“Mr. Peterson?—”
“Call me Simon,” he grinned. “Leaning forward, he interlocked his fingers on his desk. “It’s lucky you came by. I have a proposition for you.”
It was a no-brainer.
And the first person I wanted to tell was Ellie. I wasn’t entirely sure why, other than the fact that I wasn’t getting along with my parents right now, and no one else in town actually cared.
Yes, they would gossip about it, but they would never actually care what this meant for me.
Pulling into her drive at seven o’clock, I got out and rushed up to her house, banging a little harder than necessary on her door.
The moment she pulled it open, I slammed my lips against hers, pushing her back inside as I kicked the door closed. My tongue tangled with hers in this sensual dance that we seemed to have perfected overnight.
She started tearing at my clothes, desperate to get me naked, but there were things we needed to talk about first. No, there were things I needed to tell her.
Pulling back, I gripped both of her arms and smiled at her. “You’ll never believe what happened today.”
“You met with Mr. Peterson,” she grinned.
“What? How did you?—”
“And you’re taking over his practice. Are you going to keep the name? It’s a little old-fashioned. I think you could do better.”
I frowned, feeling like the whole thing was a little anticlimactic now. “How did you know? I haven’t told a living soul.”
“Um…because that’s the way the town functions,” she laughed. “The minute you walked through his door, everyone was talking about it.”
I thought back to this morning, trying to remember if anyone was around, but all I remembered were empty streets.
“Pam was delivering the mail, and she saw you go in. That’s how it started, and ten minutes later, over half the town knew you were sitting across the desk from Mr. Peterson. I’m pretty sure Bud had a telescope and was sitting in the drugstore reading lips.”
“So, the whole town knows?”
“Well, I’m not sure about the specific details, but the rumor is that you’re taking over the practice.” She beamed up at me. “So, is it true?”
For the first time in a long time, I smiled an actual happy smile. “Yeah, I’m gonna take it over.”
“That’s brilliant!” she squealed, jumping into my arms and hugging me tight. “Are you going to change the name? Do you have a massive amount of ideas for how you’ll run it? Do you need a secretary?”
“Hold on,” I laughed at her excitement. “I literally just signed the contract to take over and buy him out.”
She rolled her eyes at me, knowing I had more than that accomplished.
“Yes, I’m going to need a secretary. Yes, I’m going to change the name, but I haven’t thought of anything yet. And I know exactly how I want to run it. Bringing in clients could be difficult out here, though. The old man hasn’t had much luck in recent years, aside from wills for the elderly and handling smaller cases.”
“Well, I have no doubt you’ll do a wonderful job.”
That was a strange reaction to get from her. “How do you know?”
“One, you’re sexy. That smile alone will bring in customers. Two, you’re brilliant. Anyone can see that. And three, the fact that you want it tells me all I need to know. You’ll do a wonderful job, and no one will be able to hold you back.”
That kind of faith in me was something I wasn’t entirely used to. Yes, I had proven myself in New York, but no one had outright believed in me for no reason other than I had used my skills to outsmart other lawyers in the courtroom.
“So, did you tell your parents?”
“Nah. Not sure they’d care.”
“What? Ryder, you have to tell them! This is exciting news, and you can’t let them hear about it from people around town.”
