Risking the Crown

by Violet Paige

  He was okay to hang out with, but he had a knack for making me feel like the third wheel. He reminded me I was the single one in the group. He knew things about my best friend I didn’t. While I had been working my ass off in a law firm, Preston had been here with Greer. He knew the details about her I used to know.

  We made it to the first landing. “Yeah, he wants to get to know you better too. I told him I thought it was a good idea. You’re okay with it, right?” Greer babbled on.

  “Oh, of course,” I lied. I hoped I would get one girls’ night. I had seen Preston every one of my three days here.

  By the time we reached the bottom of the building I was wincing in pain. I swore I would never wear those damn heels again.

  “Let me get the car,” Greer offered. She darted ahead of me and ran toward the street.

  Luckily, we were in a busy part of the neighborhood and there was an Uber around the block. We waited less than two minutes. I hobbled to the sidewalk and slid into the backseat.

  She tapped my knee. “Don’t worry, a few drinks in and you won’t even care about your feet.”

  I grinned. “I don’t know if D.C. has that much liquor, but we can certainly try.”

  Chapter 2

  Greer always knew the best places to go. It was some kind of innate ability she had. I called it party radar in college, but now it had matured into something else. We walked inside the bar and I looked at her.

  “This place is amazing.”

  She grinned. “It’s the most popular spot in Georgetown. It’s only been open for six months, but it’s my favorite place to go for drinks. When I get out,” she added.

  I don’t know if I was expecting her to take me to one of those stuffy political bars where her work friends went and the only thing you saw people drink was dark bourbon and whiskey, but this felt soothing, calming even.

  We were escorted to a table and slid onto white leather seats.

  “Don’t freak out when you see how much the drinks are,” she warned. “This isn’t New Bern. You can’t get a Cosmo for less than twenty dollars.”

  I had already experienced an entire day of feeling like an outsider. I didn’t need to cap the night off the same way. At least I had her now to give me the insider tips.

  “Got it.” I nodded. I kept my eyes poised not to widen at the prices when I opened the menu.

  “This is on me,” she announced. “We have so much to celebrate.”

  The offer was generous, but I was uncomfortable letting her pay for pricey drinks. She was the reason I was here. She was the one constant I had in my life no matter what. She was the friend who offered to split an apartment and show me the ropes to a new city. I didn’t want to point out the huge gap in our salaries. There was no way she could afford this.

  “Then I’ll take a Cosmo.” I folded the drink menu.

  “Me too.” She smiled. “Like old times.”

  A waitress walked up to our table. “Are you two ready?”

  Greer placed our order and we waited for the drinks to arrive.

  “I want to hear all about your first day. Everything. How was the clinic?” She leaned on the tabletop with her elbows.

  I moved back when the waitress placed the cosmos in front of us. “It was mainly HR stuff all day and introductions. Tons of paperwork. There’s not much to tell.”

  “Did you get any cases? Any students?”

  I shook my head. “No, I think cases tomorrow and then students start next week. At least I have a few days to get my bearings before I have to start teaching. Right now I have more questions than answers. I’m not the best mentor. How can I teach when I can’t find my way around and clearly have no idea what shoes to wear?” I joked, but it didn’t feel light.

  I took a sip of the vodka drink. It was refreshing with the twist of lemon floating on top.

  “But you said you wanted to teach.” Greer looked puzzled. “That’s the career move, right? You wanted to use law in a different way.”

  “I do. But everything’s so overwhelming. You should have seen me this morning. I wore those stupid shoes that basically broke every bone in my feet. I almost took the wrong metro. I spilled coffee on the campus shuttle, and I couldn’t find the clinic. I went to three others before I wound up at the women’s center.”

  “Oh.” She pulled the glass to her lips. “That’s a rough start. I’m sorry. It’s only your first day here. It’s going to get better.”

  I sighed. “It is. But D.C. moves faster than I’m used to. Maybe I’m not cut out for this. I sound like the country mouse has moved in with the city mouse.” The reference made me giggle.

