Chapter 18
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Dylan
I was stood up.
I’m a lawyer. I get that things pop up unexpectedly. In this case, Eden is chasing after something for the Alcester case.
I know that because she called my office and left a message with Gunner this afternoon. I was in the middle of a deposition. I told my assistant not to disturb me under any circumstances.
Gunner always takes me at my word.
Eden’s message was short and to the point.
I can’t make it tonight. I’m meeting with one of the skeletons from your client’s closet.
I would have texted her a message back, but I don’t have a cell number for her.
Calling Kurt’s office to speak with her was a waste of time. Kurt’s assistant shot me down with an excuse about Eden being tied up today.
The woman refused to hand over Eden’s cell number. Charm didn’t work, so I pulled out my attorney card, but that was a fail.
I dropped the ball when I didn’t ask Eden for her number last night.
She wouldn’t let me take her back to Noelle’s. She hopped into a taxi outside of Nova and disappeared around the corner.
“Sir, do you need me to do anything else today?”
My head pops up. “Jesus, Gunner. You scared the hell out of me. Clear your throat when you’re coming down the corridor. Hum a tune. Anything, but this stealth shit you always pull on me.”
I swear to fuck his lips curve up into a smirk before he loudly clears his throat.
“Too late for that.” I rest my hands on my desk. “You can go.”
He shakes his head. “I prefer to stay until you’re done. Something may come up that I have to handle.”
I don’t know what the hell Gunner has going on during the few hours I give him to himself each day, but there has to be something he can do besides staring at me from the doorway of my office.
“Go home.” I wave my hand in the air. “You’ve put in enough time for today.”
“I can order something for dinner…for us.”
I push back in my chair. “You’re not a cheap date. The last time you ordered food in it was a five-course spread with an expensive bottle of red.”
“Good taste isn’t a liability, sir. It’s an asset.”
“It depends on whether you’re the one stuck picking up the tab.” I glance down at my watch. “I’ll treat you to pizza.”
“Pizza?” His nose scrunches. “I haven’t had pizza in…”
“Too long,” I interrupt as I slide to my feet. “A slice of pizza, a beer, and then you go be you, Gunner. I need my space.”
“I’ll get ready,” he quips. “Give me five minutes.”
“Two minutes.” I wave two fingers at him. “Be in the elevator in two minutes or my offer is off the table.”
He darts out of my office and down the corridor, stomping his feet as he goes.
I didn’t expect to be sitting across from him at a dinner table, but I plan on tracking Eden down as soon as my beer is empty.
I’m not ending my day without seeing her beautiful face.
The best pizza in Manhattan is at a restaurant a block from my office.
It’s over-priced, under-sauced, but the crust is exactly how I like it. It’s crispy yet chewy. I’ve eaten enough bad pizza in my life to know that it’s a feat to create the perfect crust.
When Gunner dove in for this third slice, I knew I was looking at a convert.
He’ll be hitting the place up on the regular on his lunch break.
My assistant was prepared to extend our dinner into the evening. He suggested we take the party back to the office so he could run over the details for a case that I just took on.
Work can wait. I told Gunner as much when I directed him to the subway and told him to call it a night.
I took off in the opposite direction.
I’m still on a quest to find Eden. That’s why I’m standing on the sidewalk outside the building that’s home to the offices of Sufford, Lake & Chisholm.
It’s mid-evening, which means that anyone with a life outside of work has left for the day.
I’m banking on the fact that Eden hasn’t lost her drive to commit to whatever is in front of her.
That’s what took her to the rehearsal hall virtually every night during senior year.
I stalk into the lobby of the building, heading straight for the night guard who mans the desk near the elevators.
“Can I help you…” His voice trails. “Dylan? Is that you?”
It pays to help people who need it.
Myron, the guard, sat next to me on the subway one day when I was heading back to the office after court.
He was despondent and broke. I was feeling uncharacteristically generous after winning a case.
In the six hours before we met, Myron was let go from his job as a member of the cleaning crew at one of the city’s museums.
He was cut in the middle of his shift. He went home to the house he shared in Queens with his wife of twenty-two years to plan out how he’d break the bad news to her once she was done work for the day.
She wasn’t behind a desk in her office on Wall Street. She was on the dick of her boss in the bed she shared every night with Myron.
Myron told me his story as we took the train uptown.
I took on his case, we shook on the promise of a percentage of his settlement, and I got to work on drafting the papers that afternoon.
I topped it off with a new job for him. He worked security at the building that houses my office until he was reassigned to work here.
He’s got money in the bank, a pension to look forward to, and a new girlfriend who only has eyes for him.
“Myron.” I pat him on the shoulder. “I’m looking for Eden Conrad. She’s filling in for Kurt Sufford temporarily.”
“The beauty from Buffalo?” He smiles. “She slips me a candy bar almost every night on her way out.”
That doesn’t surprise me.
The smile on Myron’s face doesn’t surprise me either. He’s always friendly as fuck and eager to help.
Her cell number is at his disposable. I’ll be calling her before I exit this building.
“She’s here.”
That’s more than I could have hoped for. “Eden is here?”
“That she is.” He nods. “She just went back up with some take-out. It looks like she’ll be stuck here for most of the night.”
Not if I have a say in it.
I glance at the elevators. “I’m going to run up and surprise her.”
His brow knits. “She’s up there alone. I should probably call to let her know you’re here.”
“We’re old high school friends.” I toss him a wink. “Give me the chance to surprise her like old times.”
The only time I ever surprised Eden was when I showed up to her dance recital. I’ll never forget the look on her face or the tears in her eyes.
“How can I say no to that?” He starts toward the elevator. “You need a keycard to get up at this time of day. I’ll swipe mine and send you on your way.”