“I’d rather not.”
Graham inhaled slowly, his chest expanding as if he had to force the words out. “You seemed…uneasy yesterday.”
Heat climbed up the back of my neck. I didn’t want to tell him about the envelope and what was inside. I didn’t want anyone knowing about my past—especially not him.
I didn’t say anything in reply.
He didn’t seem upset by my silence. If anything, he looked like he’d expected it. He leaned back in his chair, his expression settling into something curious.
“I’m going to assume you know just about everything about me.” He leaned back in his chair.
I blinked at him, unsure where he was going with this. He wasn’t wrong. In preparation for the pretrial hearing, I’d learned everything there was to find about Dr. Graham Ramsey. I knew his credentials, where he’d gone to school, the jobs he’d held, and the cases he’d worked on. I knew about his brothers’ security company and that his sisters-in-law were deeply involved in my client’s case. The conflict of interest had been obvious. I was surprised the prosecution had even tried to get his profile into evidence at all.
“What’s your point?” I asked dryly.
Graham lifted a shoulder. “I’m wondering why you didn’t recognize me. That first time we met here, in the library.”
I wasn’t sure why he kept bringing that day up. I brushed the ends of my bangs back; they were already starting to grow out. “I wasn’t particularly interested in what you looked like,” I said. “I think I saw one or two photos in my research, but they were from when you were much…younger.”
I vaguely remembered a photo that might’ve been from his undergraduate years. His hair had been shorter then—not loose, with those soft curls falling over his forehead and ears. The pictures hadn’t done his eyes justice, either. The blue that came through in photos wasn’t even close to the vibrant shade they were in real life.
Graham grimaced. “So you’re saying I look old, huh?”
I rolled my eyes. That wasn’t what I was saying. “You look perfectly…fine.”
Fine wasn’t nearly adequate, but it was all I would concede to.
“You know all these things about me,” his voice dipped lower, “but I know next to nothing about you, Quinn.”
The way he said my name sent a ripple of goose bumps down my arms. I didn’t like it—how intimate it sounded, as if he knew me. He very clearly did not.
“The difference is,” I said tightly, “it was my job to know you.”
His lips thinned. Something flashed over his expression—something he pushed down almost immediately. I recognized it with a tight squeeze of my heart. I hadn’t considered it before, because he was always surrounded by family, always at the bed-and-breakfast, but I was almost certain I saw it: a shadow of loneliness.
“I suppose you’re right.” Graham sounded disappointed.
After another beat of silence, I scowled. I was too tired for this conversation; it was making me more talkative than I usually would’ve been. “Trust me, there’s not much to know. I’m quite uninteresting.”
Graham gave me an appraising look. “What made you want to become a lawyer?”
I tried not to flinch. My teeth clenched, my expression hardening. It really was a simple question, but apparently I wasn’t a simple-questions kind of girl. I could’ve told him the easy things. I could’ve spouted off my credentials—the degrees I’d earned, the internships, the grueling, sleepless nights spent studying and working until I was sick. But I didn’t do personal. Even something as harmless as that question felt too close to the chest.
“Like I said before,” I muttered between clenched teeth. “I don’t want to chat. If you’re going to work in here, do so, but we don’t need to speak to each other.”
He looked away. “Fine.”
I was relieved he wasn’t pressing the issue. I should’ve told him to leave me alone. I should’ve said he had no business coming to find me or asking questions I had no obligation answering.
But something about his presence soothed an ache in me I hadn’t wanted to acknowledge.
No one in this town liked me. They barely tolerated me. Though I wasn’t a people person, it turned out that having no one was…harder than I’d anticipated. I hadn’t realized it until Graham forced himself into this space.
I was feeling a little lonely too.
8
Quinn
