Chapter 38
THIRTY-EIGHT
SOPHIE
“I’m finding it extremely difficult to control myself whenever I’m around you in public.” Colson’s stare was rabid as he gazed at me from the other side of the table. “Fuck me, I want to get you naked.”
I smiled at his admission, considering the last time we had been together, thousands of feet in the air, he hadn’t controlled himself at all. Neither of us had.
“If this wasn’t your restaurant, I would say the next time the server comes in, you need to let him know we won’t need any more assistance and find a way to lock us in this private room.
” I crossed my legs; the ache that beat inside me was almost unbearable.
“But given the amount of attention we’re probably going to receive tonight, I’d say that’s not the best idea. ”
His expression told me he wasn’t afraid to shove a chair under the handle of the door, swipe his arm across the table, and throw me on top of it. “We’ll just have to wait until we get in the car.”
I licked my lips. “You mean you’re going to fuck me in front of Paul?”
“I forgot Paul had driven us tonight. Shit.” He laughed.
“We do have date number two coming up. Or is this date number two and the boat is now three?”
“Jesus,” he groaned, his head falling back. “You want me to wait until our boat trip? Fuck no. That’s impossible.”
Since I’d spoken to Hayden and I knew the dates he was coming into town, I could say, “It’s only another two weeks.”
The green of his eyes darkened as he looked at me again. A shade that seemed to return every time we spoke about sex.
“Two weeks is a fucking eternity when it comes to tasting you.”
God, that was hot.
“Sounds like we need more dates, then.” I grinned. “Maybe I can run away from the office and meet you for lunch.”
“Or stop at a hotel after dinner.” He swiped his bottom lip with his thumb. “Yeah, I like that idea a lot.” He pulled out his phone, tapped the screen several times, and shoved it back into his pocket. “Done.”
“You booked a hotel that fast? For when?”
“Tonight.”
“Tonight?” I laughed.
“The Cole and Spade Hotel in Beverly Hills. The owners are some of our closest friends. All it takes is for me to send a text, and a suite is put in my name.”
I shook my head. “And what if I tell you I have to get home right after dinner?”
“Then I’ll reach beneath this table and change your mind.”
My skin was beginning to sweat at the thought. “You think your fingers have that much power?”
“I know they do. Because I’ve seen the way they affect you.” His eyes narrowed, his grin turning so damn sexy. “In fact, I think my fingers could get you to do just about anything.”
I let out a long, shuddering breath as I thought about the different times they’d been on my body.
And how loud they’d made me moan.
“You’re wet, aren’t you?”
I slowly nodded.
“I thought so,” he added.
A server came into the room and delivered our first round of drinks, placing my lychee martini in front of me and a vodka on the rocks by Colson.
As soon as we were alone again, I lifted my cocktail and held it in the center of the table, over several flickering candles. “To new beginnings.”
“New beginnings?” His brows rose.
I nodded. “Cheers.” I took a sip. “I left my law firm.”
“What?” His eyes widened as he set down his tumbler. “Because of what happened with the Gordons? Or me—please don’t tell me it’s because of me and that situation fucked up everything for you?”
“It’s a little bit of everything.” I held the stem of my glass. “You know that I was waiting to hear back from the other partners regarding the outcome of their decision. During that waiting period, I received a very interesting phone call.” I took another drink. “From Jenner Dalton.”
He smiled, his head bouncing as though he were listening to music. “Of course you did.”
“You knew?”
“Jenner didn’t tell me, no. I’m just not surprised. He’d be stupid not to want you. You’re a fucking shark, Sophie. Any firm would be honored to have you on their team.” I felt his foot when he stretched his leg out under the table. “Let me guess—Jenner made you one hell of an offer?”
“He doubled my salary.”
“Fuck yes.”
“And he raised my hourly rate.”
He looked at me in awe. “You have no idea how happy this makes me.”
The warmth in my chest was overwhelming.
“So, instead of walking into the meeting with my partners to hear my fate, I handed them a resignation letter—something they had not seen coming. In two weeks, I’ll be starting at The Dalton Group.
