Page 19 of Her Property

But it was so easy being with him. Everything had felt a thousand times better after Aubrey had endorsed him so enthusiastically. As the day went on and she let her guard down, she’d grown increasingly sure that there was something else going on with Alfred that made him hate Jake so much.

Cat had warmed to Aubrey immediately, even if being in that diner with a whole damn high school football team had given her an unpleasant chill.

Looking at that one kid—clearly the most popular guy there—handsome, flirtatious, handy with a football, she couldn’t help be plunged back to her senior year.

The year that had carved a hole into her heart. A hole so big and jagged it still ached when she pressed it.

Which was why she never pressed it.

Until now, it hadn’t been so hard. She just filled her time with work. When you were always working, you’d didn’t have to think about anything like living.Notworking was the worst. It left room for her to over-analyze all her greatest mistakes.

Being with men she considered an extension of work. She’d take the time necessary to make sure they weren’t total psychos, then date them in a way that was almost transactional.

Her last boyfriend had complained he felt like he was one of her clients—a neglected one at that. She’d felt bad, but she’d told him the truth—she had nothing else to give him. After that, it felt like work trying to dance around his feelings, and they’d ended it shortly after; quietly, with little fanfare. She’d been relieved when it was over. It had all felt too hard, and she was too busy to deal with him on top of work.

But being here, with Jake, was easy.

Just like it had been easy to be with Justin.

What if Jake was playing some kind of long game, like her high school boyfriend had been? For Justin, it wasn’t about the sex. They’d had that, and it had actually been good. She’d felt safe stepping into that world with him.

It was everything after that was the problem. Somewhere in the distance, she thought she heard the revving of a car engine. The sound made a chill run down her spine.

If only she’d been paying attention. If only she’d been better at reading the signs.

She’d been trying to read Jake for signs he might not be who he said he was, but so far she had found none.

“So why’d you quit your daredevil business, anyway?” Cat asked. Maybe he’d give her some more clues if she kept him talking.

Jake picked a pebble up and tossed it into the lake where it landed with a softplink.

“It’s complicated,” he said. “I guess I felt like I wasn’t helping the right people. My clients had everything. It was their fear holding them back. And they had the ability to buy their way out of their fear. They were great people—most of them—but they just didn’t have the kinds of problems I wanted to solve anymore.”

Cat could have said the same thing about her clients. She spent her time defending corporations. She wasn’t helpingpeople.Especially not peoplewho really needed it.

Jake tossed another rock into the water. “It was fun at first, but it felt kind of… I don’t know, selfish maybe. Like there are more people to help, people who don’t just feelunfulfilled, but who need help getting out of a life of suffering. Those are the people I want to help now.”

He looked suddenly overcome with sadness, just for a brief flash, as if there were someone specific he was talking about. Someone who needed his help. She wanted to ask him but bit her tongue on that point. If he wanted to talk about it, he would.

“So you quit,” she said instead.

“Yep, I quit.”

“Just like that?”

“I had the idea percolating in my head to reopen the camp for a few years. But when I came back here earlier this year to help my gran move into the care home up in Millerville… I didn’t know what I was waiting for anymore. So I just turned around on my way to work one day, called my assistant, and told her I wasn’t coming in.”

“Wow,” Cat said. “Do you ever regret it?”

“Nope. Not for a second. I took what I wanted from that work, and I learned a lot too. That lesson, to embrace the fear and act in spite of it, that’s still my mantra. And I think that’s still going to carry over to my next endeavor.”

Cat leaned back on her elbows, contemplating. She wondered what would happen if she were to decide not to come into work one day. It wasn’t like she’d disappoint her family. Her parents were already upset that she’d moved away to New York, and they didn’t have any interest or understanding of how important her job was. Her siblings cared, but they’d be just as happy for her if she started up a basket-weaving school. Being the responsible spender she was, Cat had paid off her law school loans last year, five years ahead of schedule. She was so used to making that giant payment every month she’d started putting it into a savings fund. She’d saved enough money now to pay even her exorbitant rent in Brooklyn for a whole year.

If she moved somewhere cheaper than New York City, which was anywhere really, she could leave right now.

The thought was as thrilling as it was anxiety-inducing.

“I bet you’re wondering what would happen if you did that,” Jake said, pulling her from her thoughts.

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