Holden nodded in understanding as he straightened in his seat as well. “Thank you, Cotter,” he said graciously. “Let me just-”

“I’ve got this, Holden,” I assured him. “Sounds like you have more pressing matters to tend to.”

He gave me a curt nod. “Very well, then.” Standing up, he added, “I’ll be in touch.”

I nodded back. “Good luck.”

The second that the check was taken care of, I stood up from my table, not caring that I was about to semi-crash Aelix’s lunch date. No matter what, we had agreed on complete transparency when we’d started seeing each other, so I just wanted to remind her of that fact. While it was understandable that she’d have lunch or business dinners with her clients, from what I’d been observing so far, the man with her wasn’t a client; they were being too friendly for that.

The second I approached the table, the guy looked up at me expectantly, and Aelix looked up at me in surprise. Her golden-colored orbs were big on her face, and they really did make her look like a fucking doll, and looking at her, you’d never guess that she was dirty as fuck in bed. I’d lost count of how many times that I’d cum on that gorgeous face and how many times she had licked my cum off her lips. Aelix was a porn star come to life in the bedroom, but you’d never know it by how professionally she dressed and acted in public.

“Cotter,” she greeted.

“I was having lunch with a business associate, and I thought it’d be rude to leave without saying hello,” I lied as it dawned on me that this was the first time that we’d ever spoken in public after our first night together.

“It’s good to see you,” she replied evenly, then gestured towards her companion. “This is Kent Racier. He started at Walter & Kramer a few months ago.”

To his credit, Kent stood up to shake my hand. “Good to meet you,” he greeted.

Though I was two inches taller than he was, he had that wholesome look going for him. He was about six-foot with blonde hair and blue eyes, giving him that ‘safe’ impression that most women liked in a man. He also had to have some sense if he was working for Walter & Kramer, so I supposed that was another point in the plus column for him.

“Cotter Moore,” I stated, letting him know who I was.

He grinned a bit as he let go of my hand. “Yeah, I know who you are. I’m pretty sure the entire world knows who you are.” He shot Aelix a look as he sat back down.

With my eyes still on him, I said, “So, you two work together.”

Kent nodded. “We just won our first big case together, so we’re out having a celebratory lunch.”

I glanced back over at Aelix. “It’s important to celebrate the good things in life.”

She smiled. “I couldn’t agree more.”

It was on the tip of my tongue to tell her that I’d see her tonight, but that wasn’t part of the agreement. We’d never gotten personal outside the bedroom, and I couldn’t imagine that it’d be okay to cross that line now.

Nonetheless, I wanted to.

I wanted to stake a claim, and because I wanted to do that, I didn’t. Instead, I said, “Well, it was good to see you, Aelix.” I turned towards Kent. “It was good to meet you.”

Kent grinned. “It was good meeting you, too.” He winked at Aelix when he added, “I didn’t know that Aelix had such influential friends.”

Before I could say anything to that, Aelix spoke up. “Oh, we’re not friends,” she chuckled. “We’re more like mutual professionals.”

I couldn’t stop my chin from lifting, my mind already going to how I was going to make her pay for that comment later. Though we weren’t exactly friends, two years spent inside her pussy should make me more than just a mutual professional in her life. In fact, considering that I’d been in all three of her orifices at some point, we were definitely more than mere acquaintances.

However, instead of causing a scene, I said, “Enjoy your lunch, and congratulations on your court win this morning.”

“Thanks,” they both replied, and it took everything that I had to leave them to their meals.

Mutual professionals my motherfucking ass.

Chapter 4

Aelix~

Kicking off my heels, then dumping my purse on the couch, I was so glad that this day was over, despite our win this morning. Luckily, tomorrow was Friday, and though I worked from home during the weekends, working by choice felt a lot different than working at the office. I had also started my period this morning, so suffering that sonofabitch comfortably at home was another point in my favor right now. Nothing sucked worse than being stuck at work while on your period.

As I took my suit jacket off, dropping it on the couch, I thought about lunch today and how Cotter had stopped by to say hello. Though I’d done my best to keep my smile in place, I’d been warily surprised that he would approach me in public like that. In two years, we’d never had a public encounter, and while that hadn’t necessarily been a bad thing, I was just so used to only seeing Cotter during the cover of night that him approaching me had thrown me for a bit of a loop.