Everyone, including the dogs, is happy with the arrangement.
She clears her throat, but that’s it. There are no words that follow that.
I’m going to let her off the hook because I need alone time and a martini. I wasn’t kidding when I told her that.
“You can go home, Mrs. Burton.”
That pops her head up. “I can?”
I shrug. “Yes. Please take the rest of the afternoon off.”
She slides forward on the leather chair she’s sitting in. “Did I do something wrong?”
I shake my head. “No. Absolutely not. You’ve been nothing but helpful.”
She’s been a little off-putting, but that’s because I’m not Kurt and I know she’s worried about him. As soon as I got to work this morning, she asked me for an update on his condition.
She scratches the side of her neck. “Mr. Sufford doesn’t approve of leaving early.”
I’m an old family friend, so I know that Kurt has always offered a great deal of latitude to me. I’m not a regular employee. I’ve tried hard to never take advantage of that.
“I approve of it.” I smile across my desk at her. “I want you to take the rest of the day off.”
She’s on her feet as if she thinks I’ll blink my eyes and change my mind. “Maybe I’ll see if Mr. Sufford is up for a visit.”
It’s a testament to how fond she is of her boss. I saw the picture of Kurt, Thelma, Mrs. Burton, and a man I assume is Mr. Burton on her desk.
I push myself up from my chair, straightening the skirt of my red dress as I rise. “Thank you for all your help today.”
Her brows draw together. “There’s no need to thank me, dear. It’s my job.”
I smile.
Dear. It’s what my dad always called me. I miss it.
“I’ll see you bright and early tomorrow, Ms. Conrad.”
“Eden,” I say, even though I know she won’t call me that.
I’ve suggested it at least a dozen times since I got to Manhattan. She’s always called me Ms. Conrad.
“Thank you for the afternoon off, Eden.” A soft smile plays on her lips.
I nod.
Mission accomplished.
***
“If you wear that dress to court next week, I’ll lose the case.”
I laugh. I want to take a step closer and kiss him, but we’re in the lobby of Dylan’s office building. People are watching us as they pass us by. I assume some of them work for him.
“All it takes is a red dress to defeat you?”
“It’s what’s in the dress that I’m worried about.” He flashes me a smile. “I heard you hammered out a deal for shared custody of the Townsend poodles. That was a steep mountain to climb.”
“Good news travels fast in this town.” I tilt my head. “Who told you that? I just signed off on the agreement thirty minutes ago.”
“Betsy broke the good news to me.”
I rub the back of my neck. “Betsy?”
“I saw her at Palla on Fifth.” He holds up a large coffee cup. “She seemed extra chipper today.”
I stop him before he goes on. “Who is Betsy?”
He narrows his eyes. “You’re kidding, right?”
I shrug both shoulders. I’m completely and utterly lost. “I’m serious.”
He leans forward until he’s so close that his breath slides over my ear. “I’ll give you a clue, counselor.”
I pull back just a touch so I can look into his eyes. “What’s the clue?”
“It comes at a price.”
Of course, it does. “Is the price open for negotiation?”
The corners of his lips curve up. “Isn’t it always?”
I’m tempted to suggest that we take our negotiation to his bedroom, but I like the game we’re playing.
Amusement dances in his eyes. “I’m open to offers.”
I gaze down at the watch on my wrist. “I have thirty minutes right now. Do what you will to me in your office. Or I’ll do you. Your choice.”
His hand leaps to mine. “I’ll do you.”
I follow behind him as he leads me through the lobby toward the bank of elevators. “Who is Betsy? What’s the clue?”
He stabs the elevator call button three times. “Jesus, hurry the fuck up.”
I look around to see if anyone is noticing his haste and the growing bulge in his suit pants.
“Keep it together, Colt,” I whisper.
“I don’t have condoms in my office, so it’s fingers or mouth. You choose.” He glides his index finger over his bottom lip.
“Both,” I answer. “I want both.”
He looks me over from head-to-toe. “Done.”
The elevator doors pop open. We both step aside to let three people exit. Once we’re on board, along with two older men, he presses the button for the floor that houses his offices.
I tap Dylan on the shoulder, luring his gaze to meet mine.
A smile plays on his mouth as he cocks a dark brow in question.
“Who is Betsy?” I ask quietly.
“I said I’d give you a clue.” His eyes narrow. “You gave her the afternoon off.”
“Mrs. Burton,” I mutter to myself.
Why am I not surprised that he knows her first name?
“Betsy Burton. She’s Kurt’s assistant. I owe her a debt of gratitude.”
I already know the answer, but still, I ask the obvious question so that I can hear him say the words. “Why do you owe her?”
He leans so close to me that his full lips press against the shell of my ear. “Because I get a taste of you in the middle of my day.”
I close my eyes as a shiver runs through me. “Dylan.”
“Hold that thought.” His hand reaches behind me to cup my ass. “And that moan.”
The elevator dings its arrival on Dylan’s floor.
