I burst out laughing, knowing she’s not joking. They have a solid marriage but were high school sweethearts, so their honeymoon phase ended years ago.

Dana shows up for her afternoon shift, and the three of us work effortlessly to keep things running smoothly. Most of the time, Dana keeps to herself, which doesn’t bother me. Since my employees have been working so hard, I invite them out for drinks, my treat. Being together outside of the store is good for morale and team building.

“So, I spoke with Heidi, and she said she can meet us for drinks tomorrow night after the boutique closes. You guys in?” I ask Lexie and Dana.

“Hell yes!” Lexie immediately responds.

“I have plans with my new roommate,” Dana says.

“New roommate? Who?” Lexie asks.

“She’s not a local. Y’all wouldn’t know her.”

“Well, she’s welcome to join us,” I offer. “The more, the merrier!”

“Yeah, I’d love to meet her,” Lexie adds.

Dana nervously licks her lips as if she’s searching for an excuse. Lately, she’s been more distant than usual, and it’s one of the reasons I wanted the four of us to get together.

“My roommate is an introvert and doesn’t like to be around a lot of people. She’s hiding from her ex-husband and is weird about letting anyone see her. It’s for her protection,” Dana explains, and Lexie gives me a look that says Dana’s full of shit.

“Oh wow, is she in some kind of danger?” I ask genuinely.

“No, I don’t think so. She’s really quiet and prefers to be around people she knows and trusts.”

The weirdness of this conversation has me narrowing my eyes. Either Dana’s hiding a fugitive or she’s making this story up to avoid hanging out.

“Alright, well, if she decides she wants out of the house, she’s welcome to come have a drink with us,” I offer politely.

“I’ll let her know, thanks.”

After that, Dana spends the next hour working as far away from the two of us as possible. The way Lexie’s acting tells me we’ll be talking about this tomorrow night.

As I get ready to leave, I open Archer’s text, and his palm wrapped around his thick cock comes into view with the message, Waiting at home for you.

Before I have a chance to lock the screen, Lexie gasps next to me.

“Was that a dick pic?” she whispers, then elbows me in the side.

“Please tell me you didn’t see that.” I cringe at the thought of my employee seeing Archer’s goods.

“Oh, honey. I saw it. Inspiring me to go home to my man right now.”

I snort, shaking my head. “Tell Brett he can thank me later.”

“I’m not stupid enough to tell him that, please. It’s not good for his ego.”