I clear my throat. “Sounds like you really are committed to selling this then,” I say, not sure why I sound so surprised. It was I who gave him the idea to make it believable, after all. I just didn’t know he was going to be that good or that quick about it.
Tommy loses a bit of his mirth as if he’s not as happy about it as he’s just appeared to be. “Yeah. Had to kiss her to make her believe all that stuff,” he says, looking guilty. “But my mind was on you. On doing this for you. For the company and us, so that she’s shown for what she really is, not just what she portrays.” He fidgets with his napkin. “At least I kissed you of my own volition before I kissed her, right?”
I put my hand in his under the table. “Yes.” I lean in close to him, nibbling his ear again. “Remember what I told you about things your heart is not in, honey.” I pause, blowing lightly into that same ear. “You can’t expect someone to buy something you don’t sell.”
He moves away a bit, but only so he can look me in the eyes. “I know. Lawyers sell innocence and guilt all the time to judges and juries. But I don’t want to feel like I’m just giving myself away to every other girl but you.”
“Think about it like you’re giving yourself away for me. For these other guys who are not strong enough, Tommy,” I say, kissing him in the bit of shadow and light by our table as people move in and around us, but don’t really see us.
For a moment, we are quiet. Just sitting with each other.
“So, where does it go now?” I ask.
“Now? I keep reeling her in. I keep acting like the willing, moldable protégé she thinks I am,” answers Tommy without pause. “I keep giving her little bits and pieces of the intimacy she’s looking for, but not the whole thing. Enough to satisfy. Enough to look and act like obedience, but not enough to truly give her anything of value. At least, not until after the weekend.”
Our drinks come by. Set down from the waitress’ tray, before she leaves to go grab our food.
“What about getting any of it on audio or video?” I ask, slightly disturbed at how methodical I am about this — about getting dirt on a dirty, unscrupulous lawyer. If I hadn’t been a secretary, I might’ve made a good career out of being an undercover cop.
Tommy smiles grimly. “That comes after the weekend when I give her a good and filthy reason as to why my phone’s out.” He pauses. “Promise me you won’t think any less of me, Melissa. It’s the best I could come up with, and even then, I’m afraid she might see right through it.”
I squeeze Tommy’s hand. “Worry about that when you get there, honey.” I lower my voice and cuddle close to him. “For now, just get through the week. Give her your little bits and pieces, and then we’ll figure out what to do from there.”
Tommy picks up his drink and sips from it. I’m not sure what it is, but it looks like whiskey or bourbon on ice, with nothing more.
“I tested the link between our phones for a reason,” he says.
My stomach drops under these words.
“If something goes really wrong in all this, I’ll call you, but there may not be an answer. You’ll just have to listen and take down what you hear. And then go to Kane.”
I’m about to tell him to quit scaring me. Quit talking like that, but I can’t. I don’t.
Our food arrives in the next second, and I’m not allowed to question. All I can do is say, “Yes, sir,” and obey.
So, I do, and try to eat my lunch without any thought to when or if I’ll have to go to Kane with nothing more than what I hear on the other line.
Chapter Thirty-Five
Melissa
After our lunch — something I’m wishing felt more like a date than it did — I’m back at the office preparing to put in another three or four hours of work before going home. Though it’s only Monday, I’m finding myself jumping ahead to Friday. Then Saturday, when our date is scheduled for. Not since I was a teenager have I felt so impatient, so ready to escape the confines of work and responsibility to enjoy a little time away. With someone special, of course.
Isabella asks, “How was lunch?” Her words bring me out of my thoughts.
I want to answer her, but I am not sure how. Tommy and I are trying to be covert. My mind gets caught on Tommy again. His sweet smile, his loving eyes. “Loving,” I breathe before I realize what I am saying.