Page 44 of Miss Understanding

She shrugged. “The firm agreed to help with tuition if I chose a degree in line with their purposes. Business administration fit the bill. Culinary school did not.”

“Then what is your goal after school?”

“I don’t know yet.”

“You should have a goal.” The very thought of her not having one baffled me. I’d always focused on goals. Even now, I had my next goal in mind. The next rung on the ladder was always something to strive for.

“I’ll get there eventually, but for now, I don’t have a plan.”

“But you mentioned quitting in a few months.”

Her face turned red. She removed the sauce from the burner, then turned it on high for the water. She also moved the chicken onto a cutting board. “That was my anger talking. Truthfully, I don’t know when I’ll leave. The law firm is steady and has good benefits. Why? Were you hoping it would be sooner?”

Yes, because the lines were getting blurred. And no, because I liked how good she was at her job. Not to mention, I already knew I’d miss her. “No. The last thing I want is to have someone new.”

“There’s still a possibility I might have to support another partner. At least it’s what I was told after my transfer from Mike’s team.”

Most of the partners shared their secretary with at least one other partner, but so far I’d made the case for having mine support me full-time.

“I know. But if he does anything inappropriate like the last one, you need to come to me.”

I already had a call with the managing partner scheduled for tomorrow to discuss my issue with Mike.

“Yeah. I will. Thank you.”

This. This was reason one hundred eighty-nine I could not possibly entertain the idea of getting involved with her. Forget my hard line about being involved with someone I worked with. She’d been harassed by her last boss. She didn’t need her new one entertaining inappropriate thoughts.

“What do you need the extra money for? Working weekends at the club?”

Kendall made a good salary at the firm, and given she had a roommate, I wondered why she needed another job.

“School and stuff.”

She averted her eyes as she answered. Something wasn’t adding up. The firm helped her with school tuition. I was getting the hum I got when I started asking questions and discovered there was something I wanted to dig into.

Chapter Twenty-One

Kendall

Why did I feel like I was at trial being cross-examined? Probably because I had one of the best in the business asking me questions. I didn’t mind sharing some personal details with Liam, as I was glad he was interested, but I certainly wasn’t about to spill all my secrets.

“So once school is over in a few months, you’ll be able to quit your job bartending?”

Definitely not, but I didn’t want to get into the reasons. “Uh. No. I actually enjoy it. Gets me out of my apartment. Otherwise, I think I’d be a homebody all the time.”

“What do your parents do?”

“Oh.” I was surprised he cared to know. “My dad works part-time on a factory line. He had a heart attack a couple years ago, so he’s slowed down a bit. My mom is a teacher.” She also cleaned houses on weekends, but I kept the news to myself.

“And your grandmother. What did she used to do?”

“She was a stay-at-home mom. My grandfather was a police officer. He passed away about five years ago.”

“And the facility your grandmother lives in is called?”

“It’s a Sunrise Living Facility. It’s nice. Convenient to where my parents live.”

I busied myself with melting the butter in the microwave and grabbing the French bread.