Page 5 of Miss Understanding

She swallowed hard. “I’m available. But why would you want me there?”

“I’ll need you there to help me with the deposition prep. To get the office set up at the hotel. I can’t afford to lose time on this. As you’re aware, the days leading up are crucial.”

I realized talking nothing but business made me sound like a cold bastard in her opinion considering I’d only just learned about my father’s death. I could easily dispel her opinion by telling her the truth about him. But I didn’t. It wasn’t necessary for her to know about my personal childhood demons.

At the same time, knowing she’d be traveling with me immediately eased the knot forming in my stomach. It was a foreign feeling to rely on someone, but I knew without a doubt she could handle anything I threw at her. She might not enjoy working for me, but she understood the importance of this deposition and its prep. She was damn good at her job.

“Right. Understood. What is the town we’ll be staying in?”

“The town is Tazewell, Virginia.” It was where I’d grown up, and I hadn’t been back since I’d graduated high school fourteen years ago. Instead, I’d fly my mother out to see me. Or my sister and I would meet her in the larger city of Roanoke.

“Okay. When do we need to leave?”

“Tomorrow.” My mother would need help with the arrangements. Since tomorrow would be Friday, I was hoping to get most of those tasks done over the weekend and then have the funeral soon after, making it possible for me to return to LA and have one uninterrupted prep week back here.

“So I’ll be working over the weekend?”

It wouldn’t surprise me to discover Kendall had a boyfriend and would have plans, but I definitely didn’t want to know about it. “Yes. Don’t worry. You’ll be paid overtime for your hours.”

There was temper in her eyes, but she tamped it down as always. Well, except for her earlier outburst over my mother’s phone call. “Will we return in time for the following weekend?”

“Yes. We need to.”

My answer eased the tension in her face.

Chapter Four

Kendall

I think I would’ve preferred to have been fired rather than go with Mr. you-need-to-come-with-me-across-the-entire-country-and-do-my-shit-Liam Davenport. But the truth was I needed this job. I needed the paycheck. Even once I earned my bachelor’s degree in business administration in a few months, there was no guarantee I would find a better paying job with the same great benefits. I’d been with this firm three years and made a decent salary even without my overtime hours.

My passion was to work as a chef or a caterer. But I didn’t have the luxury of entertaining such an idea. As much as I loved the cooking classes I snuck in whenever I could, the truth was most culinary jobs paid less than what I was making now. I quite literally couldn’t afford to follow my dreams when I had financial obligations.

Back at my desk outside Liam’s office, I forced myself to stop thinking about my future and take a deep breath. I had to make travel plans—for a place I’d never heard of. And prepare myself to fly on a plane for the very first time.

My super strength was being organized. First things first, I needed to book a flight. A half an hour later, however, I realized it was easier said than done. Flights were limited going into Roanoke and impossible from LAX to Beckley, West Virginia. But there was a bigger question. What client number did I charge this to? Most of Liam’s travel was client billable, meaning the client was charged for it. But this was a personal trip. So was he paying? Maybe for himself, but what about my ticket?

When I thought of having to ask him any questions, my head thunked down against the smooth surface of my desk. I’d reached my max of wanting to converse with him.

“It won’t help. Believe me, I’ve tried. We’re still going to Virginia.”

I sat up suddenly, startled by Liam’s voice. I hadn’t heard my boss come out of his office. And was that a spark of humor coming from him?

He reached a hand up to rub his temple, seemingly off from his usual cool demeanor. Perhaps he wasn’t as unaffected by things as I’d unfairly judged.

“I have a question. How am I charging the travel?”

I waited. Waited for him to tell me to put it to non-billable or to a client which he’d then write off.

“Put it to my personal number, so I’m charged for it. Your travel, too.”

I don’t know why I was surprised. His integrity wasn’t something I’d seen was an issue, but there was always a first time a partner would abuse the system by trying to charge the firm for their personal travel. I found the richer the man, the more he seemed to take liberties with spending other people’s money.

“Roanoke is the only flight available from LAX tomorrow. There’s one stop in Chicago.”

“There’s not a nonstop flight?”

“Afraid not.”