Page 123 of His Good Girl

“You could have fooled me.”

“Listen, Callum is a good man,” she said. “He’s not soft or easy or a man without blind spots. But he’s a good one. He will try very hard to make this honorable, which means he will occasionally become unbearable and possibly overcorrect in a not so good way.”

That sounded so much like him that my chest tightened.

“And you,” Dana barreled on, “are smart. You’re also new, broke, grateful, attracted, and probably still carrying around five years of grief and bad bosses like a tote bag full of wet cement.”

I stared at her.

She shrugged. “I read people.”

“Apparently.”

“If you do this, Avery, do it with your eyes open. Not because he rescued you or because he gave you a job or even because he says things in a voice that makes your spine forget its purpose.”

My face flamed again.

“He gave me outs.”

“That’s good.”

“I want the job.”

“Then be excellent at it.”

“I’m trying.”

“Try harder.” She said it without cruelty, which somehow made it land deeper. “Because if people find out, and eventually people always find out, you do not want the first thing they know about Avery Hale to be that Callum Rowe wants her. You want them to know you’re useful.”

My throat tightened.

Dana watched me absorb that, then added, “Become the woman I can defend.”

For a moment, neither of us spoke. The coffee machine hissed softly behind her. Through the break room wall, I could hear the muffled pulse of the office continuing without us, phones ringing, voices, movement, and the rest of the building carrying on with their day.

“I don’t know what I’m doing,” I admitted.

Dana snorted. “No one does. Some of us are just better at pretending.” She picked up her coffee, looked at it with disgust, and poured it down the sink. “Here is my advice: Don’t be stupid in writing. Don’t let him make decisions for you just because he’s good at giving orders. Don’t confuse secrecy with shame. And do not, under any circumstances, let Benjamin think he’s the only person capable of managing a crisis. It just encourages him.”

Despite everything, I smiled. “Does Benjamin know?”

“Benjamin knew before you did.”

“That is horrifying.”

“Benjamin is horrifying. It’s why he’s effective.”

I nodded, then hesitated. “Are you going to tell anyone?”

Dana looked genuinely offended. “Do I seem like a woman who gossips?”

“You seem like a woman who knows where bodies are buried.”

“Exactly. Different skill set.” She opened the break room door, then paused. “One more thing.”

“What?”

“If he hurts you, I’ll make him regret it.”