I laughed. “How do you know that?”

She shrugged. “I do my research.”

“What are you doing here?” I asked, noticing that the crowd skewed decidedly older than me and certainly older than Lindsey.

“My parents and the Tattersalls have been friends forever.”

Oh. Of course. “So why didn’t you just have Kathie call George or me when you wanted the job?”

She shrugged. “Because I knew I didn’t need to cheat. Eventually you’d see how perfect I was for the job and make the right decision.”

I turned and caught my father-in-law’s eye. He winked at me. Could he think that I was interested in another woman? He raised his glass to me, and I raised mine back. I thought back to our embryo talk in his office, and I realized that George McCann, mogul, titan, and father-in-law, had just given me some sort of blessing to move on. But he was reading this one all wrong.

“So, do you enjoy these things?” I asked.

“Not usually,” she said breezily. “But I presume I will feel differently about this party.”

Because I was here? I wanted to jump in and save her feelings. I couldn’t count the number of times I had said, Look, I’m flattered, but Greer was the only woman for me, in the past three and a half years.

But then she said, “I have a thing for Tanner Prescott, and he’s here.” She smiled at me and said, “Your arm is a ploy to make him jealous.”

I laughed, suitably humbled. “You always have a plan, don’t you?”

She nodded and stepped away from me, handing me my old-fashioned and taking a sip of her rosé. “You have to stay a step ahead,” Lindsey said. “It’s a gorgeous night. Want to go out by the pool?”

“If we’re by the pool, Tanner won’t be able to see you.” I was very amused by this.

“Oh, he’ll follow me,” she whispered. “Just you wait and see.”

“We’re excited about your first day at McCann,” I said, following Lindsey outside and sitting down on the end of one of the chaises, pulling up my pants legs to accommodate the low position. Couples and small groups were scattered around the white pool deck, cocktails in hand.

“So am I!” she practically squealed.

“Tanner will be very impressed,” I joked.

She grinned. “So what about you?” she asked, sitting on the chaise beside me. “Any leads?”

“On stories?”

She sighed and looked at me, exasperated. “On women, Parker. Seriously?”

I shrugged but didn’t say anything.

“I have a girlfriend you would really like…” She trailed off.

“I don’t think I’m ready for all that.”

She looked into my eyes. “Forgive me if I’m overstepping. But she’ll always be there, won’t she? Do you think you’ll ever really be able to be with someone else without thinking of her?”

Before I could answer, Tanner Prescott, as promised, was heading in our direction. Lindsey did an above-average job of pretending she didn’t notice until he reached her.