Page 59 of Thankful for My Orc
“Because you’re not just fighting for victory anymore,” he says softly. “You’re fighting for people.”
“When did you get so wise?”
“When I fell in love with a brilliant lawyer who forgot she was allowed to care about more than just being perfect.”
I’m about to respond when I notice someone approaching in my peripheral vision. I look up to see Forge walking through the courtroom doors, still in his work clothes but carrying a small bouquet of sunflowers—my favorite, which he somehow remembered from a casual comment I made weeks ago.
“How did you—” I start to ask, then notice he’s still holding his phone to his ear.
“Surprise,” he says, both through the phone and in person, his smile brilliant as he approaches my table.
I hang up and meet him halfway, not caring that we’re in a very public, very professional space. When he sweeps me into his arms and spins me around, I laugh out loud—something I’ve never done in a courthouse before.
“You came,” I breathe against his neck as he sets me down.
“Of course I came. This is huge, Jordan. You’ve been working on this case since before we met. I wasn’t going to let you celebrate alone.” He hands me the sunflowers, and they’re perfect—bright and cheerful and completely unpretentious. “Besides, someone needs to make sure you actually take time to enjoy this victory instead of immediately diving into your next case.”
The fact that he knows me so well, that he anticipated exactly what I would have done before our relationship, makes my heart race. “How did you even know when the hearing would end?”
“I called Riley and asked her to text me when you were likely to be finished. Then I may have been circling the block for the past twenty minutes.”
“You’ve been driving around downtown L.A. for twenty minutes just to surprise me?”
“Sweetheart, I’d drive around downtown L.A. for twenty hours if it meant seeing you smile like that.”
“What would you have done with the flowers if I’d lost?”
“I would have wished I’d bought more, so they would cheer you up. But I didn’t buy more because I knew you’d win.”
I stand on my toes and kiss him, not caring about the few remaining people in the courtroom or the fact that I’m supposed to maintain professional decorum in this building. When we come up for air, his eyes are dark with the same desire that’s been simmering between us since our soulbonding Friday night.
“Dinner?” he suggests, his voice rougher than it was a moment ago. “We should celebrate properly.”
“I’d love that. But first, I touch my chest, feeling the bond pulse warm and steady beneath my palm—a constant reminder of how completely we belong to each other now.
His eyes track the movement, and I catch the flash of possessive satisfaction that crosses his face. “Feeling the bond?”
“All the time,” I admit quietly, then glance around to make sure we’re not being overheard. “I can feel you, Forge. Your emotions, your… satisfaction.”
“And?”
“And it’s incredibly distracting when I’m trying to argue a custody case and all I can think about is how proud you are thateveryone in the courthouse can probably smell your claim on me.”
His grin is absolutely wicked. “Can they?”
“I don’t know, but Riley took one look at me this morning and asked if I’d been ‘thoroughly ravished by my orc.’ Her words, not mine.”
“Smart woman. What did you tell her?”
“I told her to mind her own business, but I’m pretty sure my face gave me away.” I gather the last of my files and slide them into my briefcase. “She’s threatening to throw me a ‘congratulations on being soulbonded’ party.”
“Would that be so terrible?”
I consider this as we walk toward the exit together. Before I met this wonderful orc, the idea of my personal life being the subject of office gossip would have horrified me. Now, with Forge’s hand warm and possessive on the small of my back and the bond humming quietly beneath my skin, I find I don’t care what people think.
“No,” I realize aloud. “It wouldn’t be terrible at all. I think I’d actually like people to know.”
“Even the partners?”
