“Oh. Cute. No, I haven’t seen it, but that is not what this is about.”
“Okay.”
Lily-Grace took a deep breath, then let the truth spill out. “You asked me why I was home for so long, even though I maintain a child shouldn’t need a reason to visit a parent for an extended period of time.”
“True. I see my parents about once a leap year, so I probably shouldn’t speak on that subject.”
Lily-Grace felt herself frown and filed that information away for another time. “We should talk about that, but I did come home for a reason, and I am, or was, kind of hiding from someone. I was sexually harassed by our head of marketing at Ulway. I reported it. The company did nothing, so I left. I’m pissed still, but I’m—okay. I probably would have stayed in San Francisco, but my partner at the time wasn’t very supportive. We were in a very sexually intense relationship and I’d put a lot of trust in him in that respect, so I wasa lotcaught off guard when he told me it wasn’t a big deal.” Lily-Grace took a breath, then tried to gauge Jesse’s reaction. His brow was crumpled in a frown and his jaw was very tense.
“Anyway, we ended things. I don’t have a car now, because I didn’t have a car up in the Bay Area. He’s a very wealthy man and ... as his submissive, he wanted me to use a driver. Which I did. I’m here, still trying to figure out what I want to do next. And I do want to go public with my harasser’s name, if only to warn other women, but I’m scared.” It felt good to admit that out loud. Jenny and her father had both been gentle and kind, not pushing her to talk more about the situation than she already had, but she realized she needed to say that last bit out loud.
“That’s completely understandable,” Jesse replied, his brow creasing down with concern. “I am very sorry this happened to you. I don’t think my therapist would be on board, but say the word, I’ll get some of the boys from the ranch and maybe we’ll just go have a chat with these two gentlemen. And whoever at Ulway is lacking common sense.”
“Well, for starters, none of them are gentlemen. They are complete scumbags. But. As much as I would love that, I’m gonna have to say no and keep you out of a NorCal county jail.”
They were both quiet then. Lily-Grace watched the expression on Jesse’s face closely. He wasn’t Dane, she reminded herself and if the next thing out of his mouth was in any way shitty or generally unhelpful, she could just walk up to the dealership herself. Jesse sniffed then looked back into her eyes. “What sort of reaction were you expecting me to have?”
“I don’t know—a bad one, a pointing-fingers-at-me one. Or theWhoa, I’m dealing with someone who has too much baggagetype reaction, where you pull away from me but act like it’s just because you’re busy,” Lily-Grace replied, realizing then just how nervous she’d been about this conversation. Jesse had just entered the picture, but she wasn’t ready for more emotional rejection or disappointment.
“I wouldn’t do that to anyone, let alone my friend. But if you’re not comfortable, we don’t have to do the, uh, intimacy lessons anymore.”
“No, no, that’s actually consensual, unless you’d like to stop.”
“No, your tips so far have been very helpful. It’s given me a lot to think about. I did practice with putting on one condom last night, and you were right.”
Lily-Grace managed not to bring up a mental picture of what that must have been like. “A little out of practice?”
“You could say that. But I’m glad you suggested it. I’ve never talked about this with anyone. It’s easy with you,” Jesse said.
“And I think that’s why this whole thing makes me extra itchy. You can be a sexually confident person, you can talk constructively about sex and—”
“That doesn’t give you the right to grope someone at work.”
“Exactly, and not that I was talking about that stuff at work, I’m just—I’m just working out things in my head. There’s a lot of shoulda-coulda that’s not helpful.”
“Well, I’m here if you want to talk about it.”
“Thank you, Jesse.”
“You’re welcome. And I understand if you need time to figure everything else out. Both of my brothers and Evie have had their periods of self-discovery.”
“And what about you?” She grabbed her keys and her purse. Jesse continued talking as he followed her to the front door.
“Oh, I’ve always had my life figured out: next step, the Capitol.”
She didn’t say anything as she set the alarm and locked up. She had no idea if she’d be in Charming another month, but for some reason the idea of Jesse taking a job that would have him in Washington for chunks of the year didn’t sit right with her.
“The head of the search committee saw the article, actually. She emailed me and said you seemed like First Lady material.”
“What did you say?” She laughed.
“That we were just friends.”
Right,Lily-Grace thought.Friends are good.“How are you feeling about the position? You think you’re going to go for it?”
“I don’t know. I have to let them know soon. The date-auction thing made them very happy.” He opened the passenger-side door for her and waited for her to climb in.
“How did it make you feel?” she asked when he joined her behind the wheel.
