“I do not think that because of this. That is objectively true. Jillian said you were, and I quote, ‘a silver fox, only not literally’... and I just now got what that last part means.”
She pushed her hands through her hair. She needed to clip it back again: a reminder to keep herself and her life under control.
He hadn’t said anything about her hair. Or her body. He liked both—he’d been very obviously and flatteringly appreciative—but he hadn’t listed them as reasons why he liked her. He’d looked beneath both the glitzy, shallow image of her past and the self-consciously prim image of her present and seen her.
Or at least the version of herself that she would like to be.
“All I’m asking for right now is to be with you,” Mar
tin said. He must have sensed that her mood had shifted, because he was no longer playful. He meant every word. “You deserve a little romance in your life. Let me give it to you.”
She couldn’t make herself walk away from him. From this man who looked at her like no one else ever had.
And she wanted to give him the same kind of happiness he had spent the whole day giving her. For once, she thought about the ways in which she could be fun, and it didn’t feel like she was selling herself short. She thought fun could be really important sometimes.
“Romance,” Tiffani said, and she held out her hand.
They shook on it.
Chapter Eleven: Martin
Martin wanted to walk the courtroom with one of the bomb-sniffing dogs before the trial started up again. That didn’t give him much time to do any of the ordinary morning debriefing.
That was a little bit of a problem under the circumstances, since his team was preoccupied with his personal life. All they wanted to discuss was Tiffani’s reaction to finding out about shifters and perfect matches.
Theo, who was almost as much in love with proper etiquette as he was with his mate, had placed a chilled bottle of champagne in a bucket of ice on Martin’s desk.
“And homemade cookies from Jillian.” He pointed to a foil-wrapped plate. “She said to tell you you’ll need all the edible baking you can get if you’re going to spend the rest of your life mated to Tiffani. Her words, sir, not mine.”
It was a quick reintroduction to how things worked in the world of in-laws and significant others. Tiffani had understandably told her stepdaughter about some of the events and revelations of the previous night, Jillian had told Theo, and Theo, being Theo, had sprung for champagne. So now the whole office already knew Martin’s news.
He would have told them anyway, of course. He just would have done it at an ordinary speed, not the lightning-quickness of the grapevine.
Martin sighed. “If you did all this for me, I hope you sent Tiffani something.”
Theo looked unspeakably offended. “Of course we did. Flowers on her desk—”
“Theo has a florist,” Colby said.
“Of course I have a florist,” Theo said, with a streak of draconian snobbery. “Every adult should have a florist, and mine is very reliable. Jillian sent Tiffani some cookies, too. The champagne seemed too risky, since I didn’t want her to get fired for having alcohol at work. But you should certainly invite her to share yours.”
“Thank you, Theo. I remember how to date.”
A little bit of embarrassment colored Theo’s face. “Yes, sir.”
“Not that I don’t appreciate it.”
“Colby and I just let Theo get you things,” Gretchen said. “He does the best presents anyway.”
There was a pause while everyone remembered the Secret Santa debacle of Theo’s first year. Martin had forgotten to tell him about the twenty-five dollar limit.
“Besides,” Colby said, “I come bearing news of our actual jobs.”
Gretchen stood and stretched. “While he does that, I’ll take the dog around for you, chief.”
She always knew exactly what his next move would be. “Thank you.”
“No problem. You know Colby freaks them out anyway.”