“You have it all wrong.” She shakes her head. “Kurt treats every person who works for him as though they’re the star of his dream team.”
“Kurt Sufford does that?” I ask, sarcasm edging my tone. “You’re serious?”
“What do you know about being the star of a dream team?” Her lips purse and I want nothing more than to reach across the table, tangle my fingers in her silky hair, and pull her in for a kiss.
She knows the dream, my dream, when I was eighteen and high on myself was to wear an NFL jersey.
Unfortunately, my skills weren’t a match for my lofty ambition.
“I’m here until Mr. Alcester gets his due and his divorce,” she says with a sweet smile. “After that, I’ll go back to my open cases in Buffalo.”
I start mentally drafting requests for continuances in my head. I don’t like when a case drags, but this is an exception.
“We can settle this here and now, Dylan.” Her voice drops to a more seductive tone. “The last offer Kurt presented to you is more than fair.”
“That’s a reach, and it’s a no,” I stress the last word. “You’re in for a fight, Eden.”
“I look forward to it.”
I look forward to every day she’s in Manhattan. I intend to take full advantage of our limited time together.
“Let’s have dinner tomorrow night.” I point at the plate of half-eaten fries. “I’ll bring you back here for something more substantial than this.”
“Why?” Her head tilts. “You don’t want to talk more about high school do you? Because I don’t think there’s anything left to talk about. We’ve both changed since then and I, for one, prefer to focus on the present.”
I’ll close the door on high school if that’s what she wants. Hell, I’ll gladly bolt it shut so I never have to think about it again.
“Taking you out to dinner has nothing to do with the past,” I say firmly so there’s no question about my motivation. “This is about getting to know each other better now.”
“Are you suggesting we go on a date?” She reaches for the empty glass in front of her but stops herself before she makes a play for mine again.
“I am.”
Her arms cross her chest. “We can’t date each other.”
I mimic her stance, crossing my arms over my chest. “Why not?”
“Pick a reason.” Her hands fly into the air. “The Alcester case, our busy schedules, the fact that I’m leaving town in a few days.”
“A few days?” I chuckle. “You were always an optimist. We’re going to be tied up in court for weeks arguing every fine point.”
“You’ll settle when you see what I have up my sleeve.”
I train my gaze on her brilliant blue eyes. “I won’t settle. Dinner tomorrow, Eden.”
“And then what?” Her finger circles in front of her. “We’ll date until I leave for Buffalo? Why throw that complication into this?”
“The sex was that good.”
Her tongue darts over her bottom lip in agreement. “The sex was a mistake.”
I don’t take it personally because she’s lying through her perfectly straight white teeth. “We’re adults. We can have fun while you’re in New York.”
I watch as she contemplates my words, her gaze skimming my face. “You’re proposing that we have sex while I’m here? You want to do that while we’re trying this case?”
“I’d prefer not to go down on you in open court, but I’m not opposed if that’s what you’re into.”
A blush creeps over her cheeks. “I can’t believe we’re having this conversation.”
“Believe it.” I lean forward on the table. “You enjoyed the other night. You’re open to more. Admit it, and we’ll agree to spend time together outside the courtroom while you’re in New York.”
“It’s not that simple, Dylan.”
“It’s that simple.” I tap a finger over her hand. “I can keep my pleasure separate from my business. Can you?”
She drops her gaze to her lap before her eyes lock with mine. “I have before. I can do it again.”
The admission shoots a spark of jealousy through me and a jolt of desire straight to my cock. I’m instantly hard.
She fucked a colleague.
Sweet, innocent Eden has changed in so many ways.
Damn, if that doesn’t make me want her even more.
Chapter 17
Eden
I think I just agreed to have sex with Dylan Colt again.
I shouldn’t have, but he’s right. The sex was that good.
“We need ground rules,” I say. “I need those in place if this is going to work.”
“Like what?”
I laugh aloud at his quick and expected response. Dylan was a rule-breaker in high school. He lived his life on his terms. Some of the time, it landed him in trouble. Most of the time, I envied his need not to conform.
“You have to divulge our relationship to your client.”
“No.” He huffs out a laugh. “There’s no way in hell I’m telling Trudy that we’re fucking each other.”
“She has a right to know, Dylan.”
“Our fucking,” he pauses to circle his index finger in the air. “Our sleeping together will not impact my ability to represent her. The only thing Trudy cares about is the size of the settlement she’ll be receiving and full custody of her daughters.”
Arguing about how the case will end is useless at this point. Dylan’s convinced his client is a saint. I know better, but Kurt taught me that biding time is one of the most effective weapons in a brilliant attorney’s arsenal.
“Moving on,” I skip past the urge to press him to tell Trudy.
I already told Troy that I share a history with Dylan. He assured me that he didn’t care about any of that as long as I come to court prepared to do my job.
“Moving on,” Dylan repeats with a roll of his hand in the air. “What’s the next rule on your list?”
“This has to be casual.” I sigh. “I’m going back to Buffalo soon.”
