“Of course not. I wouldn’t presume...” she trailed off and stared at him with worried eyes.
“Relax. I’m not going to take offense,” he told her. “I like to think you and I have become friends. And as such, I hope you feel comfortable telling me the truth.”
“Sometimes I don’t know how to be around you,” she grumbled. “We laugh and get along so well, but in the end, I am your live-in housekeeper. You pay my salary and I don’t want to step across a line.”
“I’d never fire you because you said something I needed to hear. I’m not like that.”
“Well, then, I guess I get to be more blunt.” She shot him a wry smile, but her eyes remained cautious. “Just out of curiosity, what would it take for you to fire me?”
“If you were stealing from me.”
“I’d never do that.”
“Disloyalty.” He noticed her confusion and elaborated. “Like if you decided to write a tell-all.”
“I’m not sure there’d be any money in it. I think you’re an open book. That’s one of the things I admire the most about you. Despite the fact that you’re a huge celebrity, you don’t have any skeletons or dirty laundry in your closet. And I should know, since I clean your house.” Her self-deprecating smile faded. “Since we’re on the subject of public awareness, I should probably mention something that happened to me earlier today.”
“What?”
“I met a woman at the grocery store who thought I was the reason you broke up with London.”
Claire’s declaration slammed into him like a fastball to the temple. At first, the words bounced around his stunned brain, but then he started to consider the implications.
“Do you know who she was?”
“Everly...” Claire shook her head. “I can’t remember her last name, but she gave me her card.” She reached into her purse and pulled out a small white business card. “Everly Briggs.”
He tried to recall if he’d ever heard of her before. “Why would she say something like that?”
“I don’t know.” Scarlet swept up Claire’s throat and flooded her cheeks. “She stopped me in the grocery store and we were talking about Honey, and then she noticed what I had in my cart and I accidentally told her I worked for you, and then she thought we were having an affair.”
Claire ejected the explanation in a rush, not pausing for breath. As she stumbled to a halt, he glimpsed mortification and horror in her eyes, but guilt as well. Suddenly he felt a little light-headed. Because she was so devoted to Honey, he’d always perceived her as a devoted mom, first and foremost. Plus, she was still in love with her dead husband.
So where was the guilt coming from? Did she secretly desire him? The notion delighted him and awakened a whole new realm of possibilities.
“What did you say?” he asked, curious how she’d handled the conversation.
Her lashes flickered. “I told her that was ridiculous. That’s not the sort of man you are, and there’s nothing going on between us.”
“Have you ever considered you’re wrong about the kind of man I am?”
“Of course not.” She looked startled. “You would never have cheated on London.”
“You’re right about that. Although, my reputation hasn’t always been stellar. Knox, Austin and I used to tear up this town. Drinking. Hooking up with random women.”
“But all that was before London. That’s not who you are now.”
Claire’s fierce defense of him made his chest tighten. He doubted she’d rush to champion him if she knew how she’d featured in his dreams in the days and weeks before he’d ended his engagement. Her husband had been a hero. He’d died while serving his country. That man deserved Claire’s love. The purity of her heart made Linc want to deserve her.
“Did she believe you?” he asked.
“Not at first, but then I set her straight.”
Linc wished he’d been there to hear it. “How did you do that?”
“I explained to her that I clean your toilets and that’s far from being romantic.” Claire’s dry tone didn’t quite match the bright color in her cheeks.
“So you didn’t clue her in to the skinny-dipping incident?”