed. “I’ve heard that name.”

“He’s Carrie’s husband, and he used to be a secret service agent before he opened his own private security firm. Sometimes for special events we contract with his firm for our details, and he likes to be there for those times if he can. He’s protective of me and the other women at the club. Speaking of the club, tell me about Noah. You came in together.”

Reva blushed. “How did you see us?”

Darci giggled. “I was a little distracted. It’s rare that Carrie and I get to play alone but both of the guys were busy that night, so we took advantage of it. It’s nice to see Noah with someone else.”

Reva frowned. “How long has it been?”

Darci grimaced. “Not since Elise. We thought we’d lost him for a while because he threw himself into work and basically moved out of the country for a solid two years. But he started coming back just never connected with anyone else.”

Reva wasn’t sure how much to tell her, but she didn’t think she could lie. “This isn’t something I’m proud of, or that I tell everyone, but I was dating his son when we met. Things ended badly and Noah helped me out of a sticky situation and things just kind of happened.”

“My husband was running the campaign of a man I abhor. I tried so hard to resist him because it just seemed dirty and wrong to date him. I get that it’s different from your situation, but I would encourage you not to give in to whatever shame you might be experiencing. Shame likes to make you hide. You never have to hide with me, Reva. And I’ll never judge you for the choices you make. Noah looks happy. You look happy. That makes me happy.”

Reva relaxed into the seat, knowing she had a friend in Darci.

“Do you know a lot about his relationship with Elise? I’m not asking about the personal romantic stuff. That’s his story to tell. But their arrangement and dynamic has me curious.”

Darci tilted her head to the ceiling. “I remember when they first met, she disappeared for a while, and we all hated him. But Gage assured us he was a good guy, so we didn’t drag her out of that apartment. When they finally came to a party together—this was before Exposure was open—Elise was fucking glowing. She talked to us that night and said he asked her for thirty days of just being his, and she gave it to him. He moved her into this swanky apartment and spoiled the hell out of her. And a couple of years later, he moved her into his house.”

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