Page 104 of Meant to be Mine

Briggs’s expression didn’t change, but I saw his shoulders tense slightly. “Did you sleep with Edith?”

“Oh, God no.” I wrinkled my nose in disgust. “But she walked in on me and Kensey Blake. In my office. It was way after hours. Everyone had gone home.” I stopped, not sure how much detail he needed. “But it was inappropriate. Edith was upset, understandably, and now she’s gone.”

Briggs was quiet for a long moment. “What did she walk in on?”

“Do you really need me to spell it out?”

“I’m your lawyer, Drew. Yes, I need you to spell it out. Because depending on what actually happened, this could be a simple HR issue or it could be a massive lawsuit waiting to happen.”

I forced myself to look him in the eye. “Kensey and I have been seeing each other. Edith caught us in a compromising position.”

Briggs pinched the bridge of his nose. “Come on, man, not at the office.”

“I know.” I shook my head. “I fucked up. Now I need to know what to do. Can I settle with Edith privately? Pay her out of my own accounts, keep this quiet?”

“You want to pay her off? Has she asked for money?”

“No, nothing like that,” I said. “I just want to make this right. She didn’t deserve to walk in on that. She’s been nothing but professional, and I put her in an impossible situation. If money makes this go away, I’ll pay whatever she wants.”

“I don’t think that’s the first option,” he said.

“I don’t want the family involved in this,” I said. “This is my mess. I’ll clean it up.”

I was surprised Edith hadn’t ratted me out immediately. We rarely saw eye to eye on anything and we sure as hell weren’t friends. I assumed she would jump at the opportunity to throw me under the bus, which made me feel like a bigger asshole for assuming anything. But if Edith was gone, that was good. I didn’t want Kensey freaking out. I knew she was humiliated getting caught like that. The last thing she wanted was for the story to get around. If Edith was gone, she wouldn’t be gossiping with the employees.

But I couldn’t escape the guilt. Edith was good at her job and she shouldn’t have to quit because I was doing inappropriate shit at the office. I fucking knew better. I wasn’t some horny teenager.

“How big is this problem going to be?” Briggs asked.

I shook my head. “I’ll find out. Can you tell Micah to keep an eye on things for a bit? I need to talk to Edith.”

“As your lawyer, I don’t advise it.”

“Last night is still fresh in her head. I can talk to her. I at least owe her an apology to her face. Then we can see what happens next.”

He obviously didn’t like the idea but nodded. “Apologize that she saw something but leave it at that. Don’t admit fault to anything else that can get you in trouble.”

“I’ll be back in an hour,” I said and jogged out to my car.

34

KENSEY

Isat at the kitchen table, staring at the cold cup of coffee I’d poured an hour ago and hadn’t touched. My eyes felt gritty from crying and lack of sleep. Every time I closed them, I saw Edith’s face—that mixture of shock and disgust. The way she couldn’t even look at us directly.

“Honey.” Mom’s hand landed on my shoulder, warm and comforting. “You need to eat something.”

“I’m not hungry.”

She pulled out the chair next to me and sat down. “You want to talk about it?”

I’d given her the bare minimum when I’d stumbled in last night—that Drew and I had been caught in a compromising position at work and I could never show my face there again. The humiliation of even that vague explanation had made fresh tears spring to my eyes.

“There’s nothing to talk about,” I said. “I messed up. Spectacularly.”

“We all mess up, sweetheart.”

“Not like this.” I finally looked at her. “Mom, I’m a teacher. I can’t get busted doing things like that.”