Page 42 of Blackmailing the Bad Girl

She sniffed. As if.

“Hey, beautiful.” Sam came to a halt in front of her, a glass of white wine in one hand, a beer in the other. He held out the wine to her, and she took it with a slightly forced smile. “Darcy said you needed a drink,” he said. “You were looking far too serious all alone here in the corner.”

They were at one of the local pubs not far from home. Danny had arranged a get-together to celebrate the anniversary of his first date with Sherry, and Summer had thought it would be nice to get out. Now she wished she was at home. Sam was a complication she didn’t need right now. She was quite aware that Darcy was matchmaking. But while she liked Sam, her life was far too much of a mess to even contemplate a relationship. Besides, it didn’t seem right to lead Sam on when her dreams were full of hot sex with another man.

“Thank you,” she said, taking a sip of wine. “How’s the computing coming along?”

Danny and Sam had become friends. Sam was teaching Danny how to fight, and Danny was teaching Sam all about computer hacking.

“Total crap.” He sounded cheerful about it. He was such an easygoing guy. Things would be so much easier if she could fall for him instead of…

Stop thinking about him.

“How’s the job?” he asked.

She was betting Darcy had put him up to that. She was quite aware that both Regan and Darcy were curious about her job.

“Total crap,” she replied, and Sam grinned.

But that wasn’t true. She was actually enjoying the work. For the first time since she was fourteen, she felt almost normal, part of real life instead of just looking on. She was still a little wary about meeting people at work who might remember her, but as time passed, she relaxed more.

She’d even made friends with a couple of the other executive PAs and occasionally went to lunch with them. Like a normal person.

Unfortunately, though, she still spent way too much time thinking of her boss in an inappropriate manner. And she still woke up in the night, hot and sweaty and so turned on…

Friends!

Danny appeared at her side, Sherry close by. She didn’t look happy.

“Happy anniversary,” Summer said, reaching up to kiss Danny on the cheek. As she backed away, she caught the expression on Sherry’s face. Her lips were tight and her eyes narrowed.

“Thanks.” Danny wrapped his arms around her and gave her a huge hug. Probably not the best thing to do in front of his girlfriend. This wasn’t the first inkling she’d had that Sherry didn’t like her. In everything else, she seemed to be such a confident woman. So why didn’t she have the confidence to see how Danny felt about her? It was sad. Danny was crazy about her and seemed totally oblivious to the waves of resentment radiating off his girlfriend. Summer pushed herself away and straightened her clothes.

“Hey, you look great,” he said, and she almost rolled her eyes.

She was wearing some of the clothes she’d bought on her makeover day with Darcy. Tight black jeans and a silky purple tank top. She looked better than she ever had, not that Nik had noticed. He seemed oblivious to her change of image.

And why did she care?

Sam was talking to Sherry, but the other woman was merely pretending to pay attention, while casting her and Danny sharp little glances. Summer’s heart sank. The last thing she wanted was to drive a wedge between her best friend and the love of his life. Sherry had been good for Danny. She ensured he stayed totally legal, which took a weight off Summer’s mind.

Maybe she should back out of his life. But he was her best friend. She loved him…like a brother. Though Sherry didn’t believe that.

Time to give the other woman a little space. “I just need to ask Darcy something. I’ll see you all later.”

She found Darcy and Regan propping up the bar, drinking beer. Neither looked particularly happy, but then, Darcy was getting nowhere with her plans, and Regan was coping with a potentially disastrous love life. She’d made the mistake of falling for the detective who had led the case against her, and while she said she knew what she was doing, Summer didn’t see any way it could end well.

“Sherry doesn’t like me,” she said as she came to a halt in front of them.

“She’s jealous,” Darcy said.

“There’s nothing to be jealous of.” They both gave her a look. “There isn’t,” she protested, and Regan grinned.

“No smoke and all that. And I’ve got to say, if I were Danny’s girlfriend, I’d be a little concerned.”

“There’s nothing like that between us.”

“Maybe not now. But I’m guessing there was.”

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