But she was probably supposed to bargain. That’s what people did in these situations, right? If you didn’t know your own worth, how could you expect your employer to? Or something. She racked her brain. Vacation days were set by the union, so there was no leverage there. “I’m fine with the salary as is, but I need some accommodation on the start date.” That was true. Even if she did the weekend commuting thing, she couldn’t get her act together in the standard two weeks. She still had the pink room to deal with. She needed at least a month.

“How much accommodation are we talking about?” Linda asked.

“Six months.”

What the hell? Where had that come from? She did not need six months.

But…how high could Sawyer’s number get in those six months?

And the swimming. Lake swimming, not covert community center swimming. It would be June before the lake was warm enough.

There was silence on the line. Linda and the hiring committee knew she was on leave from her branch job. She’d been open about her situation, and they’d said they would wait for the right candidate.

But would they wait six months? Should she backpedal?

She should backpedal. This was the dream job.

“Okay,” Linda said.

“Really?”

“Well, they’re new jobs. I’ll get your colleague up to speed, and she can help train you. I’m taking a lot of holidays this summer anyway. So you get your affairs in order, and we’ll start fresh in the fall. You can start after Labor Day?”

“Yes.”

Okay, then. She was making an atypically irresponsible decision, choosing a sex-and-swimming summer vacation over a salary.

But that’s all it was. She was choosing sex and swimming. Not Sawyer.

Right?

Chapter Twenty-Three

Chapter Twenty-Three

I never want to look at another raspberry,” Eve said as she plopped down next to Sawyer and Clara on a blanket at Sandcastle Beach.

“You went picking?” Sawyer asked. He had tried to pay her a conjugal visit early that morning, but she’d replied to his texts from the raspberry patch—the Raspberry Festival was in full swing.

“Yep. With Maya. I think I ate my weight in them as we picked. Then we had raspberry pancakes at Sadie’s.” She paused and wrinkled her nose. “They were delicious.”

“Delicious raspberry pancakes upset you?”

“No. Anyway. Then Jenna lured me into the store on my way here and made me sample a bunch of different kinds of raspberry smoothies. Amber did the same thing with raspberry beers—she’s manning the bar while Law plays in the sand.” She glanced over at the sandcastle competition that was underway. “I couldn’t take two steps down Main Street without someone pouring a raspberry beverage down my throat.”

Sawyer chuckled. “You should try the raspberry lemonade at Legg’s.” He gestured to the beachside stand. “They only do it this weekend.”