“He was flirting,” I admit. “That much I know for sure.”
“Call it what you want.” She reaches for a paper napkin. “I call it a prelude to a fuck. You two are going to sleep together soon. Mark my words, Tilly.”
I pick up my chopsticks. “That’s a huge conclusion to jump to. We are so far from that right now. It’s not even close, Kate.”
“It’s the distance from your bedroom to his. That’s all it is.”
With that, she dives back into eating her lunch and I do the same, the entire time wondering if Sebastian is thinking about me as much today as I am about him.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Sebastian
“You stood me up again, Sebastian.”Darrell Carver pats me on the back as we exit the courtroom. “It’s the third time in two months. I’m beginning to wonder if you’re just not that into me.”
I huff out a laugh as I look back over my shoulder at him. “You can blame work for the missed beers.”
I slow as we near the elevators in the corridor. “I’m done here, right? I can head back to the squad room?”
“I won’t be calling you back to the stand.” He glances over at the attorney representing the defendant in the attempted murder case he’s currently prosecuting.
I was on Darrell’s witness list. It’s part of the job. I stopped by his office for a brief visit before court was in session to go over my testimony.
I recalled the facts of the night of the attack and the investigation as I remembered them when I took the stand. The defendant’s attorney tried her best to poke holes in my statements. She failed.
“How’s work treating you?” he asks as we wait side-by-side for the elevator.
“The same as always.” I shrug.
He turns on his heel, so he’s facing me. “Listen, Sebastian. I’ve got this buddy. He’s a friend-of-a-friend of the Dean of Admissions at NYU Law School.”
I raise my hand in the air. “Stop right there, Darrell. We’ve gone over this.”
“Hear me out.” He looks at the two men standing next to us before he lowers his voice. “I can put in a good word for you if you apply again. I’m not saying I’d have any pull as to whether you’re accepted or not, but it wouldn’t hurt for me to reach out to sing your praises.”
My jaw tightens. “There’s no need.”
“You owe it to yourself to at least consider it. We both know you’d make a hell of a prosecutor.”
The elevator dings its arrival just in time. I turn to the doors waiting for them to open. “I had my chance. That’s a part of my past.”
“Fair enough.” He raises his hands in the air. “I should warn you that I’m going to push you on this the next time we meet for beers.”
I take a step back as two women exit the elevator once it opens. “Thanks for the heads-up.”
He smiles. “I’m just looking out for a friend.”
I don’t tell him I appreciate it, although I do. I’m a cop. There has always been a Wolf on the force. That duty fell on my shoulders. I can’t walk away from it now.
I pressmy palms against my eyes, desperately trying to will away the image of Matilda dancing on the table last night in her lingerie. It’s been a constant in my mind all day, even during court this morning.
“A migraine?” Liam asks from across the table in the diner he asked me to meet him at for lunch.
I drop my hands. “No. I’m fine.”
“You’re far from fine.” He looks over the menu. “You’ve got something on your mind. Spill it, Sebastian.”
I’m not about to tell my youngest brother what happened last night. He’ll ask me how I feel about it and I have no fucking clue.
