“You’d be surprised,” he murmured.
“So once I moved to Manhattan-”
“And into that rat-infested apartment.”
She inclined her head. “And into that rat infested apartment, I took classes at FIT, which I paid for with student loans and by working at a dress company. I sketched my own designs at night.”
“Not much sleep for the determined, hmm?”
“You ought to know.”
He grinned. “True. Now go on.” He swung her hand back and forth in his, clearly enjoying her story.
“I graduated and took a low-end job. I also hounded all the best designers, hoping to get my work into one of their hands. No luck. One day I brought my portfolio to work on at the dress company during lunch. I ate at my desk, got carried away and forgot to put away my designs. One of Galli
ano’s assistants came by, saw my work and slipped me his card.”
“And the rest is history?”
“And a red Porsche,” she said, laughing until her cell phone rang, destroying the easy moment. “Hello?”
“Ms. Perkins? This is Franklin Pennington, Esquire.”
Lauren’s stomach dropped. Her sister’s lawyer. “Hello, Mr. Pennington.”
“I received notice that your sister’s doctors want to have her transferred to a hospital where they can do brain scans and testing.”
“They told me that was a possibility. But that’s their problem, not yours, right?”
He cleared his throat. “It depends. If they put her through these tests and find something detrimental to our case, that’s bad. I’d like to do more research on her condition. Find similar cases and see.”
“Okay…” Lauren said, waiting for the punch line.
“But the reserve funds from your sister’s retainer are running low.”
The gut churning turned to nausea. “Mr. Pennington, this case is depleting my resources.”
“I understand. It doesn’t help that the court system runs slowly, while the time invested in research and interviewing potential expert witnesses adds up. But time is money.”
Jason shot her a curious glance.
She held up one finger, telling him to wait.
“Fine. I’ll see what I can do to get a check in the mail.”
“Thank you. I assure you, everything I suggest is in your sister’s best interest.”
“But there are no guarantees,” she said at the same time as the lawyer. He always followed up his assurances with qualifications.
Covering his overpaid ass, Lauren thought.
Frustrated, she disconnected the call and tossed the phone into her purse.
“What is it?” Jason asked, placing his hands on her shoulders and turning her to face him.
She swallowed hard. “Nothing you need to worry about.”
Despite his earlier reassurance that he wanted to know everything related to her sister, she’d seen the flicker of disgust in his eyes. In her heart she didn’t blame him. In her soul, it hurt. She was used to dealing with problems on her own and she didn’t want to get into the habit of relying on him.