Naughty Mommy — Juicy Secrets

“I love you and your father more than anything,” she said, stopping by the old oak tree at the edge of the fairgrounds. “But I forgot who I was. The woman who likes to run in the dark. The woman who gets a rush when the cards fall just right. I’ve been hiding her in junk drawers and pantry closets.”

Claire sighed, the weight of ten years of perfect baking sliding off her shoulders. “Sit down, sweetheart. I think it’s time you knew your mother’s juicy secrets.”

A pause.

“Before what?” Leo demanded.

“I don’t care if the pot is a quarter million. I’m a mother first.” naughty mommy juicy secrets

Leo stepped out of the crowd. “Mom.”

Claire pulled him into a hug that smelled like vanilla, sweat, and a hint of danger. “That’s my boy.” “I love you and your father more than

Before Leo, before Dad, before the white picket fence—Claire “The Knave” Marshall was the best underground poker player on the Eastern seaboard. She’d won her first tournament at nineteen, using psychology and a perfect memory for cards. She’d once bluffed a Russian mobster out of his watch. The flip phone belonged to her “handler,” a man she owed a favor to. The night runs? She was training for a charity triathlon—a secret life she’d started six months ago because she was bored out of her skull.