“There’s an expiry date on this.” He nods. “I get that. I’m not following you back to Buffalo. My life is in Manhattan.”
The sentiment mirrors mine from fifteen years ago.
Dylan was accepted to NYU. I was accepted to Juilliard. He was one of the first people I told.
It wasn’t the only school that wanted me. My dad’s face lit up when I showed him the acceptance letter from Ohio State. My grandpa earned his business degree there.
The decision wasn’t an easy one.
On the night we graduated, Dylan assumed that I’d see him in New York three months later. He was about to leave for Europe to spend the summer exploring the countryside and the women across the pond.
I told him that I wouldn’t be in New York in the fall. My future was in Ohio.
He turned and walked away from me, with only a simple goodbye.
I was seventeen. Romantic notions fueled my soul. I wanted him to tell me that he couldn’t live in New York without me. I imagined him taking me into his arms and kissing me with the promise of what our nights in Manhattan would feel like.
None of that happened. He left. He never looked back.
I shouldn’t have expected more. All I was to him was his coach’s daughter and the girl who sometimes tutored him in math.
I was never the desire that lit a flame inside of him until a few nights ago at the club.
“I have a rule.” He takes a sip of his champagne.
Envy draws my tongue over my bottom lip. I should have paced myself with my drink.
“What rule?” I ask with hesitation.
“Don’t fuck anyone who works in Kurt’s office.”
He’s blunt in a way I’m not used to. It sends a shiver racing down my spine. My core clenches in need.
“Have you met the people who work for Kurt?” I lift a brow.
He huffs out a laugh. “Several. I take it that you agree to my rule?”
“Anyon
e who works in Kurt’s office is strictly off-limits.” I cross my index fingers in an X. “Your rule doesn’t include the rest of Manhattan, so I can get started on them tonight?”
His gaze drifts from my face to my neck. “You’re mine until you go back to Buffalo.”
“You don’t strike me as the one woman type.” I don’t mean it as an insult. I expand on that so he’ll understand the intention of my words. “You enjoy one-night stands. At least, I assume you do.”
If he took offense, it’s not there in the sexy smile he offers. “Variety is indeed the spice of my life, but you’re only in town for a short time, and I want to focus all of my energy on you.”
“Lucky me,” I say with a bat of my eyelashes.
He leans forward, his eyes never leaving mine. “You have no idea, Eden.”
The intensity of his gaze steals every rational thought from my mind.
There’s no way that this is a good idea, but it’ll be fun and that’s been in short supply in my life.
“So we agree to the rules?” His gaze drops to the front of my low cut dress. “You’re impossible to resist, Eden.”
“We agree to the rules.”
“I’m all yours until the case is over.” He moves to stand. “I’ll take you back to Noelle’s place so you can sleep off the scotch and champagne. Tomorrow night at seven, we’re having dinner. At nine, it’s dessert in my bed.”
Chapter 18
Dylan
I was stood up.
I’m a lawyer. I get that things pop up unexpectedly. In this case, Eden is chasing after something for the Alcester case.
I know that because she called my office and left a message with Gunner this afternoon. I was in the middle of a deposition. I told my assistant not to disturb me under any circumstances.
Gunner always takes me at my word.
Eden’s message was short and to the point.
I can’t make it tonight. I’m meeting with one of the skeletons from your client’s closet.
I would have texted her a message back, but I don’t have a cell number for her.
Calling Kurt’s office to speak with her was a waste of time. Kurt’s assistant shot me down with an excuse about Eden being tied up today.
The woman refused to hand over Eden’s cell number. Charm didn’t work, so I pulled out my attorney card, but that was a fail.
I dropped the ball when I didn’t ask Eden for her number last night.
She wouldn’t let me take her back to Noelle’s. She hopped into a taxi outside of Nova and disappeared around the corner.
“Sir, do you need me to do anything else today?”
My head pops up. “Jesus, Gunner. You scared the hell out of me. Clear your throat when you’re coming down the corridor. Hum a tune. Anything, but this stealth shit you always pull on me.”
I swear to fuck his lips curve up into a smirk before he loudly clears his throat.
“Too late for that.” I rest my hands on my desk. “You can go.”
He shakes his head. “I prefer to stay until you’re done. Something may come up that I have to handle.”
I don’t know what the hell Gunner has going on during the few hours I give him to himself each day, but there has to be something he can do besides staring at me from the doorway of my office.
“Go home.” I wave my hand in the air. “You’ve put in enough time for today.”
“I can order something for dinner…for us.”
I push back in my chair. “You’re not a cheap date. The last time you ordered food in it was a five-course spread with an expensive bottle of red.”
“Good taste isn’t a liability, sir. It’s an asset.”
“It depends on whether you’re the one stuck picking up the tab.” I glance down at my watch. “I’ll treat you to pizza.”
“Pizza?” His nose scrunches. “I haven’t had pizza in…”
“Too long,” I interrupt as I slide to my feet. “A slice of pizza, a beer, and then you go be you, Gunner. I need my space.”
