Thea stared at the pile of folders on her desk and wondered who had decided to leave them there. Because she was one of the administrative assistants, her coworkers tended to think that her desk was everyone’s desk. She would often find files, folders, papers, and all sorts of various office accoutrements that had appeared while she was going to the bathroom or out to lunch. They knew enough not to put them on her desk when she was sitting there, apparently, so they just did it when she was gone and couldn’t object.She sighed as she flipped through the folders. They were client files that needed filing, most likely. Already bored by the thought of having to file all afternoon, she put them in her drawer that she could lock, effectively forgetting them for now.“Hey, Thea, I have some more files for you,” said Jason, one of the newer lawyers Ferguson had hired. Jason was the epitome of the adjective smarmy, with his easy good looks and ability to talk down to anyone who didn’t share

Thea wasn’t sure if she was going to die of excitement or nerves. Maybe both. Her stomach roiled a bit, adrenaline pumping through her, and she kept wiping sweat from her forehead. It didn’t help that it was one of the warmest days on record in Seattle, with the temperatures edging toward ninety degrees and few places having air conditioning.But Thea didn’t care about the heat. She only cared about how this art show would go, and if she’d made a huge mistake agreeing to do it.“Hey, it’ll be amazing,” said Mittens as they sat outside the gala in his car. He rubbed her back. “Do you need a Xanax?”Thea laughed shakily. “No, thanks. The last thing I need to do is start blurting out embarrassing things.”She wiped her clammy hands on her pants as she tried to settle her nerves. She couldn’t help but remember the last art show she was in, when Henry Thatcher had told her that her art was drab and lifeless. It was stupid that all these years later, his words could still affect her. If

Emily drank half of her beer and laughed. “I feel so much better.” She gasped as she turned. “Let’s play darts!”She grabbed Phin’s arm, and Phin followed her over to the wall as she set her drink down on a rickety table and pulled the darts from the board. She giggled when she dropped a dart. It rolled under a table, and Phin got a full view of Emily’s luscious ass as she bent down to grab it.If Emily had been sent here to kill him, she was doing a great job of it.Emily handed him all but one of the darts to hold. “Let’s do best out of five. You ready for this?”She threw the dart, which bounced off the wall—nowhere near the board—and they both watched the dart roll back toward Emily’s feet.“I’m usually good at darts,” she said. She took another dart from Phin’s hand and threw it. This time, the dart caught the very edge of the board before dropping to the ground.This went on for the next three throws, and by the last one, Phin was biting his tongue in half to keep from laug

A coffee addict and cat lover, Iris Morland writes sexy and funny contemporary romances. If she's not reading or writing, she enjoys binging on Netflix shows and cooking something delicious.Stay in touch!irismorland.comIris Morland’s MermaidsNewsletter Facebook Twitter BookBub Goodreads Instagram