Free Not Quite Perfect (Oakland Hills Book 3) by Gretchen Galway Page B

the conference room. Now it had become a bigger deal than it needed to be. “Blame me. I don’t tell anyone unless I have to. It’s hard being in Wonderboy’s shadow. I wanted to work here on my own terms.”
    “But everyone else must know,” he said.
    “Maybe, but I’m not the one to tell them,” April said.
    He put his hand over his notebook on the desk. “Wonderboy?”
    “Gold medals, CEO, you know,” April said. “I don’t even know how to use FreePeat yet.”
    Rita dove in. “You will by Friday.” She turned to Zack. “She’s really good. Even if I got to hire her myself, I would.”
    “You didn’t hire her yourself?” he asked.
    April sighed. “Rita, didn’t you have a meeting you had to go to?”
    “As soon as Liam told me about her, I was glad,” Rita continued.
    “Which was how long before she showed up?” Zack asked, patting the notebook.
    “Go ahead,” April said. “Pick it up and write something down. You know you want to.”
    Ignoring her, he kept his gaze locked on Rita. “Has he ever done this before? Hired a relative without consulting management?”
    “Please don’t ask me,” Rita said. “I don’t want to cause any trouble. I really like working here.”
    “Except for the sneezing,” April said.
    “And forget I ever mentioned that about the air filter,” Rita said. “I’m too sensitive. Just forget I ever said anything.”
    The notebook opened in his hands. “Do you feel that telling the truth about how often relatives are hired in this company could jeopardize your job?”
    “Put that away,” April said. “How can she answer that? You’re trying to trap her.”
    “This wouldn’t be the first complaint of nepotism around here,” he said, scribbling with that little pen of his.
    “That’s unfair,” April said. Her heart was pounding. Before Bev had inherited the company from her grandfather, Liam had been the only non-relative in a position of any power. Now he’d married the owner but did everything he could to keep family away from the company. “I made them hire me. If you want to blame anyone, blame me.”
    His pen hovered over the page. “Made who?”
    She gritted her teeth. “You know.”
    “Liam and Bev?”
    She nodded.
    “How did you make them?”
    “None of your business,” April said.
    Eyebrows arching, he continued writing. “They couldn’t find anyone else to babysit their kid?”
    Anger washed over her. Insults swirled over her tongue, but she bit them off. He was an officious dork—perfect. A few minutes ago, she’d been imagining him naked. Now she was having a fantasy about throwing him off the Bay Bridge covered in Shark Chow. Much better.
    “Her name is Merry,” April said tightly, “and it’s my pleasure to spend as much time with her as I can. We don’t all worship corporate America. Some of us want more balance in our lives.”
    “April,” Rita whispered in alarm.
    Zack put the notebook and pen in his pocket and regarded April. “I’m sorry to upset you. I have to ask the hard questions. It comes with the job.”
    Not trusting herself to speak, April ground her teeth together.
    “I unearth problems that a regular employee can’t afford to unearth,” he said. “When the dust settles, this will be a stronger company. And a better place to work.”
    “Easy for you to say. You won’t know if it will be or not. You’ll be long gone.” April made a dismissive gesture with her hand and sat at her desk, spinning in her chair to give him her back. “We can’t wait.”
    * * *
    An hour later, when Zack finally got up and left his desk to bother some other innocent people, Rita tapped April on the shoulder.
    “Coffee,” she said. “Back alley. Now.”
    Assuming that Rita was worried about her job, April stood up and followed her down the stairs, past the offices, and through the storage area to the back door. She didn’t regret a word she’d said to him. The coffee truck had been there long enough for the line to