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“I do, too,” she replied as he turned into the driveway of her brother’s home. “The best solution would be a job outside of Winslow Financial, to be honest.”
It was the cleanest solution, but not necessarily the easiest. She’d had zero luck finding a job until the day she’d run into him at the parking garage.
“I have a large network of friends and business associates. I can put the word out. Quietly and discreetly, of course.”
“I can’t think of a worse thing,” she said with a shudder. “Hey, everyone. I’m sleeping with my assistant, so I need to find her another job. What ya’ got?”
“It’s not like that, and I certainly wouldn’t phrase it that way.”
“It doesn’t matter. They’re going to think it, even if you don’t say it.”
“They won’t think that.”
Sam didn’t sound convincing, however.
“I know that people are going to know we’re together,” she admitted. He’d parked the car in the driveway, letting the engine idle. “And I don’t mind that. But I guess I’m not quite prepared for the public to comment on it.”
“Fuck ‘em,” Sam replied. “They don’t matter. None of them do. It only matters what you and I think, Alli.”
It was easy for him to say that. He was part of the rich and powerful Winslow family. She was…not.
“I trust you. I do,” she said. “And I don’t regret what we did. Not one bit.”
It was just going to be a mess until they could figure something out.
He stepped out and retrieved her bag from the trunk, not letting her carry it to the front door.
“I’ll call you later,” he promised. “Maybe we can go out to dinner or something.”
“I’d like that.”
Pressing a quick kiss to her lips, he climbed back into the car and was gone. She stepped into the house and set the bag off to the side, almost blindsided when Tara launched herself from the kitchen along with Daisy to welcome her home.
They guided her into the kitchen, where Tara poured her an iced tea and the dog sprawled at their feet, apparently exhausted from her enthusiastic greeting only moments before.
“Tell me everything,” Tara commanded with a grin. “Every detail, and don’t leave anything out. What did you do? Did you have a good time?”
“You know I went there for a funeral, right? This wasn’t a vacation.”
“You didn’t spend the whole time at the funeral. You must have done other things. Did you see any sights?”
Alli told Tara about the Boston Gardens and the swan boats. She also talked about the food at the restaurants they’d eaten at and how nice the hotel was.
“It sounds like you…and Sam…enjoyed your time together.”
Alli decided to ignore the veiled question.
“It’s a lovely city,” Alli said. “I enjoyed our short stay, but of course, I wish we’d visited under happier circumstances.”
“How was the funeral?” Tara asked, grimacing a bit. “Pretty awful?”
“It was exactly what you’d expect,” Alli explained. “Leigh’s family is devastated, and it was a somber affair. But I’m glad that Sam asked me to go. I took over this woman’s job, and it somehow felt right to say goodbye to her. From what we heard from the other people there, Leigh was truly a remarkable woman.”
“She always seemed to be,” Tara replied. “Although I never really met her. But I don’t think I ever heard anyone say a bad word about her. She was well-liked and respected.”
“Those are large shoes to fill.”
“She was there for over thirty years. I doubt anyone expects you to just walk into that job and be as effective the first month. That would be crazy.” Tara’s eyes narrowed, her lips twisted. “Are you that crazy? Because that would be unrealistic as hell. Don’t torture yourself like that.”
