Page 20 of Her Property

“Am I that obvious?”

“Yeah. Which is interesting. I thought you were a hotshot live-and-die in NYC lawyer?”

“I never said that.”

“You’re right. But you sounded like one when you answered the door.”

“You were ready to storm the place!”

Jake grinned. “Touché. Okay, well, what would you do if you weren’t lawyering?”

“I don’t know,” she said honestly. “I mean, I don’t hate it. Alfred’s a good mentor. An amazing mentor, really.”

It still surprised Jake how differently she talked about the man Jake knew and loathed.

“There are parts of it I really love.”

“Like what?” Jake asked.

She thought about it a moment, then pulled her knees up and wrapped her arms around them.

“I love practicality of it. I love being able to provide factual, well-evidenced advice. I love that I have to study what I’m going to say, gathering ammunition from past cases, and learning as I go. Even though it can be tedious, that feeling like I know something through and through—like I can speak off the cuff about something I knew little about only weeks before—nothing beats that feeling of confidence. Especially when I can use it to skewer the prosecution.” She smiled, but immediately sobered as she thought of the core of it all, why she’d worked to go to law school for real. Half of it was doing what to be a good, obedient daughter. But the other half was to do something good.

“It’s the fight for justice that I really like,” she said, finally. “When I know what I’m fighting for is right. That’s the best thing. I just… I sometimes wish I was doing it for a better cause. Not helping big companies, but helping people—the little guys. You know?”

“Sounds familiar,” he said, smiling.

She suddenly realized she’d been talking for a few minutes straight, not something she was used to doing outside of a courtroom. She looked out at the sky, avoiding his gaze. The sun had just dipped below the tree line; the sky slipping into dusk.

Cat realized she didn’t want the day to be over; she didn’t want to go back to the cabin for another lonely night, but this time, the torture wouldn’t be feeling like she was falling behind at work, missing her emails and calls. It would be the end of this day; this little bubble where she could just enjoy being with this sweet, kind, gorgeous man.

Who was her boss’s sworn enemy.

Cat cleared her throat. “Anyway. I’m not a risk taker like you.”

“Anyone can be a risk taker,” Jake said. “They just have to take a risk.”

She shook her head. “When I take risks… I get hurt. When I don’t have all the evidence in front of me…”

She held up her bandaged hand as if for proof. Even though she hadn’t gotten hurt taking a risk. She’d been standing on the deck, staring at a naked man.

Thisman. Warmth bloomed in her lower belly.

She’d made a mistake, that’s how she’d gotten hurt. She got caught.

“What would it feel like to take a controlled risk?” he asked. His voice had a note of something different in it—something playful. Orrisky.

“What are you suggesting?” she asked. His eyes were going darker in the dimming light, but she could still see that his pupils were wide, his expression probing deeper into her than even a few minutes before.

Then Jake stood so abruptly she startled.

“Come with me,” he said.

“Where?”

“Just… trust me for a minute.”

Warily, she stood up. Jake reached out and before she could protest, took her hand; the one without the bandage on it. His hand was warm and broad and fully encapsulated her own.

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