“I’m about to make you come.” His voice is barely audible, but I hear every syllable and feel his desire in the way his hand slides over my ass to the center of my back.
“This way, Ms. Conrad.” He directs me out of the elevator, shooting a look back over his shoulder at the men still on the lift. “Enjoy the rest of your afternoon, gentlemen. I know I will.”
Chapter 36
Dylan
I cup my hands over my mouth, inhaling the sweet fragrance of Eden.
This was a treat that I didn’t see coming. By treat, I mean her coming on my face on the couch here in my office.
I look over to where she’s adjusting the front of her dress.
No one would suspect that she just had an orgasm unless they noticed the thin sheen of sweat that dots the skin above her top lip or the pink hue of her cheeks.
“I didn’t come here for that.” She points out. “I came to talk about business.”
“I don’t know of a better way to start a business meeting.”
She shakes her head. “How many business meetings have you started that way?”
Her expression shifts. The playfulness that was in her eyes is replaced with concern.
“Do you really want me to answer that?” I ask.
Her eyes flit over my face. “Actually, yes. I’m curious.”
I slip my suit jacket back on. I tossed it onto my desk when I crawled between her legs.
“Today was the first time,” I answer honestly.
I had a brief fling with one of our former receptionists months ago. I recognized it as a mistake right away. It was the first and only time I mixed business with pleasure until now.
“You haven’t slept with other attorneys?” she scoffs. “I find that hard to believe.”
I close my eyes briefly, wondering how the fuck this came up right after the encounter we just had.
“You didn’t ask me about other attorneys. You asked me whether I had fucked anyone I was working with.”
Realization drops her gaze to the floor.
New York is a big town, but my time is limited. If I’m not at a club looking for a wo
man to spend the night with, I fall back on women I’ve already slept with.
It’s rare, but it does happen.
Two of the women I met in law school kept in touch. I fucked one for a month years ago. We mutually agreed it wasn’t working. I haven’t heard from her since.
The other woman stepped back into my life three years after we both passed the bar. She was looking for a job. I was out for a good time.
I got what I wanted. She did too, but not in terms of employment.
That lasted all of two weeks before she ran back to her ex.
“Do you still see them?” Hesitation edges her words. “It’s not that it matters. I’m just curious.”
She’s not innocent. She mentioned in passing that she slept with a colleague.
“I don’t.” I round my desk. “You told me that you’ve mixed business with pleasure. That was with someone you work with? A lawyer?”
She nods in silence.
“I take it that’s over now?”
Confirmation never hurt anyone, especially someone who is in love with the person he’s questioning.
“Over?”
I search her face, trying to determine if she’s serious. “O.V.E.R. Over. It’s a straightforward word. Is your relationship with your colleague over?”
“Our sexual relationship is over for now.”
What the actual fuck?
I lean forward, bracing both palms on the top of my desk. “And that means?”
“We still work together.”
I’m a master of masking surprise, so I slip on my best stoic expression and carry forward, as I do every fucking day in court.
Except, I’m not in court.
I’m in my office with the woman I’m crazy about; the same woman I just ate to an orgasm.
“Do you still fuck each other?”
Her hands drop to her hips. “Only when we’re on. When we’re off, it’s hands-off each other.”
“On and off?” I question because I’m looking for some clarity here.
“We dated on and off.” She explains with a tilt of her finger in the air. “We are off right now. Obviously.”
Which leaves the door open for them to be on again?
“Did you see him when you went back to Buffalo?”
She pushes a hand through her long hair, making it even messier. “Of course. We work together.”
Whoever the fuck this guy is I hate him, almost as much as I hate Clark Dodson.
I’m a man who needs all available information to process things, so I ask the one question I’m not sure I want an answer to. “How long has this on and off thing been going on?”
She levels her chin to look me straight in the eye. “Three years.”
It feels like a punch to my gut.
There’s history there. There’s enough of something that they feel the pull to get back together over and over again.
“Chet and I haven’t been together in months.”
“Chet?” I cock a brow. “His name is Chet?”
“Chet Richmond.”
I know what I’ll be doing the second she’s out the door.
Google is almost always a cure-all for curiosity.
Her gaze drops to her wrist and the watch she left at my place the first night we fucked. That was before I realized who she was or that some jerk named Chet Richmond has been in and out of her bed for the past three years.
“I have a meeting I need to get to.” She moves to pick up her tote bag.
I nod. I won’t try and keep her. I’m going to seek out a beer and the life history of Chet Richmond, Esquire.
“Oh.” She flips her hair over her shoulder and fuck me, she’s so goddamn beautiful.
“Oh?” I repeat back.
“I came here for a reason.” She sighs. “It’s about the Alcester case. We don’t have time to get into it now, but since I’m here, I do have a question for you.”
“Ask away.”
“Have you seen my earring?” She tugs on her right ear lobe.
I glance at the diamond studs in her ears. I point at the one she’s touching. “There it is.”
