Page 36 of Dial L for Lawyer
She watches me drop cash on the table. "Does this count as one of your payment dinners?"
I can't help the smirk. "Nice try, Morgan. But no."
Her shoulders slump. "So I still owe you..."
“Unless you’re taking the out?”
Her face shutters. For a second, I see the temptation in her eyes—the easy way out. The path where she doesn't have to face me, or this thing between us. But then her spine straightens, that familiar fire returning.
"No," she says, her voice quiet but firm. "I'm not taking the out."
Good girl.
I stand, tossing a few more bills onto the table for the tip. "Then you still owe me. Hours. Nights." I extend my hand. When she takes it, I pull her up and into me, just for a second, just long enough for her to feel exactly how much I want her. "Every second I can steal from you."
Her breath catches, throat working as she swallows.
"Walk with me," I say, not releasing her immediately. "I have a meeting in twenty."
We step out into crisp air, and I guide her down Michigan Avenue. The afternoon crowd is picking up—tourists, office workers, the usual urban chaos.
"Where's your meeting?" she asks.
"Mercer Capital. Bennett wants me to review some contracts and I’m going to meet with Logan to see what he found."
"Already?"
"Logan's fast when motivated. And Bennett pays him enough to be very motivated."
We walk in comfortable silence for a few blocks. I'm hyperaware of her—how she moves, every brush of her arm against mine. Each contact sends heat straight to my cock.
"Caleb," she says as we approach the building. "Thank you. For everything. I know this isn't exactly a normal case for you."
"Nothing about you is normal, Serena."
She glances up. "Is that good or bad?"
"It's honest."
A black sedan idles at the curb. My driver behind the wheel, pretending not to watch us in the rearview as I reach for the door. Smart man.
"This is you," I say.
She moves to get in but I catch her arm, my fingers wrapping around her wrist. Her pulse jumps beneath my thumb.
"Caleb?"
I turn her slowly, deliberately, until her back meets the cool metal of the car. The Fall air bites between us, but where we're almost touching, there's only heat. I watch her chest rise and fall, quick little breaths that tell me everything I need to know.
I place one palm flat against the car door by her hip, then bring the other up to rest on the roof, deliberately slow, watching her track the movement. Now she’s caged between my arms, pressed into the car, the city noise falling away until it’s just her heartbeat and mine.
She freezes but doesn't pull away. Her eyes are huge, dark, searching mine.
"What are you?—"
"Do you know what my biggest regret is, Serena?"
My voice comes out rough, unguarded, and her lips part slightly. I watch her tongue dart out to wet them, and the tiny movement nearly breaks my control.
