“Thank you.” I almost lean forward to kiss her, but I show restraint. I check to make sure I have my wallet and keys, and then I head to her door.
“Wait,” she says. “One last thing.”
“Yes?” I look over my shoulder.
“I’m glad you were my first...”
I still have no idea what to say to that, so I take one last look at her—watching her blush all over—and then I finally leave.
“Several counts of money laundering, witness intimidation, bribery, and a few sweet doses of assault for our beloved Client W—a.k.a. Ruthless Lucas!” Rachel slams a stack of files on my desk. “Allegedly.”
“Thank you, Rachel.”
“Always a pleasure.” She smiles. “Do you want some coffee while you draw up everything?”
“No.” I click my pen. “I’d rather you answer a question instead.”
“I’m listening.”
“If you were me?—”
She snorts before I can finish. “Sorry. Keep going...”
“If you were me, how many wins would be enough for you to finally feel like you’ve won and you can live a normal life?”
Her smile dissolves.
“What?” I ask. “Bad question?”
“Yes, because you’re not normal.” She pauses. “You never have been, and I don’t really know why, but... you can’t have what everyone else has.”
“What if I wanted to start the game over and try?”
“Then the only way you’d be able to stop pursuing winning is if you finally lost...”
Silence.
“Thank you, Rachel.”
She nods and leaves the room, and within minutes of poring through the newest set of client files, I can feel exactly what she means.
My thoughts race with arguments and loopholes, with the exact lines I’ll utter at every possible phase of these charges, and I’m suddenly anxious about getting back into the courtroom.
As I’m highlighting lines in a police interview, the door opens and Scarlett steps inside wearing a deep blue sweater dress and tights.
“Hey.” She smiles at me. “Do you have a minute?”
“No.” I stand up and walk over to her. “Not until our deadline is up.”
“I don’t think I can wait until then.”
“We literally agreed on this.” I pull her flush against my chest and press a kiss to her lips. “You’re not supposed to exist until Friday. That’s tomorrow...”
“I know, but I...” Her eyes are filled with worry. “I need to tell you something.”
“Not right now, you don’t.” I gently let her go. “You’ve hit your surprise limit with me for quite some time.”
“It’s really important, Jameson.”