“I’ll get ready,” he quips. “Give me five minutes.”
“Two minutes.” I wave two fingers at him. “Be in the elevator in two minutes or my offer is off the table.”
He darts out of my office and down the corridor, stomping his feet as he goes.
I didn’t expect to be sitting across from him at a dinner table, but I plan on tracking Eden down as soon as my beer is empty.
I’m not ending my day without seeing her beautiful face.
***
The best pizza in Manhattan is at a restaurant a block from my office.
It’s over-priced, under-sauced, but the crust is exactly how I like it. It’s crispy yet chewy. I’ve eaten enough bad pizza in my life to know that it’s a feat to create the perfect crust.
When Gunner dove in for this third slice, I knew I was looking at a convert.
He’ll be hitting the place up on the regular on his lunch break.
My assistant was prepared to extend our dinner into the evening. He suggested we take the party back to the office so he could run over the details for a case that I just took on.
Work can wait. I told Gunner as much when I directed him to the subway and told him to call it a night.
I took off in the opposite direction.
I’m still on a quest to find Eden. That’s why I’m standing on the sidewalk outside the building that’s home to the offices of Sufford, Lake & Chisholm.
It’s mid-evening, which means that anyone with a life outside of work has left for the day.
I’m banking on the fact that Eden hasn’t lost her drive to commit to whatever is in front of her.
That’s what took her to the rehearsal hall virtually every night during senior year.
I stalk into the lobby of the building, heading straight for the night guard who mans the desk near the elevators.
“Can I help you…” His voice trails. “Dylan? Is that you?”
It pays to help people who need it.
Myron, the guard, sat next to me on the subway one day when I was heading back to the office after court.
He was despondent and broke. I was feeling uncharacteristically generous after winning a case.
In the six hours before we met, Myron was let go from his job as a member of the cleaning crew at one of the city’s museums.
He was cut in the middle of his shift. He went home to the house he shared in Queens with his wife of twenty-two years to plan out how he’d break the bad news to her once she was done work for the day.
She wasn’t behind a desk in her office on Wall Street. She was on the dick of her boss in the bed she shared every night with Myron.
Myron told me his story as we took the train uptown.
I took on his case, we shook on the promise of a percentage of his settlement, and I got to work on drafting the papers that afternoon.
I topped it off with a new job for him. He worked security at the building that houses my office until he was reassigned to work here.
He’s got money in the bank, a pension to look forward to, and a new girlfriend who only has eyes for him.
“Myron.” I pat him on the shoulder. “I’m looking for Eden Conrad. She’s filling in for Kurt Sufford temporarily.”
“The beauty from Buffalo?” He smiles. “She slips me a candy bar almost every night on her way out.”
That doesn’t surprise me.
The smile on Myron’s face doesn’t surprise me either. He’s always friendly as fuck and eager to help.
Her cell number is at his disposable. I’ll be calling her before I exit this building.
“She’s here.”
That’s more than I could have hoped for. “Eden is here?”
“That she is.” He nods. “She just went back up with some take-out. It looks like she’ll be stuck here for most of the night.”
Not if I have a say in it.
I glance at the elevators. “I’m going to run up and surprise her.”
His brow knits. “She’s up there alone. I should probably call to let her know you’re here.”
“We’re old high school friends.” I toss him a wink. “Give me the chance to surprise her like old times.”
The only time I ever surprised Eden was when I showed up to her dance recital. I’ll never forget the look on her face or the tears in her eyes.
“How can I say no to that?” He starts toward the elevator. “You need a keycard to get up at this time of day. I’ll swipe mine and send you on your way.”
Chapter 19
Eden
This is the very reason why some adults need to wear bibs.
I stare down at the large red splotch on the front of my white blouse.
Everyone in the office has been raving about the spaghetti at Calvetti’s so I put in an order for take-out.
I admit it’s the best pasta I’ve ever had, but I dropped a forkful of sauce onto my blouse.
Dammit.
I glance around my empty office to the darkness in the corridor beyond it.
I’m the only one here.
There’s no harm in running the blouse down to the dry cleaners two blocks over.
They’re open until nine.
The only problem is that I have nothing to put on to replace my shirt. I can’t race around Manhattan in a lace bra.
I suppose I could, but I’d rather not get arrested for indecent exposure. One plus is that I would save big on attorney fees since I’d represent myself.
I giggle as I think about my defense.
“Your honor, I blame it all on the tomato sauce,” I say as I unbutton my blouse. “I had to make a choice. Save the shirt, or save face. I chose the shirt because it fits perfectly.”
I hold open the front of the blouse. “I present Exhibit A. My breasts. They look amazing in this blouse.”
“They look better out of it.”
I spin on my heel at the sound of the familiar male voice coming from the doorway of my office.
A smile slides over Dylan Colt’s lips. “What the fuck is going on here, and how do I get in on this action?”
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