She takes a sip before placing it down on the coffee table, taking the time to slide a metal coaster underneath it.
“Were you working on a proposal for the Alcester case?” she asks with a sly smile.
I take a seat next to her. “Not a chance.”
“So we’re actually going to do this?” Her brows inch up.
I start loosening my tie. “You’re eager, but I’m here to please.”
She laughs, swatting my hands away from my neck. “I wasn’t talking about sex. I was talking about the case. You want to take this to trial.”
“That’s where we’re headed.” I finish up with the tie, tossing it on
the coffee table before I work on the top two buttons on my shirt. “If your client is ready to sign off on our financial and custody demands, we can avoid seeing Judge Mycella.”
“Your client needs to check herself.” Her eyes dart from my face to the skin that’s exposed under my shirt. “She’s going to regret not taking what’s being offered to her.”
I don’t want to talk business tonight. I had a hell of a day with people chirping in my ear about the person they once walked down the aisle with.
Hatred and vile are a part of the daily when you do what I do for a living, but today was particularly brutal.
I reach into the pocket of my pants and slide out her earring. “Let’s talk about what I’m offering you tonight.”
She reaches for the earring, but I close my fingers around it before she gets there.
“Dylan,” she whines. “Give it to me.”
“I want something first.”
Her brows pop up. “Right. You want that special thing from high school.”
Her hand darts toward her tote bag, but I stop it mid-air when I grab her wrist. “I want you to kiss me.”
Her tongue glides over her bottom lip. I lean out, just as she leans closer. Our lips meet in a soft kiss.
I reach for the back of her head to tilt her just right. Her lips part to let me in. Our tongues tangle in an achingly familiar way. The need to take her to bed is strong.
She breaks the kiss because there’s no way in hell I will.
“Dylan.” My name has never sounded sweeter. “I have something to give you.”
I want you. That’s all I fucking want.
There’s no stopping her, so I watch as she fishes in her tote.
Before I realize what’s happening, she places something in my hand.
“You probably thought you’d never see this again. It’s going to bring back so many memories.” Her voice is edged with delight, as if she’s just handed me a treasure I’ve been hunting down for years.
I look down at the thick silver ring in my hand. It’s tarnished, but the crest is unmistakable. I wore this ring after we won the junior state championship. We lost senior year.
On the night we graduated, in all my infinite wisdom, I slid the ring off and left it on a table at the party before Barrett and I took off for the airport.
It was something a spoiled ass kid would do.
I fit that bill to a tee.
“It’s your ring.” She traces her fingertip over the crest. “Your name is engraved on the inside of the band.”