Page 73 of EverGreene
Enjoy the show, did he?
I pretended I had a leg cramp.
And he bought it?
No.
Uh-oh. Ever knew that I knew that she was lying. Interesting, but not surprising, considering Charlie horses rarely resulted in a person mumblingGod, yes,under one’s breath.
How do you know?
His boner told me otherwise.
Goddamnit. Well, on the bright side, she probably has little doubt about my feelings for her. Another message popped up from Ever—no pun intended.
I’m taking these panties off and throwing them in my tote bag.
My dick jerked awake in my pants again after having finally settled down. Ever was going to be sitting next to me, commando. Cool. Cool. That wouldn’t be going through my mind during the rest of this road trip at all.
Another quick response of a middle finger emoji appeared on the screen just as movement in front of my vehicle caught my attention, as Ever walked out the door with a scowl on her face that could be seen from space. Maybe, just maybe, I would get the girl, after all.
Chapter 19
Ever
“I’m with the trial team,” I announced to the security guard manning the metal detectors, hauling a dolly loaded with trial boxes behind me.
“Good for you.” His ivory-haired head looked up at me, revealing a forehead full of wrinkles I theorized must be comprised of the souls of all the overworked paralegals he’d denied quick access—making them late for their uptight attorneys, who considered twenty minutes early to be thirty minutes late. “I still need to scan these boxes.”
I looked at the dolly behind me, dreading having to unload each box on it to place them on the conveyor belt, only to have to load them back up again on the other side.
“Look, I’m with Harrison, Hawley, Haak, and Smith. I promise you,” I pleaded, clasping my hands in front of my body for dramatic effect, “none of these boxes contains shanks or any kind of explosive device. I just need to get to Judge Clawson’s courtroom in the next two minutes.”
“Oh, come on, Merv. Don’t be such a hard ass.”
I froze in place at the sound of Loche’s voice behind me,close enough that I could feel the warmth of his breath sliding down my neck. After our conversation at the rest area, I’d been trying to avoid him. Our car ride to the hotel was completed in silence, with me choosing to check into my room and go to bed instead of joining members of the trial team in the bar after we arrived. Except I didn’t go to bed. Nope. Thanks to the words that came out of Loche’s mouth, I’d lain in bed, seeing nothing but his face and feeling nothing but guilt over how my pulse quickened at the thought of his room being only a couple of doors down from mine. He’d already gone about twenty steps further in this relationship than V had.
Reluctantly, I turned my head to see Loche dressed in trousers and what appeared to be a new shirt he’d bought just for trial, as I couldn’t recall the robin’s egg blue button-down dress shirt having ever been incorporated with his usual rotation before. The color made both his eyes and his slightly tan skin all the more vibrant, which was both pleasant and annoying at the same time. Slung over his shoulder was the matching suit jacket, pulling off the entire ensemble. He looked as though he was spending the day being photographed for a magazine cover instead of sitting under unflattering fluorescent lighting while our asses fell asleep on the wooden benches the courtroom had to offer as Conrad conducted voir dire to vet potential jurors.
“Why don’t you take a picture, Nevermore.” He smiled coyly while my cheeks burned. “You know, you could have answered my calls this morning, so I could help you carry these down here.”
“Our hotel is literally only across the street from here. I didn’t need you to come swooping to the rescue.”
Loche leaned in closer to my ear, the warmth from his breath sending shivers down my body as he whispered, “Don’t be scared.”
“Are you two done flirting, so I can let you through?” Merv asked, appearing to already be over our very existence. At this rate, it was going to be a long week.
“You’re a good man, Merv,” Loche said, reaching for the dolly and taking it from my hand. “After you.” He gestured for me to walk through the metal detector while he wheeled the cart around it, meeting me at the other side. Side-by-side, we turned the corner to head down the hallway to the courtroom.
“How’d you sleep?” he asked.
“How does it look like I slept?”
“That bad, huh?”
He laughed when I shot an unamused glower. “How are you so well-rested? Didn’t you go out drinking with your fan girls from the office last night?”
“No, actually. When you decided not to go, I went back to my room to settle in and ordered takeout.”