  “Hey, don’t say that. You graduated top of your law class. You’ve been at one of the best law firms in New Bern. You know law. You can do this, Emily. You’re going through the same stuff we all went through when we moved here. It takes time.”

  I bit my lip. “I know. I know, but it was a shitty day. I wanted it to be empowering. I wanted the kind of day that would tell me I made the right decision. That I left New Bern for a good reason.”

  “You mean one that would tell that you left Garrett for a good reason.” She eyed me.

  The guilt clinched the sides of my lungs.

  “He needs me. He always has. They all do.” I could feel myself sinking back into the old routine of blame and anger. It was what I knew. How I functioned.

  “Your parents can take care of your brother. You need to be here, moving ahead with your own life. You have one of the most prestigious law residencies in the country, with the chance to teach at American. Do you know how fucking awesome that is?”

  Her eyes lit up. She would have made a great cheerleader.

  I smiled. “I do. And I’m glad you pushed me in this direction. I am.” I didn’t want to turn this night into a counseling session about my family, or my career. I wanted Greer’s enthusiasm to be contagious. I wanted to catch it. I needed it to be part of my new start.

  Our waitress reappeared. “Sorry, to bother you two but the guys at the bar sent these drinks over.” She lowered two more Cosmos in front of us.

  I looked at Greer as her head whipped over her shoulder. “Wow, they’re cute.”

  The guys were hunched over a couple pints of beer. Their ties were loosened at the neck and their sleeves rolled up. I couldn’t tell one from the other.

  “Greer!”

  She shrugged. “What? They are. They don’t need to know I’m taken, and you aren’t in the market.”

  I shot her a puzzled look. Her words irked me. I never said I wasn’t in the market. Of course there wasn’t a worse time to meet someone. My family was back at home in shambles. I still had unpacked boxes in my bedroom. I didn’t know my way around the city. I had no idea where the grocery store was. I hadn’t worked one full day at the clinic yet. I wasn’t in a great position to date anyone.

  But I was used to this. Whenever we went out in college, guys always bought Greer drinks. It was standard. It wasn’t that I wasn’t pretty. I knew I was attractive, but next to her I faded into the background. She was stunning. She had a way of looking up from the corner of her eyes that men found irresistible.

  She brushed her dark bangs to the side. “Tell them we said thank you,” she reported to the waitress.

  “And what do you tell Preston when he shows up?” I hadn’t forgotten he would be here any second.

  “He will be glad he doesn’t have to pay forty dollars to buy us drinks.” She giggled.

  I held up my glass and we clinked the rims. “Cheers to that.”

  “Enough about my shitty day. How was yours?” I asked. I didn’t want the conversation to drift back to my family. “What big bad stuff is happening with the senate committee?”

  She rolled her eyes. “It might seem like being a research analyst for the Armed Services Committee is glamorous, but it’s not. Completely not.” She rested her Cosmo on a cocktail napkin. “Today consisted of taking notes while the senators bickered about who was going make t
he next decision. There was no decision. Just bickering.”

  “Sounds like fun.”

  “A complete waste of a day. Meanwhile, all the things I am supposed to be working on are piling up in my office because they can’t decide on a to-do list.” She gulped down the last of the drink and moved on to the one sent over from the guys at the bar.

  “And you still like it there? This is what you want—politics?”

  She nodded. “I do bitch and complain about it, but yes. I’m an analyst now, but I could quickly move into one of the senator’s offices. I’m less than a year away from being an advisor. Can you imagine that? It would be huge.” She traced the rim of her glass. “Preston loves his job. He’s a senate aide. He wants this for me.”

  I ignored her last comment. “And to think we started out wanting to be pro-bono attorneys.” I winked at her.

  That was a million years ago. Greer and I had been pre-law at Carolina. We both thought we could fight social injustice and join causes that we were passionate about. I ended up joining a law firm close to home and Greer moved to D.C. to work as a senate page.

