The Cost of Happiness: A Contemporary Romance Read Online Free PDF Page B

him more about her.
    She set down her files and waited. Dan sat in the extra chair so she’d have to sit down as well. He could tell from her body language that she didn’t want to have this conversation.
    Tough.
    “What happened? Ted Dorchay said you were on track for a Supreme Court clerkship, and now you’re a paralegal? Don’t get me wrong, I feel like I won the lottery having you on the team, but weren’t you supposed to be a summer associate?”
    “I resigned my associateship. The rest is personal.”
    “I’m not asking as a matter of casual gossip. I’m your boss now.” All true, as far as it went. She didn’t need to know his feelings went beyond their working relationship. Right now, he just needed to know why she wasn’t a carefree summer associate.
    “And I don’t see how my situation affects our professional relationship. The law firm is satisfied that it’s appropriate to have me work here as a paralegal. Do you need to second-guess them?”
    Dan sucked in a breath. Her neck and shoulders were taut. She looked ready to bite his head off if he didn’t back down. And yet he couldn’t back down.
    He did, however, soften his tone of voice. “You know I’ll hear the gory details from the other lawyers. I’d prefer not to hear gossip about a member of my group. It’ll be easier to shut down the stories if you tell me what I need to know. That way I won’t have to ask them—or you—for details.”
    She squared her shoulders, tilted her chin, and relaxed her hands. She looked like she was about to say, “May it please the court,” and begin her oral argument.
    Instead, she took a deep breath. “I had some legal problems. I resolved them, but for financial reasons I can’t go back to law school. I’ve notified Assistant Dean Dorchay that I need to take some time off. I was already working here, so it made sense to stay.” She looked around her stark, impersonal office. “This is where I ended up.”
    Dan stared at the floor as he thought about this. Clearly there was more to the story. It sounded like she’d messed up her financial aid as a result of these mysterious legal problems and needed a year to recoup. “No shame in that, I guess.”
    Those wonderful woodsy eyes, deep-set and long-lashed, held his for a long moment. She didn’t appear even to blink. Then she turned her body away from him. “No. No shame at all.” She grabbed a file off her desk. “I wanted to ask you about discovery in Garver. In-house counsel hasn’t responded to my calls. You may want one of the lawyers to take over.”
    Dan watched her face while she explained the situation. She might not be happy, but he was. In fact, he wanted to laugh from the sheer joy of this situation. And he wasn’t sure why.

Chapter Four
     
    Meghan left the office and headed north toward Logan Circle and the library. She loved that the Free Library was open late on weekdays. Nothing cheered her up quite as much as a new book. She was reading her way through Dorothy Sayers— Gaudy Night was next on the list.
    Waiting for the light to change, she looked up at the sky, a dark gray shade that suggested it might rain. She had an umbrella in her backpack. No raincoat, though—and her trousers had to last through the week before they went to the cleaners.
    Meghan sighed. Her life was divided into “free” and “budgeted.” Every penny not accounted for went into savings for emergencies. Unbudgeted dry cleaning did not qualify as an emergency. Did she risk it raining while she was at the library?
    “Hey, Meghan.”
    She turned. Crap. Dan Howard was trotting up to her.
    “Do you live in the Museum District too?” He came to stand next to her, his attention on the pedestrian crossing signal.
    “I was going to the library.” She looked up again. “Now I’m thinking I should get home before it starts to rain.”
    The light changed and they started to cross. Why didn’t she turn around and head home? She could wait another day