Chapter 7
CARTER
“Come on, man. It’s Friday night,” Anthony said. “Stay for one more round of drinks.”
“Yeah, the next round is on me,” Zachary added.
They were my partners at Sloane & Partners. We’d taken out our entire team of twelve for drinks, to celebrate the move to the new office.
“Have fun. I need to get home to the girls.”
There were several boos from the team, but I shook my head, smiling.
“You should bring them too,” someone said.
“At a bar?”
“We can move to a restaurant.”
“I promised I’d watch a movie with them.”
“Awww… that’s so sweet.” That was Ashley, one of our interns.
Zachary shuddered. “Ashley! Don’t say that in public. Imagine if word went out that the great Carter Sloane’s employees call him sweet? His reputation would be ruined. Our entire business would collapse.”
Clients flocked to us because we had a great track record. They trusted my ability and work ethic, and appreciated my no-nonsense attitude.
“Hey, who knows? It could be a unique selling proposition. Most people think lawyers are soulless robots,” Ashley volleyed back.
“Could be true,” I said.
“Nah, boss. You’re not fooling anyone,” Ashley said.
I liked to think I was the kind of boss everyone liked. I was ruthless when I had to be, but I liked the casual atmosphere. The law business was exhausting as it was. We could all do without the additional pressure of a stressful office life.
As I waved goodbye to everyone, I caught Zachary eyeing Ashley suggestively. I cocked a brow, motioning him to follow me. Once we were far enough from the group, I went straight to business.
“No fucking around at the office.”
Zachary set his jaw. “I know the rules.”
“You weren’t looking at Ashley as if you were planning to follow the rules. Employees are off-limits.” My tone was harsh, but I wanted to get my point across. Even though we’d been friends since law school, rules were rules.
“Understood.”
“Good. Have fun.”
He didn’t look too happy with me as I left, but there was nothing I could do about that.
Office hookups weren’t unusual in bigger firms. I understood the appeal.
The hours were long and the pressure was always high.
It was a way of relieving tension. But in a smaller firm like this one, it was too risky, too messy.
The truth was, the number of singles or divorcees in the industry was alarming. The long hours were not exactly family- or relationship-friendly. And Zachary didn’t have anything to complain about. He hooked up often and wasn’t even discreet about it.
I dated plenty, but I hadn’t had a real relationship in some time.
I wasn’t averse to them, but after the girls moved in with me, things changed.
Some women pulled back when they found out I was a package deal or drifted away after I introduced them to the girls.
After trying and failing a few times, I stopped trying.
It was the best for the girls, and for me.
The girls and I ended up watching movies late into the night and sleeping most of Saturday. On Sunday I treated us all to ice cream and asked them about their week, trying to gauge if they liked the new school and were settling in well. As always, the weekend went by too fast.
On Monday morning, I headed out earlier than usual because I wanted to stop by the coffee shop first. That coffee was damn good, and so were the sandwiches.
And who knew? I might even run into Valentina.
She’s taken, I reminded myself, but then another voice at the back of my mind assuaged my guilt.
We could just enjoy each other’s company or be friends.
Yeah… except every time I thought about her, the images flashing in my mind weren’t of the friendly variety. I wanted to taste her. Not just her lips. All of her.
I swept my gaze once around the coffee shop when I entered and found Val at one of the corner tables. After receiving my order, I went straight to her. She didn’t see me until I was right in front of her.
“I see you’re on your way to becoming a fan of Walter’s,” she said.
“It’s a nice place to start off your morning.”
“I know, right?”
“Mind if I keep you company?” I pointed to the chair next to her.
“Please.”
Being this close to her made it impossible to keep my thoughts in line. I didn’t just want to kiss her, I wanted to wrap my hand in her thick, luscious hair, draw the tip of my nose up and down her neck, then follow the same trail with my mouth.
“You have something in your hair. I think it’s a… plastic flower?” Val asked, amused.
“What?” I ran my hand through my hair. Sure enough, a tiny flower was stuck in it. Very masculine.
“Looks like this came off Peyton’s dress when I hugged her this morning.” Hugging was a mild term. She had climbed in my arms and refused to let go until I promised to take them out for ice cream tonight. I caved, of course.
“Your fourteen-year-old niece?”
