Chapter 63 #2
“What? I have to practice my pick-up lines somewhere. How did I do?” I look over at her, and she grins back at me.
“I’m going to give you an A for effort but an F for the actual pick-up line.”
I laugh. “That’s fair. I guess I won’t be trying that one again.”
“I mean, I wouldn’t if I were you. I also get off at one a.m.” She gives me a small smile. “If you’re really looking for someone to take a couple of nibbles, I’m your girl.”
“I’ll remember that,” I say. I watch as Max hands her his credit card and rolls his eyes at me.
“You are an absolute player, aren’t you, Liam?”
“Hey, don’t tell me you never flirted before you became a…”
“Don’t even say it,” he says, holding up his hands. “I don’t want to have to fire you.”
“You don’t know what I was going to say.”
“You sure weren’t going to say before I became a very happy man.”
“You’re right. I wasn’t.”
“I’ll bring your drinks over to you when they’re ready and the wings,” the bartender says, smiling at me. “You can have a seat if you want.”
“Thanks. What was your name?” I ask her.
“Gina.”
“Nice to meet you, Gina. I’m Liam.”
“It was very nice to meet you, Liam. Hopefully, I’ll get to see a little bit more of you later?”
“Perhaps,” I say, winking at her, and then head over to a booth I see in the corner. Max is walking by my side, and I can see him shaking his head.
“You’ve been in the States for how many days, and you’re already making plans?”
“I’m not making any plans. I was just letting her know that her flirtations didn’t go unheard.”
“You’re not going to hook up with her, are you?”
“I mean, no.”
“Why? You want Elisabetta?” he says, grinning at me.
“No. I don’t want Elisabetta. She’s very cute and sweet. Actually, I take that back. There’s nothing sweet about her, but she’s a challenge I don’t need in my life right now.”
“I see,” he says. “Yet, you still decided to hire her?”
“Really, she volunteered for the job. I was actually hoping Juniper would help me out. No offense to Skye and Lila, but Juniper is definitely the best assistant of the three.” I'm not telling the truth, but he doesn't have to know that.
“No offense taken.” He laughs. “You haven’t tried Marie, though.”
“Oh, yeah. Isn’t your sister going to be working for Gabe soon?”
He nods. “I’m joking, by the way. I don’t think she’s going to be an amazing assistant either.
I don’t know why Gabe is giving her a shot, but I guess he’s always had a little soft streak for her.
You know she’s going to have a baby, and she wants to figure out how she can take care of it without my help or our parents.
I guess this is really the only job that she’s going to get with her qualifications. ”
“That was really nice of Gabe,” I say, “but is he sure he wants a completely inexperienced teenager who is pregnant to be in charge of…”
“Oh, she’s not going to be his only assistant.” He burst out laughing. “He wasn’t as dumb as us.”
“Oh, he has a real assistant?” Hmm, maybe Gabe is more like me than I thought.
“Yeah, Marie will just be like his receptionist.” He rolls his eyes. “I mean, I’m grateful to him for stepping up and giving her a job, but I just don’t know how it’s going to go. I’m a little worried for her. I still don’t know who the father is.”
“Yeah. I’m sure that must be stressful for you and for her.”
“She’s handling it well, though. I guess I just never expected my baby sister to have a baby before me.”
“I get it. My sister has a kid, and I still feel like a teenager myself.” I sit back in the booth and survey the room.
There’s a Kendrick Lamar song playing, and people are screaming in delight as they dance back and forth.
I wonder if people in London react the same way when they hear the song.
I love being in New York, but sometimes it’s so different from my environment back at home.
“What is it you were going to tell me earlier?” Max leans forward. “If it’s something important, as your attorney, I should know about it.”
“As my attorney, you would know about it if it was something that was important and would affect anything to do with the legalities of my business. You know I don’t mess around with that.”
“I know,” he says. “You want to tell me?”
“I don’t think now is the right time,” I say, shaking my head. My phone beeps, and I look down at the screen. “Oh, hey, hold on. It’s my friend, Connor, texting.” I look at the screen, and instead of texting him back, I decide to call.
“Hey, Liam, what’s happening?”
“Hey, Connor, I saw you texted. I’m in a bar right now with one of my attorneys, Max Spector, and I figured I’d just give you a call back. What are you up to?”
“Oh, I was just checking to see if you were in town already. Are you saying that you’re with one of your attorneys because you’re not willing to come over to our firm?”
“You know I love the work that my current firm does for me, Connor. I love you, and I think you’re great, but…”
“But you’re not ready to hire us. I get it.”
“I mean, we’re having a drink now, if you want to come to the bar and hang out.”
“With your current attorney?" He groans.
“Yeah. I don’t know if you know him.”
“No. I don’t know him, but I’ve heard of him, of course.”
“Of course, you have. He’s one of the biggest attorneys in the country.” I smile at Max, and I can tell he’s curious as to who I’m speaking with.
“You know what? Maybe I’ll take you up on your offer. I’m with Garrett. Do you mind if he comes, as well?”
“Not at all. Bring him along. We’re at the Mad Hatter. You’ll find us in a booth in the corner.”
“Okay, sweet. We’ll be there in about twenty minutes.”
“Sounds good.” I hang up the phone, place it on the table, and look back over at Max.
“Who were you talking to about me?” he asks softly.
“Have you ever heard of Connor Weston?”
“Connor Weston…” He blinks. “Oh, wait, he’s another attorney. He’s in a small private firm, right?”
“Yeah, Weston & Haynes.” I nod. "He’s been wooing me, trying to get my business for the last couple of years, but of course, I’ve always stayed loyal to you.”
“Are you thinking about moving on?” Max frowns. “Because if…”
“I’m not,” I say, shaking my head, “but I do think that Connor and Garrett, his partner, could be beneficial to your firm.”
“Okay. What does that mean?”
“I mean, I don’t know if you guys are looking for more partners or are interested in a merger, but I think that the four of you and the two of them could make an amazing firm that could possibly be the number one firm in the city, perhaps the country.”
“Are you saying that my firm is not the number one firm in the city?”
I stare at him. “Wow! There’s Skadden, and there’s Latham, and there’s Holland & Baker, and…”
“Okay, okay.” He shakes his head. “No need to bring up all of those firms.”
“I’m just saying, when they get here, feel them out, see if you think you could do business with them.”
“Is this what you were trying to tell me earlier?" he says, shaking his head, “because…”
“It’s not,” I say quickly, “but I do think it’s a good idea.”
“Liam, I don’t really want to have to say this, but...” He pauses as we both look up, and Gina is there with our drinks. She reminds me of a lioness ready to pounce on its prey. And unfortunately for me, I am the prey she has in mind.
“Hey, guys, I hope I’m not interrupting anything.” She hands me a crystal glass with a round ball of ice and beams. “I hope you like it. It’s sweet and sour, just like me.” She grabs the cocktail stick with a cherry and pops it into her mouth and sucks.
“I don’t think any part of you could be sour, darling.” I grin at her as she practically purrs at me.
“Only my ass.” She lowers her voice as she brushes her chest against my arm. “I don’t normally tell men this before the first date, but it turns me on when men eat out my ass.”
I hide my shudder and distaste. There are many things that I enjoy doing in bed, but ass eating is not one of them.
“Well that’s good to know.” I say finally. “Unfortunately tonight and the rest of the century, I’m busy.”