A smile parts her lips. “It’s a silver hoop. I left my watch at your place, so I was hoping I did the same with my earring.”
I didn’t notice it when I was getting ready for work this morning, but I wasn’t on the look-out for it either.
“I’ll check around.”
“I have something to negotiate for it.” Her tongue drags over her lower lip.
My cock hardens because there’s no way in hell that it can’t when she’s tempting me.
“I have something from high school that I think you’ll be happy to see.”
That’s impossible. She’s the only memory of my past that I want to see.
I play along because she’s enjoying the hell out of this. “What is it?”
“You find the earring, and I’ll give you a clue.”
A smile ghosts my mouth. “I’ll do my best.”
My office phone rings, even though I told Gunner to hold all calls.
“That’s my cue to go.” She takes a step toward me but stops herself before she takes another.
“I’ll walk you to the elevator.”
She glances at my phone. “Answer that. I know the way out.”
I ignore the phone, so I can watch her walk away.
As curious as I am about what she’s holding onto from my past, I’m focused on something else.
I want to know who the hell Chet Richmond is and when he was last “on” the woman I love.
Chapter 37
Eden
My phone chimes with the arrival of another email.
I’m expecting a client in Buffalo to touch base, but that’s not what this email is about.
I don’t have to open it to know what it says. It’s a follow-up to an email from the other day. An email I have yet to respond to.
I exit the mail app on my phone and toss it next to me on the couch.
Noelle taps me on the shoulder from behind. “Do you want dessert?”
I pat my stomach through the white T-shirt I’m wearing. “I’m stuffed. I’m glad I’m wearing leggings. I need to go run ten miles to work off that dinner.”
She playfully tugs on my ponytail. “I’m going to take that as a compliment.”
I bend my neck back to look up at her. “As you should. Those fish tacos were delicious. Why are you a doctor and not a chef?”
She moves around the couch to take a seat next to me. “I’m both.”
“How’s your dad?” I ask for the first time since I got home from work.
Noelle was already here, dressed in a pair of pajamas. Her sleep schedule has been messed up since Kurt’s surgery.
Her worry over that and her workload has taken its toll.
I offered to cook dinner, but she insisted that I relax while she handled it.
Cooking is an outlet for her. It helps ease her anxiety. The bonus is that she’s good at it.
“Better.” She heaves a sigh of relief. “His doctor has advised him to cut his time at work in half. She told him that it would be a good idea to consider retirement sometime soon.”
Kurt’s nearing seventy. Vacations have taken a backseat to work for most of his life.
I chime in even though I’m not immediate family. “I think he should retire. He’s worked hard for a very long time.”
“Don’t tell him that.” She jabs a finger into my side. “You know how he is about his age.”
I know. He tells anyone who will listen that he’s fifty-five. The graying hair on his head and the lines of wisdom around his eyes and mouth tell a different tale.
I put a finger over my lips. “These are sealed tight.”
“It would work to our benefit if he did retire.” She props a yellow throw pillow between her head and the couch. Closing her eyes, she goes on, “Dad retiring would mean that the firm would need someone special to step into his shoes.”
�
�He has a long list of potential candidates in his office.”
Her eyes pop open. “I see the best of the best in front of me.”
I admit that since I came to Manhattan, I’ve imagined what it would be like to live here full-time. This city has an appeal that I can’t deny. The energy is different here. There’s a pulse that Buffalo doesn’t offer me.
“Promise me one thing, Eden.”
“I’ll promise you anything if you promise me you’ll go to bed as soon as we’ve finished this conversation.” I rub her knee. “You’re drifting off.”
“I promise.” Her eyelids flutter shut briefly again. “Promise that if my dad does retire, that you’ll talk to him about working in New York.”
“When your dad retires, I’ll sit down with him and talk.” I choose each word carefully.
“That’s all I ask.” She lets out a yawn. “I’m going to bed. Don’t touch the dishes.”
I won’t promise that. I’ll tidy up, do the laundry, and make her a fruit salad for breakfast tomorrow before I go to bed.
“Sweet dreams, Noelle,” I call after her as she takes off down the hallway to her bedroom.
I glance down at my phone when it pings a notification of a new text message.
I scoop it into my palm.
Dylan: I’m headed home to start a search for that earring.
It’s almost nine. I wait for a beat to see if he’ll send a follow-up message.
Dylan: You’re more than welcome to help.
I have a case file to read over after I take care of things around here.
Eden: I can’t tonight, but I have faith in you.
His reply comes quickly.
Dylan: Big plans?
My fingers fly over the phone’s screen before I press send again.
Eden: Work and sleep.
Dylan: Until tomorrow then.
Eden: Goodnight.
I close the messaging app and open the email app.
I stare at the unread email before I click the envelope to open it. I read every word before I hit reply.
I press send after typing out three short words: I’ll be there.
Chapter 38
Dylan
VERSUS Page 13