  “At least at American you’re doing that. The clinic helps people,” she reminded me. “So does teaching.”

  “It does.” The liquor started to warm my limbs, and if I didn’t think about my feet I couldn’t feel how badly they ached. “I just never thought I’d be a teacher. I’m going to be one of our stuffy law professors.”

  Greer almost spit her drink across the table. “Please, God. If you do, you have to wear little pins on your suit jacket—you know the ones you can change out for each holiday. Oh, and maybe try to make a theme with each case you cover. And you definitely need to wear glasses.”

  “I have an entire year before I get to that process, but maybe I’ll start collecting pins now so I’m fully stocked.” I laughed. I had an image of a shoebox filled with Santas, shamrocks, and Easter eggs.

  She looked over my shoulder. “Oh, Pres is here.” Greer jumped from her seat and ran to greet him.

  Preston towered over her. He looked like every other guy in the city. He had brown hair, cut short. He wore a button-up blue shirt with a dark blue tie. He could sit with those other two at the bar and I’d never be able to pick him out of a lineup.

  He moved to the city after a senate campaign he worked on was successful. He and Greer met in the Capitol cafeteria.

  They walked toward me hand-in hand.

  “Hey, Emily” He leaned over to give me a side hug.

  “Hey.” I faked a smile.

  I noticed the guys behind us were ticked. They grumbled at each other once they realized Greer wasn’t available, and they were out at least forty dollars.

  Preston sat across from me. His hands clasped on top of Greer’s dainty fingers.

  She looked at him as if she could devour him on the spot. Her blue eyes sparked under the calming lights of the bar.

  “What are you two drinking?” Preston glanced at our glasses.

  “Cosmos.” She giggled. Her cheeks were pink.

  “I think I’ll get a beer.” He raised his hand for our server, before placing it around her shoulders. She leaned in to him as he whispered something. Greer burst out laughing.

  I wiggled in my seat. “I think I’m going to make a trip to the ladies’ room. I’ll be right back.” I threw the straw bag over my shoulder and walked away in search of the restrooms.

  I needed a second. Just one tiny moment to take a breath away from the suffocating reminder I was alone. I didn’t need what Greer had right now. I knew that. I didn’t want a guy like Preston. But something about being around them made me want more than what I had. It made me thirst for someone in my life to share all these changes with.

  I didn’t have a person. There wasn’t someone at the end of the night to check in and tell them I made it to D.C. safely. There wasn’t someone to call to tell them I made it through my first day of paperwork. I didn’t have someone to tell me tomorrow would be better. That tomorrow I’d find my way.

  There was a plush sofa in the sitting area before the ladies’ room. I sat down and leaned my head back on the cushions. One thing at a time. New city. New job. New apartment. That was plenty to focus on without getting involved with someone.

  I hated self-pity. I wasn’t going to wallow. I had everything I wanted. I needed to march back to the table and finish the night the same way we started it—by celebrating.

  I stood, inhaling fully. As I swerved through the tables I noticed Greer and Preston were standing next to their chairs. The waitress was taking Preston’s credit card. I felt a quick wave of relief that Greer didn’t pay for the first round of drinks.

  “What’s going on? I wasn’t gone that long.” I looked at them.

  Greer sighed. “I got a call. I have to get to work. There’s a meeting at seven in the morning and the file isn’t ready.”

  “But it’s so late.” I had no idea what time it was but it had to be close to ten.

  Preston squeezed Greer’s shoulder. “I’m going to make sure she gets to the capitol okay.”

  “Oh, all right.” I wasn’t sure what to do. I didn’t know what part of Georgetown we were in, but I could get my own Uber home.

  “I’m so sorry, Emily.” Greer hugged me. “Can you get home okay?”

  I nodded. “Of course. Don’t worry about me. Go. The country needs you,” I teased.

  She scoffed. “More like a bunch of assholes who don’t know how to make a decision need me.”

