Page 117 of Dial L for Lawyer
I take a large gulp of my mimosa. "He also asked me to move in."
Layla chokes on her water. "Excuse me?"
"It's just a key and two drawers," I protest. "He says it's about security while the press is camping my apartment. But we both know it's because he wants to keep tabs on me. He's probably worried I'm going to ghost him again."
Audrey makes a note, eyebrows up. "Interesting. And?"
I shrug, trying to look casual. "And—yeah. Maybe I like it. The key. The whole—" I gesture vaguely. "Being wanted thing. It's a trip."
"A trip? Oh, honey—it's about damn time," Layla says, her expression softening. "You deserve to be wanted, Serena. After everything you’ve been through, youdeserve this."
Once again, I try to shrug it off, but the backs of my eyes burn. At least until Audrey starts talking into the end of her pen like it’s a recording device.
"Observation: subject displays decreased cynicism and increased tolerance for romantic gestures." Audrey smiles wide. "This is groundbreaking."
I roll my eyes, but I can't stop the smile that spreads across my face.
"So what did you say?" Layla leans forward. "When he asked you to move in, did you say yes?"
"I said it was too soon. But I put my shit in those drawers and his keycard lives in the back of my phone case." I mumble the last part into my mimosa.
"Serena Morgan!" Layla gasps, mock-horrified. "You did not."
Audrey scribbles another note. "Subject employs avoidance tactics when confronted with direct emotional commitment. Classic."
"What? It feels good to have someone making space for me,” I defend myself. What I don’t add is that it also feels terrifying. Like if I settle in too comfortably, the universe will notice and yank it all away. My cheeks flame. "We've been 'together' for what? A week? I know this is insane."
"It's actually really romantic," Layla counters, her eyes sparkling. "And about damn time someone was insane about you."
“We’re rushing, though. Right? This is all way too soon.”
Audrey sets her pen down, finally giving up the gag. “If you met him for the first time a week ago, then yeah, I’d say, ‘whoa there, girl.’ But this is Caleb. You’ve been circling each other for months.”
“Circling is a good word for it,” I say, taking another sip of mimosa. “Like sharks.”
“Exactly!” Layla says, pointing her fork at me. “You’ve been doing this weird hate-flirting dance for ages. This isn’t a sprint. You’re already halfway through the marathon.”
The waiter arrives with our food, saving me from having to respond. He sets down my French toast—a glorious tower of brioche, berries, and cream—and I feel a wave of pure, uncomplicated joy.
"Let’s forget boys for a bit,” Audrey says, pouring syrup on her waffles. “I want to hear all about this Maya takedown. Logan put his hacking skills to the test, right?"
“He did.” I take a deep breath and drop my voice. "And you will love this," I say, looking at Audrey. "When we finally caught the actual mole—it was Maya's IT boy-toy the whole time—it took Logan, like, thirty seconds of interrogation to crack him."
Audrey's eyes go wide. "Logan did it?"
"I'm not joking. He went full alpha—used his full height and this low, menacing voice that was really fucking scary and kinda hot. He was so confident. I had to squeeze my eyes shut to make sure that what I was seeing was real."
She sputters her mimosa, then nearly screams. "I knew he had it in him! God, why wasn't I there to see it!?"
I laugh a little into my drink. "Honestly, Audrey. If you were there, he would not have gone there. You make him too nervous."
Audrey groans. "Why?! It's not like I'm some sexy bombshell walking around the office with my tits out and curves everywhere! I'm a short and dumpy lab tech with more frizz than curls and a very obvious crush on Mercer Capital's tech genius. Logan's a literal human computer. He's so freaking hot and he barely even knows it. I'd let him wire me up for… actually, never mind." She wiggles her fingers in a clear NOPE motion, then pushes her glasses up her nose and jots something down. "Layla, please talk about your recent trip to Portugal so I can be less of a trainwreck."
Layla waves a dismissive hand. "Portugal was fine. Bennett proposed, I said yes, we drank too much, spent most of ourtime in bed. End of story. We're talking about you." She levels her fork at me. "Monday morning, the board clears your name. Then what? Do you waltz back into Luminous like nothing happened?"
"I don't know," I admit, the thought suddenly exhausting. "I always thought getting my job back was the end goal. Now... I'm not so sure I want it."
"Good," Layla says immediately. "You're too good for them anyway."