“No, that’s April. Peyton is the five-year-old.” At her questioning glance, I added, “They live with me. My sister and her husband passed away a few years ago, and I’m their guardian.”
“Oh. I’m sorry for your loss.” Something flickered in those beautiful green eyes as she added, “They keep you on your toes, huh?”
“You can say that. My parents help as much as they can, but they live in Montana. They have a fir tree farm there.”
“How did you end up being a lawyer in LA?”
“I studied at UCLA for my undergraduate degree, and I liked the city. And as to why I became a lawyer, let’s say that I’ve always been argumentative. Could talk my way out of everything.”
“Oh, I can imagine.”
As a guy who worked outdoors a lot, my dad made fun of me for doing the exact opposite and then going daily to the gym.
“Now you have to smell other people’s sweat to make up for being on your ass all day,” he’d chortle gleefully.
I laughed every time. It was true, even though training helped me clear my mind.
The rush of endorphins improved my focus.
I liked my career, and it was very lucrative.
I could make sure that Peyton and April attended the best schools and wouldn’t have to work odd jobs to put themselves through college as I had.
“How did you end up building a cosmetics and fragrance company from the ground up? Your story is fascinating.”
“You looked me up.” Her mouth popped open, as if she couldn’t imagine why I would do such a thing.
“I did.”
“Well, there’s a lot more to it than what’s on the website.”
“Tell me all about it.”
“Sorry, I can’t right now. I’m pressed for time and really have to get going. I have a million things to do.”
“Are you looking forward to the charity?”
“Oh, yes.”
“Is your date also in the cosmetics industry? Or film?”
She cast her eyes downward to her cup of coffee. “He is in the film industry. But I’ll be going alone.”
“Your date got caught up at work?”
“No, we’re just not dating anymore.”
I shouldn’t rejoice at her obvious disappointment, but I couldn’t help the fist-pump feeling that overtook me. I wanted to get to know this woman better.
“What happened?”
She shrugged as if it didn’t matter, but I could tell that it did matter to her.
I didn’t push the issue, though. It clearly made her uncomfortable, and why should she share something so personal with me, after all?
We barely knew each other. I set out to take her mind off it instead, all the while trying to ignore the thought that she wasn’t taken anymore.
“No pancake this morning?” I asked.
“Nope.”
I leaned in a little closer, touching her forearm, craving the contact. Her gaze dropped to my hand on her arm, and she licked her lips.
“How about if I buy it for you? Does that count?”
“It definitely does.”
“But your conscience wouldn’t be guilty.”
“You’re even better at finding tricks and loopholes than I am.” She smiled at me.
“What if I buy two for me and then decide I’ve had enough after the first one? Would be a shame to let the other go to waste.”
“You never run out of arguments, do you?”
“Not when I’m after something,” I admitted.
“And what you’re after now is me having a pancake?”
It crossed my mind to lay out my cards and tell her exactly what I was after, but I couldn’t be that direct. Yet.
“I want to turn this morning around for you. Don’t let that moron waste more of your time than he already has.”
I kept her gaze for a beat, then another one. I could tell she didn’t want to look away first, but eventually she did, shaking her head and chuckling.
“Do you always employ such dangerous tactics to lift someone’s mood?”
“I’d categorize this as ballsy, but I’m happy to show you my dangerous side too.”
Val swallowed. “Well, I’d love to find out exactly how you distinguish ballsy from dangerous. I have a hunch that our definitions differ, but duty calls. I must do some things for the charity event too. At this rate, it’s feeling more like work than fun.”
“We’ll enjoy ourselves too.”
“Define enjoy,” she challenged with a smile while pulling her hair into a ponytail.
The movement of her hands made her chest rise and push forward.
She bared her neck. That skin looked so kissable, so touchable that I was barely fighting the urge to find an excuse—any excuse—to touch her.
I looked at her mouth long enough for her to notice.
Her eyes widened. She felt the chemistry between us too.
“Nah, and spoil all the anticipation? I’ll show you when we’re there.”
I rose from my chair at the same time as her.
“I’ve been to enough events to know they’re not my kind of fun.”
“But you didn’t have me to keep you company.”
Her lips parted slightly. Then she narrowed her eyes.
“Well, then… I could use some fun. I look forward to seeing you in action. I’ll hold you to it.”
“I’ll make sure you do.”