Naughty Before Christmas (Decadent Delight Series #3) by Angie Daniels Page A

entire morning trying to keep as busy as she could. The more she worked, the less she thought about her cheating husband.
    Arianna had already started her Christmas vacation and Berlin was grateful she wasn’t going to be in the office, asking questions. She just wasn’t up to listening to her best friend telling her what she needed to do to save her marriage. Although as much as it pained her to admit it, the possibility of her marriage being over scared her. However, she wasn’t sure if she’d ever be able to trust Reggie again. She had loved him with everything she had, and truly believed nothing or no one could have ever come between them. But she had been so wrong. It had all been a lie. Just the thought of Reggie with another woman caused her stomach to churn with despair.
    Hearing voices in the hallway, Berlin pushed her marital problems aside and focused on the yearly expense spreadsheet. Two hours later, she still hadn’t managed to get the damn thing to balance. Numbers were her specialty. If anyone could find a problem with the budget, it was her. With determination, she spent the next several hours refiguring the columns, and it was almost lunch time by the time she had identified the problem.
    There was an extra hundred grand still in their expense account.
    Money had been set aside for equipment th e director had later decided not to purchase. Berlin gasped in excitement. She had found a way to stop the clinic from laying off the two nurses.
    “Some good ha s come out of the day,” she murmured with her first real smile. Reaching for her phone, Berlin dialed an extension and left a message for Dr. Clarke to contact her when he arrived at the clinic.
    She was getting ready to break for lunch when the front desk buzzed her desk. “Berlin, someone is here to see you.”
    “ Sure, send them back,” she said and knew it wasn’t her husband because Penny, who had a slight crush on Reggie, wouldn’t have been able to stop giggling.
    She was saving the spreadsheet when she heard a soft knock at her door. As soon as Berlin looked up and spotted the chocolate beauty, her mouth tightened.
    “ What the hell do you want?”
    Lyric cleared her throat. “Please, hear me out.”
    Their eyes met and held.
    With forced composure, Berlin leaned back in the chair, folded her arms across her wool blend sweater and replied, “You got five minutes.”
    Lyric stepped further into the room while Berlin’s eyes perused the red sweater dress that accented every perfect curve on her shapely body. As much as she hated to admit it, Lyric was beautiful with dark mocha skin, large brown eyes, a small nose, and high cheekbones.
    Tensely, Berlin waited for the woman to speak.
    After what felt like an eternity, Lyric stepped forward, allowing the leather handbag to slip off her shoulder and said meekly, “I’m sorry for the other day.”
    “ Sorry for what happened or sorry you got caught?” she countered cynically.
    A guilty expression crossed her face. “Actually both. I was wrong. I shouldn’t have kissed Reginald.”
    Her heart soared. Lyric kissed him , not the other way around . “You’re right. You shouldn’t have.” Berlin swiveled around on her chair and then pointed to her left hand. “This ring on my finger means he belongs to me.”
    Lyric ’s gaze flickered to the diamond wedding ring. “You’re right and I-I… I guess I was jealous.” She paused for a moment. “Reginald is handsome and so nice. I just got out of a bad break-up with a married man, and I really thought Reggie might have been feeling the same vibe. Instead, he was just being nice,” she said quietly keeping her wounded gaze trained on the floor.
    “ That’s because my husband tries to make everyone feel comfortable.” Berlin spat out the words.
    “ And I mistook that as something else.” Lyric released another shaky breath. “I’m sorry. Really I am.” She looked confused and troubled, and Berlin almost felt sorry for her.