The Lawyer (The Dalton Brothers 1)

Dominick

My fork dived into the edge of the pancake stack, drips of butter and syrup falling down the side, a round chunk of banana mashing as I cut through it.

I was more of an egg person.

A breakfast that I could pop into my mouth on the way to the gym or work. I wasn’t looking for flavor; I was after the protein, needing all the energy I could get to make it through the day.

That was why I didn’t normally eat brunch. Unless I was on vacation with the guys and there had been a night of heavy drinking before, I was usually moving so fast that I didn’t have time for this meal.

But it was actually nice to slow down and take a moment to appreciate this.

And the beautiful girl sitting across from me.

The girl I kept tasting again and again, one lick never enough. The same one who had me reaching across the goddamn table, unable to keep my fucking hands off her. The one whose stare told me she was listening and holding on to every word and could probably recite everything I’d ever said to her. The one who subtly glanced at my mouth, licking her own at the same time, wiggling in her seat whenever she laughed or got excited.

Like she was right now, her eyes fixed on my lips as they parted to take in my first bite.

The second the brown sugar hit my tongue, my cheeks almost puckered, but that didn’t last as the savory butter kicked in, cutting the sweetness of the banana and syrup.

“Wow.” I spoke from behind my hand, taking my time to chew and swallow. “Not at all what I expected.”

“Better or worse?”

“Far better.” I took another bite, dipping it into the pool of syrup, the cinnamon from the butter still coating my mouth. “I honestly can’t tell you the last time I had a pancake, but I can tell you, it didn’t taste anything like this.”

“Most of them don’t. Not even the ones I make.” She finally dug into her stack. “They cook the fruit on top of the pancake rather than inside, so it adds a whole different flavor. Then, you add in whipped butter instead of a cold, hard pat, and it’s a mouth explosion.”

I laughed.

“What’s so funny?”

“You.” I drank several sips of coffee. “The women I’m around don’t talk about food, and they don’t eat very much of it.”

She shook her head. “Now, that’s just a tragedy. Find yourself new women to hang out with, Dominick. There’s nothing sexy or fun about what you just described.” She wiped a glob of butter off the corner of her lip. “Life is far too short to only eat lettuce.”

“That should be your slogan.”

She poured more syrup on top of her stack. “Well, unless that lettuce is grilled with pine nuts and feta cheese and a tangy balsamic glaze on top.” Our eyes locked, the most enticing charm moving across hers. “And no, that should be your slogan. The next time there’s a girl sitting with you, nibbling on a leaf, looking all kinds of miserable, please tell her to order a pancake. Or two.”

“You’re adorable.”

She wasn’t just kind and caring. Kendall was real. I didn’t see a lot of that, not when I only spent an evening with a woman, most of our conversation superficial and incredibly boring until it was time to fuck.

“I’m just honest.” The compliment got to her; I could tell by the color of her cheeks. “I’m curious, what’s it like, working with your brothers? Not all siblings can make magic happen—I’m a good example of that—so what’s your relationship like with them?”

“We’re best friends.”

“Now, I’m jealous.”

I wiped my mouth, taking a long drink of my juice. “Being the oldest, I’ve seen them change so much over the years. Sure, there’s some friendly competition between us—we’re men and athletes, so it’s just natural. But we want nothing more than to watch everyone succeed, and we certainly have.”

“What are they like?”

I popped a banana into my mouth, the outside caramelized from the sugar, making it taste almost candied. It was delicious, and I searched for another and ate that one too. “Ford’s the youngest. He’s a single dad to a four-year-old named Everly. She’s the coolest kid. Smart, beautiful, sassy, extremely opinionated but endearing at the same time.”

“You’re smitten with her. I could tell the second you mentioned her.”

I knew my lips were smiling. “I see her a lot. I even babysit sometimes.”

“Where’s her mom?”

I took a deep breath. “That’s a complicated story.”

She set her fork down and leaned into the edge of the table. “Keep talking about Everly. I like this side of you.”

I laughed. “Listen, I’m not even close to being ready for kids, but she’s a hell of a lot of fun to have around. When Ford travels for work and his nanny is tied up, she usually stays with me.” I thought of our last sleepover and how we had stayed up until eleven, making sundaes, hours past her bedtime. “Uncle D—that’s what she calls me, and she crashes in my bed because there are monsters in my guest room.”

“Naturally.”

“When she wakes up, she has hair like yours, all wild and wavy.” I put my hand over my mouth as I chuckled again. “She has me put it into these side ponytails—I don’t know what they’re called.”

“Pigtails?”

“Yeah, that’s it.” I shook my head as I recalled our last morning together, how the goddamn elastics hadn’t matched and she’d thrown a fucking fit. I’d ended up at the store, buying six bags just to make sure I never ran into that problem again. “She loves oranges and eats one every morning for breakfast, but she wants all the pith peeled off. So, before I drop her off at pre-K, we do hair and eat oranges, and I’m almost always late to my first meeting.”

“I think I just melted into this booth. Go on.”

“I’d give that little girl anything, and she knows she has me wrapped right around her tiny finger.” I sliced through a large piece of pancake and brought it up to my lips. “She has a sweet tooth. In fact, she would love these.”

“You should bring her here. I’ll tag along, being the pancake groupie that I am.” While she picked up a blueberry, rolling it between her fingers, I felt her analyzing my expression. “Tell me about Jenner. I met him at the club that night, but we didn’t have a lot of time to talk.”

“He’s fiercely independent. He enjoys being on the road more than in the office and would rather be in an airplane than on land. Real estate law is perfect for him. He can fly to each opening, visiting the hotels and high-rises he scores for his clients.”

Her eyes briefly closed while she chewed, a look that told me how much she was enjoying her meal. “So, Jenner is the adventurous one. Always on the go, restless, desperate for new tastes and sounds and sights. Ford is more grounded. As a single dad, he must be sensitive and patient. I would imagine estate planning looks a little like Groundhog Day, client after client practically the same, but it requires him to be creative, and that’s what fuels him. Where do you fit in, Dominick?”

“That’s a good question.”

With her elbows already on the table, she dropped her fork, resting her chin on the peak of her fingers. “Can I take a stab?”

“Why not?”

She appeared to be gathering her thoughts, but I knew better. Kendall’s theory was on the tip of her tongue. The pause was to keep me in suspense.

To tease.

Something she had become an expert at.