Her accuracy nearly bowls me over. Putting myself to a position to take on pro bono cases was the reason I worked my ass off in the corporate world. “How did you know that?”
“I looked over your files.” She hesitates.
Is she waiting for me to scold her for doing her job or to drop to one knee because she’s the only woman who understands me without explanation?
Why am I even thinking like that? It’s crazy.
“You have more pro bono cases than regular ones, and from what I’ve heard, a lot more than any other big city lawyer usually takes.”
Which makes my workload twice as large. “Rachel told me to choose between my pro bono clients and her.”
“She shouldn’t have done that,” Paige says so casually, as if she isn’t aware of how she’s shattering my idea of what this is between us.
She’s not supposed to understand me so well, to make me feel seen and validated. We were supposed to fuck, work off this tension and move on, but this feels like so much more. The feral lust that overtook me in the office has reduced to a low simmer. I still want to possess her but slower this time, until the panicked feeling tightening my gut when I think about her getting on that plane disappears.
I place my glass on the wooden coffee table in front of her and sit down beside it. I reach for her left leg and guide it to uncurl until the delicate lines of her tattoo appear.
Dark inked lines draw me in as I trace the outline with my finger until I reach the middle and see the tiny crack splitting the heart in two.
I lift my gaze to find hers glittering with unshed tears. “It’s for my parents. They died in a car accident a few years ago.”
An ache tightens deep in my chest. “I’m sorry.”
“It’s not your fault.” She frowns and shrugs, but I can see the pain hiding behind her expression. “They met while traveling and fell in love. They always talked about showing me all the places they visited, but they got busy.”
And missed out on the life they should have lived. The ache climbs up my throat.
“They are the reason I’m going to Europe.” Her face softens into a smile. “I’m going to work and travel and see everything they never got to show me.”
Her vivaciousness and positivity are even more enthralling now that I know how much heartbreak she’s endured. Paige isn’t letting her tragedy hold her back from living.
Unlike me.
I’ve spent my life putting my own needs aside to make sure other families don’t suffer the way mine did, losing everything they own to a greedy corporation because no one would help them. I don’t regret my choices, but Alex’s comments resonate with new meaning.
Will I wake up one day and realize I’ve missed out on building a life outside of work?
“I’m kind of glad you gave me this now.” She waves the glass, lifts it to her lips, and drinks a mouthful. “I didn’t mean to put a downer on the night. That’s not what we came here to do.”
I want to ask her about her parents, travel plans, and everything else I don’t know about her, but her toes are rubbing up and down my thigh, and her desire to change the subject is obvious… and very distracting.
I lift her ankle and press my lips to her skin, kissing the broken heart.
She sucks in a breath.
I press a second kiss to the inside of her knee.
She sinks into the couch and lets out a soft moan.
Her eyes are half-closed, watching as my lips kiss a slow path up her inner thigh to the hem of her dress. I use the fabric as a guide and trace a line across her skin with my fingernail, lightly scratching her. “Read me a scene from one of your dirty books.”
Her eyes widen and her cheeks flush. “Why?”
Because it will remind me that this is just a fantasy we are indulging in, not a life-altering moment that has the potential to break me in the same way her tattoo depicts.
I slip my fingertip beneath the dress and give her a filthy leer. “Because your boss told you to.”
She fumbles for her bag and reaches inside. Pulling out her e-reader, her hands tremble slightly as she turns it on and flicks her finger across the screen.
