Page 14 of Barristers & Bones

I sputtered and my face went red. “No! I’m just teasing you. Geez.”

He smirked, and I felt like Little Red Riding Hood staring up at a hungry, amused wolf. The posh restaurant sat outside the Rampart shopping mall, and I arched my eyebrow at Roman when the gushing host fawned all over him and rushed us to a premium corner booth.

Our meal came out less than two minutes later, and I didn’t bother to daintily pick at my food because it wasgood. I ate steadily until it was gone, and when I looked up, Roman sat watching me with a strange expression.

“What? That was delicious. I’m going to drag Sylvie and Alexa here one of these days.”

He seemed to remember himself and broke eye contact to take a bite of salmon.

As we walked out of the restaurant, I turned to him. “Thanks for lunch. It was wonderful, despite the company.”

He shook his head, and when we climbed into his car, I lay my head back against the headrest, absently gazing out the passenger window. I’d stayed up late the night before watching an Audrey Hepburn movie with Ezra, and I’d just eaten more carbs and food than I usually did in two days. I was sleepy.

“Take a nap. I’ll wake you up when we get there.” His car hummed beneath us as the cityscape swallowed us whole.

“Naps are for old people–like you.”

He grunted, and the road's rhythm lulled me into reluctant drowsiness.

“Then consider it a tactical recharge.”

“Okay.” I slid my eyelids closed and dozed, not comprehending the danger that surrounded me.

Chapter 5

Roman

I studied Luna as she slumbered beside me in the car, her long, graceful neck stretched to the side and her thick, dark hair spread out on the headrest. Fiona was right, she did have nice breasts and a firm ass. When she’d come to the office demanding I let her out of the internship, I entertained myself fantasizing about what I wanted to do with her if I ever got her underneath me. I’d use and discard Luna like the unwitting pawn she was, but I could enjoy myself in the meantime.

She didn’t care about our law firm's reputation, financial net worth, or that our corporation was staggeringly successful, thanks to all the businesses and start-ups we’d bought into over the years. Most people in the legal and business community knew who we were, but she hadn’t. I also found it invigorating to spar with her. Luna had a quick wit and a wicked tongue, but she wasn’t cynical or jaded. That would likely change by the time I got done with her.

She’d schooled that drunk asshole, Hutton, at breakfast and quickly picked up on me guiding her out of the country club restaurant. The men sitting at that table were dangerous, and I didn’t want Luna to become a target because she was with me and looked like a wet dream wrapped in a cheap little suit. I’d be the one to ruin her, not anyone else.

Her brow furrowed and she whimpered softly. I wondered what she dreamed about and shook my head at her naiveté. She finally woke and stretched when I pulled the car into the parking garage, her lace bra and the faint shadow of her pink nipples pressing against her thin white dress shirt for a split second. I didn’t feel any guilt for appreciating the view.

When we walked past the reception desk, Brenna glared at Luna like she wanted to rip her hair out. Luna simply smiled at her.

I pointed to the office door next to mine. “It’s empty. You can use it while you’re here.” The smaller office was meant for a personal secretary or paralegal, but I hadn’t bothered to hire another one when the last one quit. Gideon took care of most of that, and the last paralegal I had said I was too “abrupt and rude.”

Luna still looked groggy and sleepy from her nap, and it made me want to slide my hand behind her neck, fist her hair, and pull her in for a soul-sucking kiss.

She perked up when she saw Gideon. “We visited Euphoria today. Have you been there?”

He smiled at her enthusiasm. “No, but I’ve heard about it from the partners.”

Luna glanced back at me and snickered. “I bet they spend a lot of time there, and probably write it off too, huh?”

“I wouldn’t venture to guess.” Gideon’s lip twitched because we’d had a similar conversation not long ago.

She grinned. “I bet it’s abigwrite-off. To compensate for other things.”

Gideon laughed, but I lifted an eyebrow. “I believe that was a sexual innuendo.”

Sighing, she schooled her features and tried to look contrite. “That was inappropriate, I apologize.”

I waved my hand. “It’s good to know you’re comfortable with them. Come on, you need to study, and I’ll take you home in a couple of hours.”

When I showed Luna the small office, I left the connecting door open while we worked that afternoon. Glancing in a few times, I noticed Luna wore noise-canceling headphones and spread highlighters out in a neat row on her desk while she studied. But she never seemed to use them. When I knocked on the dividing door a few hours later, she jumped. The room smelled like cinnamon, and I spotted a small sack on the corner of her desk. She frequently nibbled on it, and she even smelled like cinnamon sometimes.

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