“But it wasn’t a mistake,” I told her, bending my head close.
“It was,” she argued, though not very convincingly.
“Fine, it was a mistake,” I agreed, and she looked taken aback.
“Of... of course it was.” She stumbled over her words as if she couldn’t get them out fast enough.
I leaned in so that my nose brushed against hers, our lips only a breath apart. “I’d like to make that mistake again,” I murmured.
Her eyelids drooped and her full lips parted. “We can’t, Jeremy. I won’t be another notch on your bedpost. I’m better than that.”
“Yes, you are.” Then I kissed her. Long and deep with a lot of tongues. Right there in full view of everyone.
Adam could have seen us. Someone could easily tell him about the two of us making out in the parking lot. But right then, I really didn’t care.
It was a stupid, stupid thing to do, but Lena did things to my sanity. This woman had gotten under my skin and I wasn’t sure I could get her out—or if I wanted to.
Luckily, she pulled away, showing more restraint than I was obviously capable of. “Stop it, Jeremy. We can’t do this.”
She shoved me away. I backed up, watching as she got into her car. She didn’t look at me as she peeled away, her tires practically squealing.
Chapter 10
Jeremy
Adam walked into my office at the end of the day seeming far too chipper. “You want to grab a beer? I’m meeting Meg at Sweet Lila’s. Thought you could use a drink or two. You’ve looked ready to fall over all day.”
After kissing Lena that morning, my day went from shitty, to really, really shitty. Whitney had loaded a pile of new paperwork on my desk the moment I walked in the door.
“Discovery came in from the DA’s office for Reynold’s trial. Your ten-thirty is already here and waiting in reception and I’ve left five messages on your desk.” She gave me a toothy smile.
“Ugh. You couldn’t have given me time to walk in the door? Maybe get a cup of coffee? A danish?” I had looked around for Lena, but the door to her office was closed. If I was a betting man, I’d say that door would stay closed for the rest of the day.
Avoidance was a powerful tool.
Whitney shrugged. “Just doing my job.”
I patted her shoulder. “And you’re doing it well, Whitney.” I meant it too. She was a hell of a lot better than the last receptionist. She was organized to the point of being anal. She was already an integral part of the day-to-day operations of the firm. And she didn’t put up with crap from anyone. Definitely not me. I wondered if she and Lena had been talking about me behind my back. Sometimes I’d see them whispering together and I swore they would look my way.
Okay, I was officially crossing into narcissist territory, thinking every hot, available woman was chatting with their friends about me.
More likely Whitney’s standoffishness had absolutely nothing to do with me. I got the sense that there was a lot going on inside the older Galloway sister’s head. She was a woman who had survived something, and it wasn’t my place to find out what that was.
I respected her right to privacy.
I looked up at my partner distractedly. “What?”
Adam chuckled, leaning against the door jam. “I asked if you wanted to come down to Lila’s and get a drink.”
“What time is it?” I asked, picking up my phone.
Adam was really laughing now. “It’s after seven, dude. Where's your head today?”
Wrapped around your sister.
Yeah, I definitely couldn’t say that to Adam. Not if I wanted to keep my nose intact. I could take him in a fight, but I wasn’t feeling very perky today.
“I’ve got a lot on my plate. The discovery for the Reynolds manslaughter trial came in today. Talk about digging through a mountain.” I shoved aside a pile of papers.
Adam frowned. “Ask Lena for help. That’s why we hired an associate. She’s here to do the grunt work.”
“Maybe,” I said vaguely.
Adam stared at me for a few more moments. I stared back blandly.
Nothing to see here, Adam. Move along.
“So, drink?” Adam asked again.
I shook my head. “I’d better not. I have at least another couple of hours to put in here. And I think my liver could use the night off.”
“Okay, if you’re sure. We’ll be there for a little while, so if you change your mind…”
“Thanks, Ducate.” I already had my head buried back in the files by the time he left.
After another forty minutes, my neck was stiff, and my vision was blurring. Words had started to swim on the page. I pushed away from my desk and walked out to the kitchen. I usually made it a point to not drink caffeine so late at night, but I planned to make it a late one.