  “I’ll see you later?”

  Preston turned. “Better not wait up. This sounds like a long night for her. I’ll probably take her home after.” His voice sounded paternal.

  “Oh, okay.” Is this how things were now? Preston answered for my best friend? I bit my tongue.

  They waved as they walked out of the bar together. I stood next to the table. I had half a drink left. I could sit and finish it or brave the street for a ride home. Either option was nearly as lonely as the other. I slinked into the seat, sipping the rest of the Cosmo. I hated to let twenty dollars of vodka go to waste.

  The tables around me turned over with new couples, or groups of friends. I told the waitress I was taking a moment to finish and then I’d leave. She seemed impatient for me to give up the table.

  Trying to salvage the night didn’t matter. It was late. Greer was gone. I needed to get a good night’s sleep before tomorrow. I had clinic in the morning. I could head home and soak my feet in the tub before crawling into bed.

  I pushed the chair backward to rise when I felt it ram into something solid. I whipped around.

  “Oh my God. I’m so sorry.” I quickly assessed my victim.

  “It’s all right, sweetheart.” He smiled.

  I forced myself to blink. I made the mistake of thinking I had run into one of the servers. No, I backed my chair into sex-on-a-stick. Holy shit.

  “Really? You’re okay?” I asked, realizing I was able to speak after all.

  “No harm.” He had brown eyes that were laced with hints of darkness.

  I knew this was the part where I was supposed to say something trivial and walk away, but I didn’t want to move. It was there in my stomach, the unmistakable zing of excitement from laying eyes on someone so attractive it made my pulse rush faster.

  It was a quick second. A tiny flash of time when my eyes raked over his sharp jawline and the shadow of stubble on his chin. I noticed the points of ink darting under the sleeve of his T-shirt. No wedding band. No date standing next to him. My eyes lifted to his.

  If I were Greer, I’d ask him to sit and have a drink with me. I’d ask for his name and maybe even be bold enough to get his number. But I’d never been that forward before. And I wasn’t my roommate.

  I attempted a flirty smile. “Glad you’re okay. Sorry, again.”

  “It’s not the first time someone has assaulted me with a chair.” He had unbelievably long eyelashes that were as dark as his eyes.

  “You’ve been
hit with a chair? You must be in a dangerous line of work, or get in a lot of bar fights.”

  He shrugged. “I used to, but I’m really trying to give up the bar fights.” His voice was husky and severe. It didn’t sound like a joke.

  Could he see that my breath caught? That I was completely focused on every word that came from his mouth even though I’d heard less than twenty? I couldn’t fall for this dark and mysterious shit. I knew better.

  Turn around, Emily. Walk away. I didn’t need to get reeled in. There was a hot bath calling my name at the apartment. My feet needed more attention than this stranger.

  “Well, you can’t say something like that and not tell me about what you did,” I baited him.

  I couldn’t help myself. I blamed the cosmos for my sudden brashness. That and the fact that I liked how he smelled. His cologne wasn’t overpowering, but every time he tilted his head I could smell juniper and a rich spicy scent.

  “Is that so?” he challenged.

  I nodded. “It is. You owe me at least one story for running into my chair.”

  His eyebrows rose. “I ran into your chair?”

  “Isn’t that how it happened?”

  “I say we round up some witnesses and get the truth.” He looked over one shoulder and then the other. His skin was a golden bronze. He must spend time outside. “Should we try that table?” He pointed to a couple making out behind us.

  Damn it. I was calculating a list of all his traits in a two-minute exchange.

  “What if we order a round and call it even?” I suggested. I resisted the impulse to rest my fingers on his forearm. I could see where the muscles rippled under his skin.

  He pulled out the chair for me. “I’ll agree to that if you tell me your name.”

  I tucked the bottom of my dress under me as I took the seat. I couldn’t believe this was happening. Who was I? I’d never hit on a guy like him before. Much less a guy who looked like he did.

  “I’m Emily.” I smiled.