She gave him a reassuring smile and walked away. Gerard sat there, completely battled. Aude, from that odd little scene in the morning, the rest of the day was surprisingly uneventful. Which made sense. When Dominic was in work mode, a dozen naked women could be dancing across his desk, and he wouldn’t blink.

He had a lunch meeting that day, but he didn’t mention who he was taking. Vespera told Gerard to go with him because she had something else to do. As soon as the lunch hour hit, she left. She grabbed a quick bite, then went straight to…

No protection last night, and according to her calendar, she was right in the middle of her ovulation window. The odds of getting pregnant were way too high. She had to take something. No questions asked. After all, if something went wrong, it would be her body paying the price. She bought the emergency pills, tucked them in her bag, and headed back to the office.

The entire office was quiet. It was already noon—no doubt they’d all left by now. She headed to the break room to get some water. Just as she was about to leave, her phone rang. It was Yasmine. She set her cup down, took a seat on one of the high stools by the counter, and answered the call. “Hey.”

“56, Vera, how did it feel?” Yasmine’s voice on the other end of the call was practically dripping with mischief. Between women, all it took was one bold friend, and everyone else got dragged into the clues.

Vespera licked her lips, her tone a little vague. “It felt pretty good.”

“I know! Wasn’t it totally mind-blowing? Addictive? Like stepping into a whole new world?” Yasmine practically spiraled. “I mean, it definitely had its strengths?”

“As it should! It’s not like a man taps out after round one. This baby? No such flaw,”

“Well, there’s still tomorrow,” Vespera replied.