Page 30 of Barristers & Bones

Roman leaned back and steepled his fingers. “How about Tuesdays and Thursdays until class and all day Friday? You'll still ride with me, and weekends and functions as needed. If you’re studying for longer than three hours, you come here to do it.”

He knew my schedule, damn Klim and his big mouth. Weekends, and I come here to study? The man was fucking insane. The rest didn’t sound too crazy.

“Tuesday and Friday mornings, and I drive myself, plus I’ll meet you at your out-of-office appointments if I’m able. That’s a perfectly reasonable schedule.”

He raised an eyebrow. “A minimum of Tuesdays and Thursdays until class, and half-day Friday. Occasional functions, and I drive.”

“Oh, come on! You barely moved off your first offer. And when exactly am I supposed to study and have a life?”

“You’ll have most of the weekend and evenings to study, and access to several top-notch legal minds. It’s not like you go out much in the evenings or on weekends anyway. You and your friends are either at school, work, or holed up in your apartment.”

My eyes narrowed. “How do you know that?”

“It’s not rocket science–two of you are law students.”

The man made me paranoid. “That’s so generous,” I replied sarcastically. “But,again, you don’t need to drive me.” I tried to calculate how many hours that would be as I felt this traitorous pull of excitement at spending more time with Roman. This was not good.

“Driving will be my pleasure. And weekends–”

“What if I have plans?” My voice raised to a high pitch.

“We’ll negotiate those as they come along, but don’t push me.” The muscles in his jaw flexed. Roman stood, the move calculated to hurry this along.

I needed to get control of this negotiation. “So my personal life just evaporates? My study time—”

“I’ll make sure you have plenty of time to study too,” Roman interjected, his dark brown eyes sparkling. The bastard was enjoying this.

“Klim is a traitor. He's supposed to be my guidance counselor, yet somehow you know my school schedule, and he's on your side.”

He didn’t deny it. “Klim sees your potential,” Roman replied smoothly, a little quirk playing on his lips. “As do I. Imagine the connections and doors we could open for you.”

“I don’t care about doors, or connections, or schmoozing.”

He studied me and I swear I could see his mind plotting. “Then I’ll make sure you have new experiences, learn new things, help assuage your insatiable curiosity.”

Oh, he wasgood. “That is something.”

He inclined his head. “High praise. You have to intern with someone; it’s a law school and scholarship requirement. You can’t graduate without it.” The timbre of his voice wrapped around me like velvet. “So why not make the most of it? I can teach you so many things.”

Why did that sound sensual? “I’m aware of that, and not all of them are probably legal.”

Roman gave me a full-fledged grin. “Let's talk logistics.”

Logistics. That was legalese for Roman getting his way. Rolling my shoulders back, I met his gaze squarely. "Right. Tuesdays and Thursdays until noon. Every other Friday for half the day, and one weekend event a month. You drive when it’s convenient for both of us. I still want to go on the field trips when I can.”

He stared at me for a few seconds as he mentally reviewed my counteroffer, then he shrugged. “Agreed. That was invigorating,” Roman smirked and held out his hand.

I reached out and shook it, my small hand dwarfed by his. The brief contact sent an electric shock up my arm, and he chuckled when I jumped.

Pulling my hand back, I put it behind my back protectively. “I’m putting this in writing, and we’re both signing it.”

“I’d expect nothing less. Look at us, negotiating schedules like reasonable people,” he mockingly marveled.

When I left for class later that day, I couldn't shake the feeling that I’d walked into some kind of trap.

Over the next few weeks, I prepared for mid-terms and settled into a routine at the law offices. Roman continued to drive on the days I came in, and when I looked back, I couldn’t figure out exactly how that had happened. We sometimes ate lunch together before he dropped me off. We’d also gotten into the habit of discussing interesting legal concepts, or what we’d read or watched on TV.

“You read quite a bit, especially for a law student,” he said one day as we discussed a sci-fi series we both loved.

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