Page 25 of Forecheck
“I should have you look at my contract sometime,” I said. “I guarantee my agent is gouging me with his percentage.”
“Do you know who prepared it?”
“Davis Lippett.”
Berkley nodded. “Great guy. Hell of an attorney. You’re in good hands.”
“You know from experience?”
“He’s one of my professors, so I’d hope so.”
The waiter arrived with our food, but when he left again, I said, “So are you graduating in the spring? What’s your plan after?”
“I am, yes. Afterward, I’m not entirely sure. Working for Lippett’s firm would actually be a dream job for me. He’s been such a huge inspiration and mentor of mine during law school that I’d love to keep learning from him. But…a lot of my professors—Lippett included—are pushing me to seek employment opportunities out of state. You know, in bigger sports markets. New York, LA, Boston, Chicago. They feel I’d excel and really be able to cut my teeth before eventually switching gears to agenting.”
“Isn’t Detroit a fairly large market? I mean, all four professional sports have teams here.”
“Well, yeah, obviously,” she said, taking a sip of her wine. Her slender fingers tipped in red wrapped around the stem in a way that wasverydistracting. It had my mind taking off in a direction that was not appropriate for this romantic dinner. “They just want me to get out and experience the world. I’ve lived in Michigan my whole life. But…truthfully, I don’t want to leave.”
Once again, I reached across the table for her, and she set her wine down to meet me halfway, her smooth, dainty palm sliding into my big, rough one. I looked her straight in the eyes as I gave her my next words.
“Then don’t leave.”
Berkley released a long breath, and I wrapped my fingers around her wrist, my thumb brushing against her pulse point. “It really is that simple, isn’t it?”
“It really is,” I agreed.
“Everything was amazing,” Berkley said as we strode from the restaurant after dinner. “Thank you for bringing me.”
“Thank you for coming out with me.”
We walked hand in hand down the sidewalk, my mind drifting back over our dinner conversation and all that she shared with me. My thoughts snagged particularly on a moment during dessert, when she swirled her tongue around her fork, enjoying every last morsel of her strawberry cheesecake. I’d had to adjust my fly more than once, wondering what that tongue would feel like repeating that motion around my cock.
“I’ll admit,” she started. “I was a bit apprehensive. But I’m glad I came. Just…for the record, I don’t need all this fancy shit. I would’ve been happy in jeans and a t-shirt, eating ribs and drinking beer.”
“Marry me,” I groaned, and her answering laugh was music to my ears.
Fuck, I liked this girl—a lot more than I’d planned on.
But I wanted to take it slow with her, not push her into anything too fast. I wasn’t going to ask her for anything more than she was willing to give me. I knew the idea of dating me was a daunting undertaking given that I was always in the public eye. Not to mention, all of the boneheaded things I’d done when I was younger were well-documented as long as someone knew where to look. I’d bet good money Berkley did, and that had added to her apprehension.
“I’d like to do this again,” she said quietly when we reached the truck. “If that’s something you want.”
“God, yes,” I said, giving her a hand up into the cab. “More than anything.”
“Me, too.”
We were quiet on the drive back to her place, and when we arrived, I was loath to get out of the truck. I wasn’t quite ready for our time together to be over. Still, I could imagine Amelia and Kimber upstairs, waiting patiently for their girl to get home and download them on all the juicy details of our evening.
Not that there was anythingjuicyto share…yet.
“Soooo…whencanwe do this again?” I asked as we walked hand in hand into the lobby.
“I’m not sure.” My forehead scrunched in confusion, and she took a deep breath to continue. “I have exams all next week, and then I’m actually going to Traverse City for winter break.”
“Oh,” I said. “How long will you be gone?”
“Three weeks,” she said sheepishly, and I realized she was afraid of my reaction.
