Chapter 10
So many nipples
Gage
You keep looking at the clock,” Declan announced.
My paralegal had appeared, silent and catlike, in my doorway and was sipping his coffee out of his plain white mug. Nana poked her head around his legs with a large stuffed hammer in her mouth.
I dropped my pen on the documents I’d been scanning. “My next appointment is late.” I’d expected nothing less of Zoey. What I hadn’t expected was the sense of anticipation I’d had all afternoon leading up to the appointment that she’d probably forgotten.
“Six minutes. Should I reschedule Ms. Moody?”
“Using clients names. Impressive, Declan.”
“I still think the numbers are more efficient,” he complained.
“It’s not always about efficiency.”
He didn’t look like he believed me.
The door jingled open, and suddenly there she was. Zoey entered like a tornado, windswept and energized, in designer jeans, a silky sheer blouse, and a velvet blazer.
“Sorry, sorry, sorry! I’m late. I’m awful.”
“Six minutes,” Declan admonished.
“It’s fine,” I insisted, rising from my chair and meeting her in the reception area.
“Would you believe I thought I was actually going to be early for once?” she asked, using the crook of her elbow to shove her sunglasses up on top of her head.
“So I thought I’d stop and get us all coffees, but then there was a line.
A line! In Story Lake. Can you believe it?
Then I realized I didn’t have my keys, so I had to retrace my steps, and long story short, throwing your keys in the tip jar just confuses everyone. ”
“Hi,” I said and took the tray of drinks from her.
Her shoulders dropped as the frenetic energy left her. “Hi. I’m sorry for being late. I hope a black coffee and an Earl Grey with almond milk will make up for it. I asked Jennifer Jang what your usuals were.”
“Apologies aren’t necessary, and the drinks are appreciated,” I said as Nana pranced up to Zoey, bonking her in the knees with the stuffed hammer.
“Hello. Yes, I’m sorry. I should have greeted you first, Nana,” Zoey said, leaning down to give my dog a cautious pat. “Ah, to have the confidence of a golden retriever believing that everyone is delighted to meet me.”
Nana appreciated the effort enough to throw herself on her back to give Zoey belly access.
“Yeah, I don’t know what to do with that part of your anatomy,” she said.
I took my coffee and handed Declan the tray and his drink. “She likes belly rubs,” I said, demonstrating.
Zoey tentatively mimicked me and patted Nana. “Oh God. Why does she have so many nipples?”
“Why don’t we get started?” I suggested. I thought about holding out my hand and helping her up but decided the less physical contact, the better.
We rose together, not touching, but our gazes locked.
“Why are you staring like that?” Declan asked, peering at us from an uncomfortable proximity. Not one to be left out, Nana wedged herself between us, tail wagging, hammer squeaking. “Does she have something in her teeth?”
“I’m not staring,” I said defensively.
“Do I have something in my teeth?” she asked, rubbing a finger along her gumline.
“You’re fine.”
“Would you like me to bring my floss to your office?” Declan offered solicitously.
“Thanks, Declan. No need for floss. Shall we?” I gestured toward my office, making sure to give her a wide berth.
“Are you sure I don’t have something in my teeth?
” Zoey asked hastily when we settled in across the desk from each other.
“Because once, I gave an entire presentation to the marketing and sales departments, and I had multiple chia seeds stuck between all my visible teeth the entire time and no one told me.”
“There is nothing in your teeth. Now, I didn’t see any red flags in the contract, but that’s because as the town solicitor, I wrote it.” If I kept the conversation professional, I wouldn’t think about her comments about a one-night stand like I had every day since the weekend.
“How conflict-of-interest-y,” she teased.
“Since you’re a nonpaying client and I’m doing this out of the kindness of my heart, I figured you wouldn’t mind. What questions do you have?”
“What’s that trophy for?” she asked, pointing at one of the bookcase shelves.
“High school baseball state champs. Senior year. Back to the contract—”
“You’ve got a real time capsule vibe going on in here,” she observed. She got up and prowled the room with her coffee.
It was true. In addition to the requisite degrees, law books, and inoffensive office art, I’d included several pieces of personal memorabilia. Family photos, framed newspaper clippings, and mementos occupied shelves and wall space. “I like keeping what’s important to me close.”
“Is that why you chose to stick around and play the hometown hero?” she asked, picking up the shadow box with a nail from the first job I’d ever worked with my brothers.
