Page 23 of Forbidden Virgin

“Did she? How nice of her,” Graham said, trying hard to manage the sarcasm from dripping from his voice. Amanda certainly pulled her strings and enjoyed the game, didn’t she? She knew about him and Kate, and she was making the situation fatally awkward.

“I always said you were a fool to let her get away. Amanda is the perfect woman for you.” Jacob shook his head. “Maybe this dinner will set things in motion. When did you last go on a date?”

His gut clenched tight, and he hoped he managed keeping a neutral expression. “I really don’t want to talk about dating right now.” His friend always meant well, but he didn’t need Jacob for sentimental advice and certainly none involving his dating life.

Jacob scratched his oval chin and blinked his brown eyes. “Of course. We’ll talk later. I’m glad to see you’re doing well, man,” he said, and shared a handshake with him before turning to his daughter and saying, “Kate, we need to catch up. Is your car parked out there?” he asked gesturing to the car on the driveway.

“Yes,” she said, a note of urgency in her voice. She probably couldn’t wait to get out of there either.

“Good. Give your dad a ride to the hotel and we’ll talk on the way.”

“Of course.”

Graham walked them to the door, where Jacob said goodbye and Kate flashed him a warning look— silently urging him to keep their secret still a secret. She widened her eyes briefly before parting, her silent message to say she was just as surprised as he was. They walked on the gravel path and entered her car.

How the hell would he handle Preston, Amanda, Jacob, and Kate at the same table?

* * *

“You’ve made it,” Sheri said as she held her cup of coffee to her lips. She leaned against the door as he sat down. “I thought you’d stay at home one more day.”

“I should have. But now I have an opportunity to pitch an idea to Preston, and I decided to come and study some numbers to be ready,” he said, flicking his computer screen on and typing his password.

“How’s your girlfriend doing?” she asked entering his office.

“I told you I don’t see Amanda anymore,” he said.

She brought the cup to her lips and had a drink. “I mean Kate.”

Graham stopped typing and stared at her. “You know?” he said evenly, then swallowed the lodge of surprise in his throat. If she knew, what were the chances his other employees also suspected their affair? He’d hate for them to lose respect for him. He’d always thrived on leading by example, on showing professionalism in order to expect it.

She waved him off. “Honey, I’m not stupid. I have a fifteen-year-old at home. I can detect horny teenagers from miles away.”

He ran his fingers down his face. “She’s not a teenager anymore,” he rationalized.

Sheri chuckled. “I meant you.”

Of course, she’d have noticed the amount of calls from Kate she’d transferred or how he no longer worked as many hours as he used to—particularly at lunch time or the weekend.

Sheri sat in front of him and placed her mug on the table. A kind smile formed on her lips and it reached her hazel eyes. Never in his life had he been happier his longtime assistant wasn’t judgmental. “She seems to really like you.”

She liked him all right. He tapped his foot on the floor, and his fingers drummed on the table. A part of him wanted to run from the conversation, but he couldn’t bring himself to. Because you need this one-on-one. You need to talk to someone about Kate. “She does. But she’s off to Switzerland in less than two months.”

She tilted her head to the side. “Then don’t let her go.”

“You don’t understand . . . she has the whole world to see. I can’t stop her from living her life,” he said. He’d hate himself for watching her leave. From the little he knew about his mother’s relationship to his father, she was a bright woman from a poor family. Raised by a working class single mom, Nancy Davenport had the smarts but her attraction to his father drew her to the world of drugs, and she’d ended up corrupted and addicted. Would her life have been different if she’d never met his father? Maybe. But he’d hate for Kate to wonder the same about hers. He wouldn’t lure her into drugs obviously, but he’d prevent her from experiencing things a woman her age should—with a man her age.

“What’s so wrong about seeing the world with you?” Sheri said.

He squared his shoulders and stopped the drumming and tapping. The downside of personal conversations with Sheri was she always made him see the same picture under a different light.

* * *

“Graham. So glad you could make it,” Amanda greeted him when he walked through the entrance.

The past day and a half had been a whirlwind. He’d had lunch with Jacob, and didn’t do much but chat a couple of times with Kate at work. He couldn’t see her behind her father’s back. He understood she deserved to have her own sexual life, but given he knew for a fact Jacob would never approve of them, avoiding each other out of respect for him while he visited was the least they could do.

“Thanks. What’s this all about?” he asked.

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