A twinge of fear squeezed at her heart. What if she lost Finn? There was no way she could go on without her son.
The tangle of emotions was almost too confusing for her. Part of her wanted to go on this trip with Simon and Finn, so they could all get to know each other. But the other part of her was terrified because it might only make her vengeful ex-husband even angrier, or make Simon realize he had made a huge mistake in jumping into a relationship with her. Either way, she still had to fight to keep Gary from getting full custody of Finn. There was no changing that, and Gary would probably always resent her happiness no matter what she did with her life.
“Finn is close to summer vacation, but we’re getting ahead of ourselves,” she said finally. “The board hasn’t agreed to your terms yet.”
“They have until the end of the day,” he reminded her.
“Right. So let’s wait and see what the board decides,” she said. “If they agree to your terms, we can all go on vacation together. You, me, and Finn.”
Chapter 3
They were called back into the conference room at around lunch time.
“We’ve agreed to your terms,” Agnes said stiffly as Heather took her seat.
“Excellent,” Simon said. “We’ll have to get it all in writing.”
“Yes, we’ll get the legal department on that right away. You can expect the paperwork within a few days,” Agnes said. “But there’s something else the board wants to suggest. You don’t have to agree, but we thought it might help to show your good faith.”
“Go on.”
“We would like you to consider being slightly more, uh, friendly to the press going forward,” Agnes said. “Maybe consider more interviews and so on.”
Heather had always thought being more welcoming to the media would help Simon and Dover, but she decided it was best not to say anything. It wouldn’t be right to appear to undermine him in front of the board.
Simon stood up. “I’ll give it careful consideration. That’s all I can promise.”
“Very well,” Agnes said. “Ms. Hall will be granted a promotion and a raise. Simon, you can have your leave of absence while Linda takes a position on the board. We’ll announce your leave to the press. Make it look like Dover is re-evaluating the role of its leadership in light of Everett’s unfortunate arrest. Show the public that we’re willing to take a good hard look at ourselves.”
“That sounds like a good angle to take with the press.” He glanced at Heather and smiled.
His smile seemed like her cue, so Heather got to her feet.
“You’ll be getting your time off, Ms. Hall,” Agnes said. “I hope you enjoy it.”
Heather nodded and headed for the door.
“By the way,” Agnes continued. “As friendly as I want you to be with the press, Simon, I’d like to state for the record that the board will be recommending that you and Ms. Hall keep your romantic relationship as discreet as possible for now. Keep your relationship under wraps and the board won’t have to revisit its agreement to your terms.”
“Of course.” Simon gave a curt nod and they walked out of the conference room together.
Heather followed him back to his office.
Simon grimaced as he opened one of his desk drawers. “Are you angry?”
“What would I be angry about?” she asked.
“About having to keep our relationship discreet for now,” he said. “I don’t want you to feel like we have to hide forever.”
“I think keeping things under wraps for now is a good thing. Remember the last time the press got to us?”
He nodded. “I do remember. Things got really out of hand.”
Memories of the press hounding them were still fresh for her. The minute the local media had gotten wind that one of the most sought-after CEOs in the country had been having an affair with his assistant, they had pounced. Eager photographers had chased them through Seattle’s streets and even rifled through Simon’s trash.
Dating one of the wealthiest CEOs behind a tech boom was probably going to send the press into another frenzy, so she had no problem with keeping things quiet. Better for them to start their new relationship with as much privacy as possible.