“You didn’t tell me you were married, and no fucking way in hell does he believe all I did was give you a ride home.”

“You have to tell him nothing happened.”

“It’s too late for that. He knows, and I’m not making it worse by lying about it.” She was delusional if she thought Jock would accept such a feeble excuse. I suspected crap like that had worked before for her. She was a manipulator and those types usually thought they could lie their way out of anything. Not this time.

“Do you really want to be responsible for destroying a marriage and causing such agony to my children?”

“You should’ve thought about that when you sat next to me at the bar. You never told me you were married.”

“You never once told me you were a professional hockey player. That’s on you. If you’d come clean, I’d have never fucked you.” She lifted her chin and gave me this haughty look as if I were nothing but dog shit under her six-inch heels.

“For fuck’s sake, why would I? You didn’t tell me your husband was a hockey player or that you had a husband. You weren’t wearing a ring. I didn’t know who the fuck you were.”

“Jock wants a divorce. You have to help me. Tell him it’s all a mistake, very innocent. You were just being a good guy.” Her anger flipped like a switch, and now she was begging, pleading, cajoling, yet behind the fake tears, I saw the calculation in her eyes.

“Leave me alone. I don’t want any further contact with you.” I backed away, judging the distance between her and my freedom. In ten steps, I’d be in the safety of my vehicle and speeding away from this woman.

“Bria,” I said in my gentlest tone, hoping to calm her, “you seem like a good person. So is Jock. Be honest with him. See if you can patch things up for your children’s sake, but leave me out of this.”

“He won’t even talk to me. I can’t work things out if he does all his communication through his lawyer.”

I didn’t want to be harsh, but nothing else was getting through. “I regret sleeping with you. I want out of this situation. You’re on your own. I’m not lying for you.” There I’d said it. She knew the truth, and now I was getting the fuck out of here. I skirted around her and hurried to my car.

“You can’t mean that. Think about my children and my marriage.”

I slowed my pace and half turned. “Maybe you should’ve thought about your children and your marriage before you left the house that night.”

I didn’t turn again to look at her. Instead, I leaped into my car, locked the doors, and drove past her and down the exit ramp. My last view of her was in my rearview mirror. She stood in the middle of the parking garage, hands on her hips, and watched me go.