” My eyes closed for a second, the emotion making an appearance.
“I can’t believe I’m even saying those words. ”
“Did your firm try to sway you to stay?”
“They did, and that tells me they weren’t planning on firing me, which is a relief since that was something I’d worried about.
” I traced the ends of the ceramic chopsticks.
“The whole thing is a little bittersweet. I wasn’t unhappy there, and I had a wonderful mentor.
The firm took a chance on me, directly out of law school, as green as I could possibly be.
I’ll always be grateful for that. But I also feel it’s my moment to move on.
And the opportunity at The Dalton Group—I never expected that. ”
“Something tells me you came out kicking. You were never green, Sophie.”
I laughed.
He reached across the table and held my hand. “When the best in the industry is still so fucking humble, it’s a beautiful thing to see.”
My head tilted, and I grinned from his compliment. “I don’t take any of this for granted, Colson. I’m not proud of the way I handled some things, but I can’t fix that now. All I can do is move on and learn from those lessons.”
He stroked the back of my hand. “Does that mean you’re going to be joining Troy and Jenner on the Weston team?”
“No.”
He huffed. “No? I don’t like that answer.”
“It would be a conflict of interest at this point. Besides, Troy and Jenner are more than capable. They’re two of the best attorneys I know.”
“They are, for sure, but I still don’t like your answer.”
“I get it, but listen, I know too much about the Gordons—not in terms of their future goals, but their past. I can’t let that cross over into your world.
Now, if the Gordons were out of the picture and Troy asked me to consult on something entirely different, I’d be able to step in.
But that’s only if Troy asked me. I would never step on his toes or Jenner’s.
” I emphasized my last statement to make a point.
He moaned. “A lot has transpired that you don’t know.”
“Like—”
My voice cut off when the door to the private room opened, our server walking in with two plates that he set in the center of the table. “Please let me know if I can get you anything else, Mr. Weston.”
“Thank you,” Colson replied.
Once we were alone, I asked, “Is this the way it always works when you come into one of your restaurants? They just bring food? You never have to order anything? Because the hostess didn’t even give us a menu.”
“Yes, sometimes.” He chuckled. “Other times, I’m specific about what I want.
But the LA locations of Toro and Charred see a lot of me.
They know my palate probably better than I do, so they bring, and I eat, and it works out perfectly.
One of the many perks of owning a restaurant group.
” He paused. “A few more dates, and they’ll know yours too. ” He winked.
That cute gesture made me blush. “This tuna looks amazing.”
“Wait until you taste it. That dish is one of my favorites.” He pointed at the one beside it. “And that eggplant—you’ve never had anything like it, I promise.”
I didn’t reach for my chopsticks even though I was dying to dig in. We’d already been distracted, and I wanted to get back to our conversation before it drifted away and was forgotten.
“You were about to tell me what’s transpired …”
He swallowed the bite in his mouth, and I could tell he was making a serious effort to hide his smile.
“I’ve been hesitant in discussing this with you.
Not because I don’t trust you—that’s not the case at all.
But because your firm still reps the Gordons, and that makes you attached in a roundabout way, even if that attachment is complicated. ”
“You don’t have to say a word.” I held up my hand. “I completely understand this and—”
“You’re on my side now. I can speak as freely as I want.”
My hand lowered, and I held the edge of the table. “I’m on your side in many ways.”
He downed the rest of his vodka and leaned in closer, the edge of his appetizer plate pressing into him. “We’re suing the fuck out of the Gordons. And after we’ve buried them in a PR nightmare, we’re going to buy them out.”
“Whoa. This is a lot.” I took a drink. “You’re buying out the Gordons?”
“My family is going to have the largest restaurant conglomerate in the world.”
I clinked my glass against his. “Colson, this is incredible. I mean, truly, the best news ever. But I have to ask, how are you going to bury them in a PR mess? Do you have something on them?”
“We don’t have something. We have someone.”
My head shook. “Who?”
“Someone who refers to himself as a fucking lion.”