“When I said questions, I meant questions about your contract.”
“You got to ask me about my job. It’s my turn.”
“Then yes. It was never the plan to move away. I’d always intended to stay in Story Lake.”
“Was construction by morning, small-town law by afternoon always part of that plan?” she asked.
“I thought I’d be a full-time attorney. But despite the fact that they’re absolute raving assholes some days, I love working with my brothers. It’s the best of both worlds.”
“What kind of legal conundrums are you solving here in Story Lake?”
I leaned back in my chair and studied her as she examined a family photo from Laura’s wedding.
“Mostly family law. Estates, divorces, custody agreements. There’s the occasional court case to keep me sharp, and then there’s the town solicitor responsibilities, which amount mostly to contracts and bylaws.”
She meandered back to the desk and sat. “So what did you do today?”
“I played project foreman over at the Haven’s bungalows and inspected three kitchens.
Then I met the electrician at a fourth cottage to figure out why the hell the bathroom vanity lights flicker every time the bedroom ceiling fan turns on.
I swung by the general store, added some shelves in the stockroom for Laura, then got conned into helping my dad fix a section of fence on the farm that the cows ran through last week.
Nana rolled in some otherworldly combination of farm animal shit, so I had to hose her and then myself off.
After that, I grabbed a sandwich and shower at home, met a client over in Dominion, fired off three piracy notices for a local romance novelist who shall remain nameless, and gave your contract another once-over.
Now I’m making small talk with a woman whose calendar said she only had a thirty-minute window for me today, and I need to get through the contract so I can show her something. ”
“Wow. First of all, my five o’clock was rescheduled…after I realized I put it into the calendar wrong. Second, my brain has already jumped to six different ideas for what you could possibly want to show me, and three of them are incredibly dirty.”
She was flirting with me, and the smart, logical move would be to put a stop to it. “You’ll just have to be patient and find out.”
Christ. So much for smart.
“Ugh. Patience.” She said it like it was a four-letter word.
“Back to your contract,” I said, gesturing at the papers spread out in front of me. “I assume you have concerns over the length.”
She rested her elbow on my desk, chin in one palm. “I’m very concerned over length. Just how long are we talking?”
“Twelve.”
Zoey blinked and dropped her hand. “Twelve? What are you? Part stallion?”
Great. Now I was being inappropriate. I needed to get things back on a professional keel.
“Months,” I said quickly. “The contract is for twelve months.”
She slumped in her chair, looking amused. “You got me. And I’ll be honest. I didn’t read the contract. It’s six pages of legalese. I used to depend on a very expensive, very patient attorney that I can no longer afford. I barely stayed focused long enough to print it out.”
She looked embarrassed, like she was expecting me to chastise her.
“Zoey, no one but lawyers like to read contracts. That’s why you’re here. I’ll go point by point and put it all into English.”
“English like I’m seven years old?”
“Yes.”
Relief danced across her gorgeous face. “Thank you.”
We ran through the particulars of the agreement without hitting any serious snags or devolving into flirtation again.
“So I’ll get more specific with the wording of the deliverables, and you’ll let me know what you want on the length of term,” I summarized.
She chewed on her lower lip. “The idea of committing to a whole year here gives me hives.”
“I had a feeling,” I said dryly. “Think about it for a day, and get back to me. Darius is going to be flexible, especially since he’s already in an ecstatic lather over your Reader Weekend idea.”
She grinned. “Fine. Now can you show me your trouser snake or your collection of Swedish royalty–themed commemorative plates?”
“That’s what you narrowed it down to?”
“Hazel isn’t the only one with an active imagination,” she pointed out.
“Come on,” I said, exasperated.
Zoey waved goodbye to Declan, who was using a metal square to align manila folders to perfect right angles on his desk. Nana was belly up in a sunbeam, snoring with the hammer still in her mouth.
I held the door for Zoey and gestured toward the stairs. “We’re going up.”
“I’d like to amend my list to now include eight baby bunnies you rescued on the side of the road or your collection of Eagle Scout badges.”
“You’re ridiculous,” I said, giving her a nudge toward the first step.
She started up the stairs. “A wall of every compliment you’ve ever been paid written on sticky notes?”
“No.”
“Oooh! I know,” she said, spinning around on the step above me. “It’s a slide deck of selfies with every old lady you’ve ever helped cross the street!”