“I was invited but wasn’t sure. Now it’s a definite yes.” He adjusted his glasses. “Maybe we can get together after?” he murmured.
The door opened, and my next client walked in.
“I gotta go. But yeah.”
“See you then.” He left, and I couldn’t help sneaking a peek at that fabulous ass. Damn, he looked as good in a suit as he did naked.
My next job was for a long-standing client, and this time he wanted the constellation of his birth sign. “I’m a Libra. That’s balance.” He handed me a picture. “Something that looks like this.”
“I know. I’ll work something up and be right back.”
Ambrose was at his desk, putting the finishing touches on a complicated stencil, but he lifted his head to pierce me with a beady eyeball.
“What did that guy want?”
I took a piece of transfer paper for my design and pretended not to understand. “Who?”
“That fucking lawyer. What did he want?”
I raised a shoulder. “Nothing. He’s a friend of Grady’s, was passing by the shop, and stopped in to say hello.” No way could I tell Ambrose I’d hooked up with Bailey. Not that I needed his approval, but I didn’t want to hurt him either. He had such blind hatred of lawyers and the legal system, so it was better this way. In the long run, Ambrose was my friend, and Bailey was just another guy.
**
I walked into Grady’s new apartment and whistled low. “Dude, you leveled up. This is a nice spot.”
His face bright, Grady hugged me. “I wasn’t sure you were gonna make it. Busy at work?” He handed me a beer.
“Yeah. Nonstop.” I held out my hand and wiggled my fingers. “They hurt like a bitch.”
Grady’s lips curved over the bottle top. “I bet I know someone who’ll be happy to give you a massage. Anywhere you want, I’m thinking—if you ask him nicely.”
My cheeks grew hot, and I rolled my eyes. “Shut up.” But that didn’t stop me from sneaking a look around the apartment, spotting Bailey talking to a group of Grady’s friends.
“Jesus, is there anyone here besides me who isn’t a damn lawyer?” I grumbled. “It’s giving me hives.”
“Maybe stop boxing people into versions of who you think they are and learn to get to know them as human beings instead of judging them by their professions. You might find you have more in common with them than you think.”
With those brotherly words of wisdom, he left me standing by myself, and it reminded me of the rare high school parties I’d been invited to, where I’d stood alone in the corner, resentment building as I’d watched all the kids talking and laughing together, excluding me. I finished my beer and decided the hell with it. I’d shown my face, and now I was done. Grady was the only one I owed anything to. I set my bottle down and was halfway to the door when a hot breath hit my neck.
“Leaving so soon?”
With a half smile tugging my lips, I turned to face Bailey, whose blue eyes sparkled with laughter.
“You looked busy.”
He leaned against the wall, and I liked what I saw—a thin black sweater stretched across his muscular chest and faded jeans hugging powerful thighs. I couldn’t decide whether I liked him more in a suit or casual, like this.
“And you look like you’re sneaking out without even bothering to say hello. And Iwasbusy. Busy waiting for you to come over. So why didn’t you? You’re exiting stage left, when you’ve only been here less than fifteen minutes.”
“Does it matter?”
If I didn’t know better, I’d have sworn he looked hurt. “I mean…kind of, yeah. Not so much for me, but how about your brother? Why wouldn’t you want to be here for him? He’s having this party for his new place, and you barely show your face before you slip out without a good-bye? That’s kind of shitty.”
Chastened, the hot flush of embarrassment made me defensive as hell, and I wanted to snap at him to mind his own damn business about Grady and me. But I didn’t because he was right.Bastard.
“All right, it’s just…I’m in a room full of lawyers, and that always makes me antsy.”
“Why?”
