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Her jaw sets. “I’m going to put an ad out for the job and give it to someone else at this same pay, which means I’ll have to let you go. Is that what you want?”
I lean forward and lower my voice. “I’m not on the stand, counselor,” I say, knowing her well enough to know when she slides into her attorney persona. “You aren’t going to come at me like that and change my mind.”
“It’s the truth,” she says. “I need help and I need help now. Take the job.”
“Promise me that this isn’t about charity.”
“I promise. I need you. I’ll email you a formal offer with the salary and benefits. Reese is going to piggy-back you onto his company benefit plan. Say yes. You won’t be sorry.”
Somehow, she’s chosen the exact words Cole used when encouraging me to let him spank me. And I’m not sorry I said yes. Not sorry at all and so I do it again. I say, “Yes.”
“Yes?” she queries.
“Yes,” I confirm.
She grins and I grin, and as silly as it seems, somehow Cole is a part of this moment. Or maybe it’s not silly at all. He’s a part of a change in my life, a shift, that I feel happening. I change clothes and Cat walks with me toward the courthouse, all the while plans are being made for my new job. I leave her at the door of her building with the promise I’m giving notice today.
She enters her building and I start walking toward the corner where I first ran into Cole. I suck in a breath, some part of me—no, all of me—wanting him to be there when I know that in morning light I’d been his charity case. It wouldn’t be what it was last night.
I round the corner and run into a hard chest. I suck in air and look up to find a good-looking man with dark brown hair, and brown eyes.
“You okay?” he asks.
“Yes,” I lie, because the truth is, I’m not okay. I murmur an apology and rush past him, because he’s not Cole. But in my fairy tale, we don’t end how we did this morning. One day, I’ll just happen to walk around the corner and run into Cole, and I’ll be an attorney who won’t look like someone chasing his money, because I’ll have my own.
One day. Or never. He doesn’t even live in New York City.
Sometimes the right people meet at the wrong time.
Chapter twelve
Cole
Houston, TX
One week later…
I’m sitting behind the desk of my downtown Houston office, staring across the city, and Ashley sets paperwork on my desk. “No,” she says, as she does. “It’s nothing to do with Lori, whoever Lori might be. It’s the estimates on the remodel for your New York apartment. Looks like it’s going to take longer than expected.”
“How much longer?”
“Three months. I already have calls for additional estimates.”
My phone buzzes and the receptionist says, “Judge Conners is on the line.”
“Put him through.” The line blinks and I say, “Judge Conners. Give me some good news.”
“I’ll hear your plea for a new trial in court, at which time the prosecutor will be present, and be allowed to make his case for the past trial to stand.”
“Thank you, Judge.”
“Don’t thank me. I don’t do favors. Your client may very well be guilty. I simply serve the system as the golden promise of a fair trial. If he didn’t get one, he will.” He hangs up.
Ashley arches a brow. “Good news?”
“For my client. Keep the remodel as is. I’m not going to be able to complete my move until I finish this case.”
“I’m not trying to get rid of you,” she says. “Can’t you hand this over to one of the other dozen attorneys in the firm? You’re a managing partner.”
