Page 70 of Finding You
“I brought Astrid along so she could take a look at these contracts,” I said, walking into the brewery with my favorite girl. My brothers and I were up to our eyeballs in planning for the launch of our distribution company. Turns out shipping and delivering beer was a lot more complicated than I had imagined.
“Thank God!” Callum exclaimed. “Our guy isn’t returning our calls, and we need to start making decisions.” He handed Astrid a stack of papers, and my eyes bulged out of my head. We couldn’t ask her to read that entire pile.
Before I could object, she grabbed the stack like it was nothing and began to flip through the pages. Her eyes focused, and she had the sexiest look of determination on her face.
After a few minutes, she looked up. “These are shit. Who is your lawyer?”
Callum seemed taken aback by her bluntness. “A guy I’ve worked with a few times from Boston.”
“Fire him,” she said coolly.
“That’s easier said than done. It’s hard to find a good lawyer who is affordable and has the bandwidth to take us on.”
“I agree with you. But this is rife with errors,” she said, scrolling through a few pages, “and is missing some key provisions to protect you guys on the back end. It looks like someone googled ‘contract’ and printed the first thing they saw.”
She gestured to me. “Declan, hand me my purse.”
I passed her enormous purse over to her and she pulled out a notebook, highlighter, and some pens. She spread out on the top of the bar and got to work, crossing things out and jotting down notes.
“I’ll have the master services agreement and the amendments worked out for you in an hour or so. We can talk through some of the provisions, and you may want to move some things around.” She took a hair band off her wrist and twisted up her hair, exposing her gorgeous long neck, and I was overcome with lust.
My brothers both looked at me, impressed and a little bit scared. I shrugged. What could I say? My girl was brilliant and didn’t suffer any bullshit. I felt a frisson of pride in my chest. This dynamic, savvy woman was with me. She was my girlfriend. I mean, technically fake girlfriend, but things had not been fake in the bedroom. To think that she would be with someone like me filled me with a deep sense of satisfaction.
“Liam, how about you grab us some beers while my lady works her magic.”
* * *
“That was fun,” Astrid said as we let ourselves back into my house. “You hang out with them every Tuesday night?”
I nodded. “It used to just be us three brothers, but the group has expanded a lot recently. They are a lot to take.”
“Nah. I liked it,” Astrid said. “I like getting to know your family. It helps me make sense of you.”
We walked in, and Ginger lifted her head up off her dog bed. “Hi, Ginger,” I said. She plopped back down, the dog equivalent of an eye roll.
“I actually think she might be a cat,” Astrid whispered. I laughed.
I wrapped my arms around her and took a deep breath, breathing in her delicious scent.
“Hey,” I said, cupping her face, “I don’t want you to think I’m dating you for free legal advice.”
“Awww. My legal advice is just one of the perks.” She gave me a peck on the cheek.
“But not the best one.” I squeezed her ass hard and she yelped.
“Seriously,” I continued, “you are so sexy when you are in smart lawyer mode.”
“You are lying. There is nothing sexy about me nerding out over a contract.”
“Nope, super sexy.” I pulled her in close and started kissing her neck.
“I’ve been thinking,” she started, as I made my way down to her collarbone. “I think I may call Lucas Kim.”
I paused, waiting for her to continue. “I have been thinking more and more about his idea for the Women’s Shelter and I think I could probably help him out.”
I exhaled. Did this mean she was thinking about staying? With me? Or in Havenport? I didn’t want to get my hopes up.
“I think that’s a great idea,” I murmured into her hair. Could Astrid really stay here? With me? I had been bracing myself for her to go back to Boston. But what if she stayed?
