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“I don’t know,” I admit, nibbling on the edamame he threw at me. “Obviously I’m still at the beginning stages of this, but… so far everything looks normal.” I tilt my head. “Maybe that’s what’s going to feel weird.”

Lucas hums his agreement. It’s likely that he’s just as familiar as I am with the idea of something being too perfect being the red flag.

I’m reading over my notes on the year 2015 when he suddenly asks, “How did you get into this?”

The question yanks me from my thoughts, and I turn my focus to Lucas. He’s studying me, his eyes soft as his mind spins. His question doesn’t sound judgmental.

I turn back to the board as I debate my answer. There’s no chance I’m giving him the real answer but…

“I was a curious kid,” I say simply. “I loved puzzles and grew up in a family that encouraged hunger for knowledge.” That’s one way to put that. “I did well in school⁠—”

“Obviously,” Lucas interrupts with a laugh.

I ignore him. “And when I graduated early from college, I got lucky when an opening for a PI assistant popped up. I’ve been doing this ever since.”

“And how long is that? How old were you when you graduated college?”

I lift an eyebrow. “As if you haven’t already run a background check on me and know the answer to that.”

To my surprise—and delight—Lucas’s cheeks pinken. I can’t help but grin.

But I decide to put him out of his misery by asking, “What about you? How did you decide on”—I gesture wildly all around us—“all of this?”

“Well, I, too, was a curious kid who grew up in a family that encouraged hunger for knowledge⁠—”

Reaching forward, I grab another piece of edamame and throw it at him.

He’s laughing as he blocks the shot. “I’m teasing, but I’m also halfway serious.” He sobers and answers for real this time. “I was the kid who asked about everything. I wanted to know every answer and I wanted to argue about detail.”

I snicker at the thought. I can picture eight-year-old Lucas so clearly.

“Did you do a pre-law undergrad?” I ask. “I mean, did you go into college with the goal of law?”

He shakes his head. “I went in as a philosophy major. Hence Randall as a professor. He encouraged me to go into pre-law because of my…said arguing skills.” He smiles at my laugh, but then it drops again. “And then I knew I wanted to be a lawyer, I just didn’t know what kind.”

For a moment, I debate how I want to continue this conversation. I could tease him, make it light, or I could ask it seriously and hope for a serious answer.

Because something about the way Lucas is staring out at nothing, a hundred thoughts rolling around in his brain, tells me there’s a story here. A real one.

“So, then how did you end up in contract law?” I ask, deciding I want the real answer. “What was the thought process?”

Lucas blows out a breath, the exhale heavy with memories. “There wasn’t one, really. It was kind of a right time, right place that I ended up here.”

My eyebrows rise as I wait quietly for him to explain.

I can see his internal debate about telling me the story, but after a moment, he simply launches into it.

“I was working at a steakhouse while I was in law school.” His gaze darts to me with a crooked smile. “Ironically, the fancy one I like to take clients to nowadays.”

I let out a snort of laughter but don’t interrupt.

“I had just graduated law school, just passed the bar, essentially at the crux of my career where I was trying to figure out what kind of law I wanted to practice. And already way behind on the decision. All my peers knew exactly what they wanted to do. I was the only one struggling to find my place in the world.” He sucks in a deep breath. “So anyway, I was working as a waiter, agonizing over my future, when this group of lawyers is seated in my section. And they start to discuss this case they’re working on.”

“A contract case, I’m assuming.”

Lucas nods. “A contract case. They were trying to find a loophole for their client. And I don’t know what came over me, but I made a suggestion. I’d been listening to them brainstorming all dinner, so I was fairly certain it was a good idea, but these guys… they looked at me like I just solved a billion-dollar case.” He laughs, though the sound holds no amusement. “Turns out, it was a billion-dollar case. And they were so impressed I gave them the winning idea that the main guy offered me a job right there on the spot.”

My eyes widen. “Just like that?”