Adrienne swallowed, the forced, tight smile fixed on her face masking absolute terror. Mrs. Devereux's joke about Alexander not "swinging that way" was a cruel, perfectly timed punchline to the entire disastrous morning.
She looked at Alexander through the rearview mirror, finding his eyes already fixed on hers—a shared moment of silent, tensed torment over their clandestine kiss.
"Of course not, Mother," Alexander's voice was too smooth, too quick. "Mr. Cole is simply an excellent secretary." He glanced at Adrienne with an unreadable look.
Adrienne felt the heat rise in her cheeks. "Yes. A very professional secretary," she affirmed, praying the stress wouldn't make her already throbbing cheek twitch. The lie felt particularly heavy, considering she was literally sitting in the car with the man she had kissed while also pretending to be his wife, tasked with bearing his child.
The situation was a triple-decker lie, and it was about to implode.
